Erdogan: Turkey is a precursor to press freedom

istanbul - The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan calls his country a forerunner in the field of press freedom. On the Turkish Day of Working Journalists, which was celebrated on Wednesday, Erdogan said: 'Turkey is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of press freedom, the latest communication technologies, social media and internet journalism.'

According to Erdogan, the public is entitled to 'fast, accurate and impartial news. 'Democracy necessarily brings with it that media organizations' without any restriction 'report on all parts of the country. A cosmopolitan society is only possible with 'free, transparent and honest media organizations,' according to the president.

Despite Erdogan's remarks, Turkey ranks 155th in the press freedom list of Reporters Without Borders. According to several international organizations, critical media are completely silenced in Turkey.

Figures from non-governmental organizations show that there are between 39 and 151 journalists in Turkish prisons. Among them is the German-Turkish correspondent Deniz Yücel.

Erdogan had publicly accused Yücel of being a terrorist and a spy. In his speech on the day of journalists, Erdogan also said that some people abuse Turkey's 'freedom of speech' and try to destroy the brotherhood of our people and the integrity of our state through 'disinformation and manipulative messages. '