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“Turkey’s press freedom situation has reached a crisis point,” the watchdog said in a 50-page report.

“The CPJ has found highly repressive laws … a criminal procedure code that greatly favours the state; and a harsh anti-press tone set at the highest levels of government,” it said.

Erdogan was first elected a decade ago with an overwhelming majority and has presided over a period of unprecedented prosperity, winning him admirers among Western nations keen to portray Turkey as an example in a troubled region.

But that success story has been undermined by growing criticism of the authoritarian style of his rule.

Hundreds of politicians, academics and journalists are in jail on charges of plotting against the government, while more than 300 army officers were convicted last month of conspiring against Erdogan almost a decade ago, and handed long jail terms.

Erdogan’s government says most of the detainees are being held for serious crimes, such as membership of an armed terrorist organisation, that have nothing to do with journalism.

“Turkey is making an effort to strike the right balance between preventing the praising of violence and terrorist propaganda, and the need to expand freedom of speech,” the CPJ quoted Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin as saying.

The government conflated reporting favorable to the PKK or other outlawed Kurdish groups with actual assistance to such organizations

“ENEMIES OF THE STATE”

The CPJ identified 76 journalists being held in jail as of Aug. 1, and said at least 61 had been detained in relation to their published work or news gathering. In the other 15 cases the evidence was less clear.