PARIS (Sputnik) – Turkey should direct its attention toward the freedom of the press in addition to the refugee crisis, French President Francois Hollande said on arrival to the EU-Turkey migration summit on Monday.
"On cooperation with Turkey, you need to accept Turkey in its entirety. You need to maintain extreme vigilance on several issues. Thus, on the media issue, the press should be free everywhere, including in Turkey," Hollande said in remarks broadcast by the European Commission audiovisual services.
Online and physical access to the news services and publications was subsequently cut after the government takeover.
The decision led to mass riots in the largest Turkey's city of Istanbul. Turkish police used tear gas, water cannons and plastic bullets to disperse the protesters over the weekend.
