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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of World Press Freedom Day

16th February 2016

Yeni Şafak and Yeni Akit: freedom of expression matters

I was pleased on 16 February to visit the editorial offices of Yeni Şafak with a number of EU Consuls-General.
 
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We went to Yeni Şafak on a “geçmiş olsun” visit after last week’s attacks on Yeni Şafak and Yeni Akit.  This followed similar visits to Hurriyet and Sabah after attacks in 2015.  The UK condemns all such attacks unreservedly.
 
Respect for freedom of expression and the right of media to operate without restriction are fundamental in any democratic society.  Freedom of the press should be respected by all.  It is vital in a democracy that a diverse range of views can be expressed without fear or intimidation.
 
I was pleased during our visit to hear leading figures at Yeni Şafak welcome the solidarity they had received following the attacks from a wide range of Turkish media outlets – including from those of a different political persuasion.  Such solidarity between media organisations, whatever their political complexions, is valuable. 
 
As the biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall wrote in her book “The Friends of Voltaire”, as an illustration of Voltaire’s beliefs: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.
 
Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter @LeighTurnerFCO

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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