Part of Turkish media say have been shut out by government


Date posted: November 20, 2014

HÜMEYRA PAMUK/ DASHA AFANASIEVA/ / ISTANBUL

Turkish media close to a US-based Islamic preacher accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of seeking to usurp power say they have been shut out of government press events in a move they see as evidence of Turkey’s deteriorating press freedoms.

Correspondents from the Zaman and Bugün newspapers, the Samanyolu TV station and Cihan News Agency say they have been banned from the presidential palace since Erdogan’s inauguration in August and no longer receive official press releases.

Erdoğan, whose ruling AK Party has roots in political Islam, accuses preacher Fethullah Gülen of building a “parallel state” of followers in institutions including the police and judiciary in a bid to seize the levers of state power.

Erdoğan says Gülen orchestrated a corruption scandal against his inner circle last year in an attempted “judicial coup,” a charge Gülen denies, and has described the preacher’s “Hizmet” (Service) network as a threat to national security.

The media ban was extended to key ministries including the prime minister’s office and the ministry of foreign affairs a few days after a National Security Council meeting last month, according to journalists from Gülen-linked media outlets.

“This is a war, a fight, an effort to wipe out Hizmet,” said Tercan Ali Baştürk of the Gülen-affiliated Journalists and Writers Foundation, seeing the ban as “punishment” for their news organizations’ coverage of the corruption probe.

The foreign ministry declined to comment but government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, defended the move.

“The priority of some press institutions is not journalism but serving their political agenda … There are journalists who criticize the government and are still covering it, but the Gülenists had a particular agenda,” one official said.

Erdoğan’s domination of the media, much of it owned by conglomerates with business ties to the AK Party, has pushed Turkey, which is a candidate for membership of the European Union, toward the bottom of global press freedom rankings.

In its October report on Turkey’s progress towards accession, the European Commission raised concerns about press freedom in Turkey and called on the government to “promote dialogue across the political spectrum.”

It also chastised Turkey for interfering in the judiciary following the corruption probe.

Former allies

Gülen’s network helped cement Erdoğan’s rise, aiding him to curb the power of a military that saw itself as the guardian of the secular state and toppled four governments in the second half of the 20th century.

Its influence in the judiciary was seen as key to the jailing of generals and politicians as the ruling party clamped down on its secularist opponents.

Prominent journalists, including Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık, were also detained for their work critical of Gülen’s life and influence, prompting an outcry over freedom of the press.

The marriage of convenience between Erdoğan and Gülen has since fallen apart as the former allies turned on each other in a power struggle that burst into the open with last December’s corruption scandal.

“The government is using the same methods the military used in the past … The only thing that has changed are the oppressors and the oppressed. Power has changed hands, but the old limitations on freedom have not,” Baştürk said.

Erdoğan has sought to purge the judiciary and police of Gülen’s influence in the wake of the corruption scandal and has repeatedly called for the cleric’s extradition to Turkey.

The rift has extended to businesses linked to the cleric, most notably Islamic lender Bank Asya, whose shares slumped after state-owned firms and institutions withdrew deposits earlier this year amid what its chief executive has called a “smear campaign.”

Erdoğan has denied trying to sink the bank.

Cihan’s general director, Abdülhamit Bilici, said the media ban was damaging the news agency’s business and threatened legal action.
“It’s financial discrimination,” he told Reuters, comparing the situation to restrictions imposed after a 1997 military coup. “We were on the blacklist then, when it was a military coup.Now we’re having the same from a civilian organization.”


 

Reuters

(Additional reporting by Seda Sezer and Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul, Gulsen Solaker in Ankara; writing by Humeyra Pamuk; editing by Nick Tattersall and Giles Elgood)

Source: Today's Zaman , November 17, 2014


Related News

Turkey, The great purge – Four lives upturned by Erdogan’s ‘cleansing.’ Episode 2 – Mehmet

Following the July 15, 2016, coup attempt, Erdogan promised to “cleanse” Turkey of a “virus” that has plagued its state institutions. That cleansing has been primarily directed at two organisations: the PKK and the Gulen movement. But the crackdown on both organisations began long before the July coup attempt.

Picture of Turkish president Erdogan as Hitler projected onto Berlin embassy

A picture of Turkish president Recep Erdoğan dressed as Hitler has been projected onto the walls of the country’s embassy in Berlin. ‘We as Germans know what happens in the early stages of a dictatorship’, the artists who projected the message have said.

Government allegedly plots to blame Bingöl attacks on Hizmet movement

Twitter user @fuatavni has claimed the government has launched a plan to blame an attack in which two police officers were killed on Oct. 9 in Bingöl on the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

Hizmet in Context: Societal Islam Versus Political Islam

The Hizmet movement is according to Ebaugh (2010) a civic movement rooted in Islam that is independent from the state. Others see it simply as a faith- based movement (Esposito and Yilmaz 2010). Agai (2004) describes it as an education network and Hendrick (2009) as a global pressure group to promote Turkish interests.

Renowned Kurdish singer Sivan Perwer lauds Gülen’s support for peace process

Famous Kurdish singer Şivan Perwer has said he found the remarks of well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen on the peace process to end the Kurdish issue “important.” Perwer described the announcement of support from Gülen as a “significant event” as he said people in Turkey listen to what the Islamic scholar has to say. […]

Tension at home hits Turkey’s brand overseas

ESİDEF President Mustafa Özkara said: “Top government officials, who during the Turkish Olympiads only six months ago called the Hizmet movement the ‘peace movement of the century,’ now define the same movement as a ‘parallel structure,’ a ‘gang,’ a ‘criminal organization’ and even Hashashins.

Latest News

After Reunion: A Quiet Transformation Within the Hizmet Movement

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

In Case You Missed It

Romania hosts 12th International Language and Culture Festival finals

Nigerian federal gov’t on arrested students: Turkey on a vendetta mission

Mozambican president: I will continue to support Turkish schools

Abant Platform to discuss framework of new constitution

To be able to confront coups

Woman says husband abducted after losing job in post-coup crackdown

Political life and NGOs in Turkey: Journalists and Writers Foundation

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News