Stoltenberg received by Gul, Cicek and Kilicdaroglu

As part of his official visit to Turkey, Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg was received by Turkish President Abdullah Gul yesterday. Stoltenberg visited Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek and paid a visit to main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu as well. Stoltenberg also raised the "arrested journalists" issue during his talks with Cicek yesterday. Cicek responded that the majority of journalists were imprisoned for terror-related offenses, saying, "There is a misevaluation regarding journalists. They are not in prison for doing their job. They are in prison for being members of a terrorist organization, forging documents and other such illegal activities. It would be a serious mistake to consider them as journalists." During his meeting with Kilicdaroglu, Stoltenberg said Norway has been closely following the judicial system and democratization process in Turkey, saying, "Turkey should not alienate itself from European values especially in terms of judicial system."