Turkish President Erdogan denies jailing hundreds of journalists saying they don't have press cards

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denies his government has imprisoned 150 journalists, saying that only two of those in jail actually hold press cards.

Erdogan said the BBC's claims were "lies", despite the fact that 775 Turkish journalists have had their press card status removed in the past year.

The UK's National Union of Journalists called the president's comments "clearly outrageous and untrue".

"Earlier this year I met members of the journalists' union of Turkey and spoke to scores of journalists – it was clear that the threats they faced were very real," said Tim Dawson, president of the NUJ.

"I saw the lists of names of those arrested and jailed. We believe more than 150 reporters and broadcasters have been incarcerated because of what they have written."

Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Hamburg last week, Erdogan insisted the arrests had been made on legitimate grounds.

"Journalists commit crimes too and when they do the judiciary makes the necessary assessment," he said.

"I want you to know that those you know as being members of the press are mostly people who aided and abetted terror."

Reporters without Borders (RSF) said Turkish authorities had rescinded 775 press cards since 2016 and hundreds of journalists' passports have been cancelled without any court approval.

The RSF 2017 World Press Freedom Index, a comparative register on each country's treatment of journalists, found Turkey to be the "biggest prison for media personnel".

The authorities have used their fight against "terrorism" as grounds for an unprecedented purge," the RSF report said.

"A state of emergency has allowed them to eliminate dozens of media outlets at the stroke of a pen."