Since a failed coup in 2016, authorities under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have closed 70 newspapers, 20 magazines, 34 radio stations and 33 television channels, accusing them of ties to terrorism.

A handful of independent outlets remain, but now they too are feeling the squeeze from a ban on vital state advertising.

International media watchdogs and critics of Erdogan’s increasingly authoritarian rule say the indefinite bans imposed by Turkey’s Press Ad Agency, BIK, represent another tool to suppress dissent.

“We are a media outlet which only aims to tell the truth, but the government only wants to see its own version of the truth,” said Berkant Gultekin, managing editor of the leftist Turkish daily BirGun. “That is why we have huge pressure on us”.

Read more: balkan insight