Sawt Falasteen - Thousands protest in Turkey over journalists' arrests, media shutdowns

"Enough. We can no longer breathe," shouted marchers in the crowds, which were composed mainly of journalists, rights groups and opposition party representatives.

Press freedom has been increasingly constrained in Turkey since a failed coup attempt in 2016, with sweeping prosecutions and digital censorship.

But recent weeks have seen what rights advocates say is mounting pressure on independent journalism.

Eleven journalists have been jailed in the past two months and several media outlets shut down, according to the Turkish Journalists' Union.

At least 3,000 people gathered on the Asian side of Istanbul, according to police.

They held up photos of jailed journalists, chanting: "We will not be silenced. Enough is enough!" and "We will not bow to pressure".

Earlier this month, police raided Turkey's most-watched news channel, Halk TV, halting broadcasts and installing a government-appointed administrator.

The move was the latest against media outlets seen as critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government.

It followed the closure of the website and social media accounts belonging to leading digital news outlet T24 over what authorities described as "LGBT propaganda".

"This gathering is not simply about standing up for journalists," veteran journalist Zafer Arapkirli told AFP after the Istanbul protest.

"It is also about defending respect for society's right to access information and news through journalists and independent media," said the columnist for the BirGun daily.

- Intimidation -

For Arapkirli-- who himself faces lawsuits -- the more intense the pressure becomes, the stronger the response and the determination to stand against it must be.

"What the regime wants is to intimidate, silence and frighten society through such pressure -- by arresting individual journalists, seizing media outlets, banning news coverage and blocking access to social media," he said.

"We must show that we will not allow this to happen.

"We have done so up to now. I believe we are now moving towards demonstrating this determination on a much larger scale".

In Ankara, at least 3,000 protesters gathered, according to a police count.

They shouted: "No to censorship" and "Freedom for jailed journalists".

"Today's protest was important both because it brought journalists together to make their voices heard and because it defended citizens' right to access information," Gokcer Tahincioglu, coordinator for the shutdown T24, told AFP in Ankara.

"Journalists are determined to get one message across: we want to practise journalism, and we want to be able to do so freely," he said.

Praising the solidarity after the now shut T24, Tahincioglu said: "We want to regain the conditions necessary to report freely as soon as possible."

U.Shaheen--SF-PST