Currently, Turkey has more imprisoned journalists than any other country. There are three categories of pressure towards the media in Turkey. The first comes from Turkey’s anti-terror laws, used to jail dissident voices and that date back to the 1980 coup. The second category involves alleged arm-twisting from the prime minister. The final source of pressure comes from Turkey’s largest and most powerful Islamic fraternity led by Fethullah Gulen.

The European Union and the Obama administration have at last joined international press watchdog groups in voicing alarm about curbs on free speech. They need to keep up the pressure if Turkey is to remain a vaunted example of democracy in the Muslim world.