ISTANBUL (AP) — Dozens of editors from leading international news organizations have written to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressing "profound concern regarding the deteriorating conditions for press freedom in Turkey."

The letter is signed by editors of media organizations in more than two dozen countries, including Kathleen Carroll, the executive editor of The Associated Press. It urges Erdogan, Turkey's pre-eminent political figure, to ensure that journalists' rights are protected.

It notes recent attacks on the office of the Turkish daily Hurriyet, the seizure of a media conglomerate that has been critical of the government and the detention of three journalists reporting for Vice News in Turkey's restive Kurdish southeast. One of those journalists, Mohammed Rasool, is still in custody. Rasool, an Iraqi citizen, has worked for the AP.