Istanbul, Sep 8 () – Turkey’s Economic Development Foundation (IKV) Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu addressed the violent attack against daily Hürriyet’s main building and defined the attack as “an unfortunate incident threatening freedom of press”.

Having made a written statement Zeytinoğlu comdemned “any kinds of attack against press” and said, “Freedom of press is an inseperable part of freedom of opinion, and it constitutes one of the core reassurances of contemporary democracies”.

“One cannot declare a country free and democratic, where the press is under pressure and cannot do its duty of collecting and spreading information. As a country having progressed in democratization and dialogues with European Union in the last years, our biggest petition is that Turkey would not take its steps backward regarding these gaining. To promise the necessary assurances to guarantee freedom of press and assure that media organizations and press members freely do their duty, comes along the most important obligations of the state and the government. We urge the sides concerned to show sensitivity as necessary” urged the IKV’s statement.

As a nongovernmental research organization specialized on EU and Turkey-EU relations, IKV was established with the initiative of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Istanbul Chamber of Industry on the 26th November 1965, 2 years after the entry into force of the Ankara Agreement, to inform Turkish business world and Turkish public about European integration and Turkey-EU relations.