Finally, an awakening… press freedom in Turkey

Yavuz Baydar
Yavuz Baydar


Date posted: April 19, 2013

Yavuz Baydar

“…notes with concern that most media are owned by and concentrated in large conglomerates with a wide range of business interests ; reiterates its call for the adoption of a new media law addressing, inter alia, the issues of independence, ownership and administrative control…”

The excerpt is from the European Parliament Resolution on Turkey, adopted yesterday. It comes as follows a series of concerns and notes on the legal restrictions of Turkish laws and widely applied self-censorship.

I am relieved that the awareness on the root causes of immense problems that concern Turkey’s media has now started to reach the important corners of the world. It feels like progress, in the name of truth.

It finally succeeded in ringing strong alarm bells with the help of the Hasan Cemal/Milliyet case, and the arbitrary sacking of another respected colleague, Amberin Zaman, from daily Habertürk. These types of things have happened before, and more are to come, for certain. As Turkey’s grave issues with media have piled up, with prosecutions and punitive measures on professional conduct and public dissent, I have together with a handful of colleagues consistently argued the following:

“Do not make believe that the unjustified jailing of some journalists — such as Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık – or many Kurdish activist/editors-reporters — is the only issue which should concern us. Implementation of laws, such as the Anti-Terror Act, is only the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface, there are a huge amount of issues concerning media independence, which is at least as important as freedom, because lack of it means lack of freedom. We should develop therefore a holistic view, which exposes the root causes of the gangrene that has been eating up the so-called “big media,” controlled by moguls who are also involved in other big business besides media.” Today, they control over 80 percent of the sector.

The problem with some colleagues was that for them the political animosity and ideological allergy towards the Justice and Development Party (AKP) had a much higher, defining priority than the overall problems strangling free and independent journalism: they seemed to be much more engaged in writing about the legal cases about their employer’s tax evasion than the question why those very moguls had chased out trade unions from their media outlets and why there was virtually no independent coverage of corruption or no investigative journalism in Turkey since early nineties.

Two linked events came to prove my point. Not even the editor of Milliyet could conceal the fact that he was forced by the proprietor to sack a veteran colleague, Cemal, because he was discussing journalism in his column, and days after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan revealed that the very proprietor, Erdoğan Demirören, had asked him (earlier) who to appoint as the editor for Milliyet, which he had purchased.

For those who remained unconvinced, there needed to come a direct statement by President Abdullah Gül, shaming the proprietors for submission to powers. “You shall resist, my fellow!” he said recently, in an unusually angry mood.

As well as the media chapter on EU’s Turkey Report, the manifesto of freedom by the influential Writers and Journalists’ Foundation (JWF) could not have been more timely. It is obvious that a tipping point in democratic patience has been reached, and a correct, bold diagnosis, naming the root causes, was detailed in the manifesto.

The sheer fact that there were only a very few newspapers and TV channels that “dared” cover the JWF statement is a powerful enough confirmation in itself as to what really are the real problems with the media freedom, and independence, of today’s Turkey.

“Political agents’ oppression of the media and media owners’ collaboration in this oppression, prioritizing their commercial interests or using their power as means for blackmail, represent an intervention in freedom of the press. Journalists need to take a stance against such pressures, defending the honor and principles of their profession,” reads the statement. “The commercial affairs and governmental affairs of media owners should not restrict of freedom of the press.”

Let us repeat again: unless the owners do not stand in defense of media freedom, and keep obeying powers and greed, Turkish media will never be free, nor independent.

No matter how many colleagues one releases from prison.

Source: Today’s Zaman, 18 April 2013


Related News

Black Sunday: The day Turkey detained its prominent journalists

The government-orchestrated crackdown on independent critical media outlets in Turkey took a turn for the worse on Sunday with dawn raids on Turkey’s largest newspaper Zaman and popular national TV network Samanyolu TV that led to the detention of top managers at the media outlets.

Did Erdoğan say ‘shut up’ to Gen. Eruygur?

EMRE USLU Liberal daily Taraf has published yet another document showing that the government, back in 2004, signed an agreement with the generals to fight the Gülen movement. The document outlined that the government agreed to prevent Gülen sympathizers from getting jobs in state institutions. Some political observers argue that the document shows that in […]

Slain prosecutor’s daughter: My father was not with Gülen movement

The daughter of former Bursa public prosecutor Seyfettin Yiğit, who allegedly committed suicide in a prison bathroom on Friday morning after he was put behind bars over Gülen movement ties, said on Saturday that her father was not affiliated with the Gülen movement but was with the Süleymancı movement, an Islamic movement in Turkey founded by Turkish Islamic scholar Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan in the early 20th century.

PM Erdoğan increases intensity of hate speech against Hizmet movement

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has increased the intensity of his hate speech against the Hizmet movement, which is inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, calling on people not to attend the movement’s schools or exam preparatory courses and not to buy newspapers close to the movement.

[VIDEO] Turkish philosophy teacher says wife had to give birth at home due to Erdogan’s witch-hunt

A Turkish philosophy teacher, named Yasin, has said in a video documentary that his wife had to give birth to their 4th child at home due to an arrest warrant the government issued against them over their suspected ties to the Gulen movement.

Would Gülen want to return to Turkey?

Mehmet Ali Birand  June/16/2012 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has invited Fetullah Gülen “Hodja,” who has been living in the United States for years, back to the country. He said, “this longing should come to an end.” In particular, the timing of the speech at the closing of the “Turkish Olympics” was a nice, well-thought-through […]

Latest News

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

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Gülen: The Ambiguous Politics of Market Islam in Turkey and the World

Erdogan’s vendetta against moderate Muslims threatens Turkey’s role in War on Terror

Wife says dismissed police chief left to die of colorectal cancer in İzmir prison

New Book – “Beginnings and Endings: Fethullah Gülen’s Vision for Today’s World”

Path of Prophet offers solutions to social ills

Gülen’s lawyer denies client facing arrest warrant or extradition

Police raid Gülen-inspired Samanyolu schools in Ankara

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News