German journalists say Turkey trying to silence foreigners
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BERLIN -- Two German journalists who were stripped of their media credentials to work in Turkey called the government's move an attempt to silence international news organizations and said they refused to be intimidated.
German public broadcaster ZDF's Istanbul bureau chief, Joerg Brase, and Thomas Seibert, the Turkey correspondent for Germany's Tagesspiegel newspaper, left Istanbul for Germany on Sunday but said they would keep reporting on Turkey.
The two journalists said they received emails on March 1 saying their requests to renew their press cards were denied. Foreign journalists in Turkey need press cards to be granted residency permits.
Speaking to The Associated Press shortly before their departure, Seibert said the rejection came as a surprise and no explanation was provided.
After working in Turkey for 22 years, "I'm forced now to leave the country today," he said.
"This is unprecedented," Seibert said. "It has never happened before that the Turkish government has actually actively, expressedly rejected press card applications."
