(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Turkey belongs to the group of countries with the starkest declines in press freedom in 2014, the Freedom House Press Report reveals. Moreover, in this year's issue of the Report, Turkey is classified as "not free" for journalists.

Overall, global press freedom declined in 2014 to its lowest point in more than 10 years, according to the Report released on April 29. Reasons for this decline include governments that employed tactics to silence dissent, terrorist kidnappings and the murder of journalists, organized crime, and wealthy media magnates who dominate their domestic markets and shape news according to their interests.

Disturbingly, freedom of press also significantly deteriorated in countries that boast long histories of democratic practice. Apart from Turkey, large five-year drops experienced also Thailand, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Honduras, Hungary and Serbia.

Within the Freedom House Press Report, each country and territory receives a numerical score from 0, the most free, to 100, the least free, which serves as the basis for a status indication of "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free". For example, another country with a long democratic history, Greece, has gained 21 points within this scale due to the economic crisis and related political pressures.

Turkey's government repeatedly tried to expand the power of the telecommunications authority to block websites without a court order. Moreover, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) obtained vast powers of surveillance and unlimited access to virtually any information held by anyone in the country.

The Report further mentions that while a certain degree of media diversity does in fact exist in Turkey, political leaders have tried to supress once-independent sources of information and create media outlets that would work in the ruling party's favour.

Internet access in Turkey is already restricted, and more than 67,000 websites are currently blocked, as reported by Hürriyet Daily News.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarus, Russian-annexed Crimea, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan were among the world's 10 worst-rated countries and territories when it came to press freedom. The lowest ranked country in the Balkans was Macedonia. Turkey's overall score declined from 62 to 65.