Turkey Has World's Freest Press- Claims Erdogan

Oh, that joker, Erdogan. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that his country takes top honors when it comes to freedom of the press.

“Nowhere in the world is the press freer than it is in Turkey. I'm very sure of myself when I say this,” he said in a televised speech to a conference in Ankara.

“The press is so free in Turkey that one can make insults, slanders, defamation, racism and commit hate crimes that are not tolerated even in democratic countries.”

“I've personally experienced this, so has my family."

The actual truth:

Turkey was the world’s top jailer of journalists in 2012 and 2013, ahead of Iran and China, according to the international Committee to Protect Journalists, before improving to tenth place this year.

But Erdogan just arrested a bunch of media folk affiliated with his rival Fethullah Gulen.

And this 16-year-old boy:

The remarks also coincided with the release pending trial of a 16-year-old schoolboy who was controversially arrested on charges of insulting Erdogan by accusing him of being the “chief of corruption.”

But Erdogan said: “You cannot insult them (his family) like this in any other country. There is no limit to the insults (we receive). You cannot run such headlines in Europe or the U.S.”

“Europeans accuse us as if such things never happen in their countries. No one raises their voice when journalists are detained in Europe.”

As for top dog for freedom of the press- according to Reporters Without Borders, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway received that honor in 2013.  Turkey ranked 154 out of 179.

Dream on Recep.