US Embassy in Turkey quotes press freedom remarks of Obama, Kerry

ISTANBUL

AFP photo

The U.S. Embassy in Turkey has shared remarks by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry praising press freedoms on its official Twitter account, using the hashtag #ÖzgürBasın - #FreePress in Turkish. 

“Committing journalism, reporting on the truth, is not a crime. It is a badge of honor. It is a public service,” the first tweet said, quoting a statement by Kerry addressed to “those who try to intimidate or imprison reporters,” during a Jan. 28 speech at the Washington Post Grand Opening Event. 

“A country without a free and independent press has nothing to brag about, nothing to teach, and no way to fulfill its potential,” the second quoted Kerry as saying. 

The embassy also shared a quote from Obama, this time from May 2015, in a third tweet with the same hashtag.

#PressFreedom “gives voice to the voiceless, exposes injustice, and holds leaders like me accountable,” the quote from the president’s World Press Freedom Day remarks said.