Press Un-Freedom in Turkey

Issue 7, Summer 2011

G P N   S T O R Y

1. Turkey's Bullying Prime Minister Erdogan Sues the Editor of a Newspaper for Calling Him a Bully

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sued Ahmet Altan, editor-in-chief of the liberal Taraf daily, for remarks Altan made against him in one of his recent columns. Erdogan's lawyers filed the lawsuit arguing that Altan directed harsh insults at the prime minister which exceeded the limits of criticism and freedom of expression.

Altan's column headlined with "Erdogan and hollow bullying" was published on January 15, 2011. Altan accused the prime minister of becoming more Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)-like, denying the rights of Kurds, aspiring to demolish a statue in Kars, and arguing with whoever warns him to return to his reformist, democratic and progressive identity. Erdogan is demanding TL 50,000 in compensation for the denigrating remarks. The prime minister also filed a criminal complaint against Altan at the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

Today's Zaman, an Istanbul newspaper reported: "The lawsuit also read that Altan could have written a more effective column about the prime minister without using remarks that were perceived as 'insulting' by readers. "The column would have served its purpose had the columnist written it without insulting remarks. But the purpose of the defendant is not to express his opinions. His purpose is to insult the prime minister in the harshest manner."

Altan started his column with an anecdote about Temel, a famous figure in jokes centered on residents of the Black Sea region. Altan described how Temel had been driving in the wrong direction on a road, but believed he was right and the hundreds of people who were driving towards him were wrong. In his column, Altan likened the prime minister to Temel and said Erdogan believes he himself is doing the right thing while thousands of others are doing the wrong thing.

The columnist also harshly criticized the prime minister for his remarks about a statue in Kars, devoted to Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. Erdogan had called the statue a "monstrosity" and said it would be demolished. "Have you ever criticized a statue of Ataturk or a mosque over their esthetics and demanded their demolition? Are you courageous enough to speak against a statue of Ataturk on the grounds that it is not esthetic? Are all statues in your country very beautiful? Is only the statue of that sculptor who is not supported by anyone ugly? It is easy to criticize a weak man. But this is the method of bullying. A courageous man also knows to criticize the strong," the column read.

Source: Today's Zaman (January 18, 2011). Prime Minister sues Taraf's Altan for denigrating remarks. http://www.todayszaman.com/news-232731-prime-minister-sues-tarafs-altan-for-denigrating-remarks.html

2. A Publisher Who Publishes a Letter to the Editor Criticizing the President of Turkey Goes to Jail

A Turkish journalist and publisher has received an 11-month prison sentence for "insulting President Gul" by saying that he is of Armenian descent. The complaint against the journalist was filed by the President's office. The editor himself did not make such a remark. He was jailed for publishing a letter to the Editor, in which the writer made the claim about Gul.

The defendant, Cem Buyukcakir, is the publication director of the news website Haberin Yeri (HaberinYeri.net). The editor reported that when he learned of the comment by the reader who "accused" Gul of being Armenian, he had the comment removed.

After being sentenced, Buyukcakir said, "I received an 11-month prison sentence for a comment that I removed as soon as the warning reached me. It is very strange that people still insist on controlling the Internet press in this country. It is upsetting that the author of the criminal comment is still publishing his columns at another website and that nobody initiated any legal proceedings against that person. I am not asking for much: I just want the evidence presented to court to be investigated. With today's technology, it's not very difficult to establish that I am not the person who wrote that comment. I hope that the parties in and outside the parliament will not remain passive on this issue."

The reader comment was posted in late 2008, at a time when the Turkish Grand National Assembly was discussing an apology for the Armenian Genocide that had been initiated by a remarkable group of Turkish intellectuals, though without calling it a genocide.

In the trial, the defense lawyer had argued that the publisher was not responsible for the reader comments and requested to drop the procedures.

Source: Armenian Weekly (November 6, 2010). 11-Month Prison Sentence for 'Gul is Armenian' Comment. http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/11/06/11-month-sentence/

3. Turkish Journalists are Jailed for Being "Terrorists"

Freedom of the press in Turkey has come under international scrutiny, following the arrest and jailing of three journalists critical of the government on charges of being members of a terrorist organization and inciting hatred. Government supporters cheered outside Istanbul court as three journalists were taken to jail. The three run the Oda TV news website that is strongly critical of Turkey's ruling AK party. Turkish human rights groups have been arrested and jailed and claim more than 50 journalists are in jail for their reporting.

Source: Jones, Dorian (February 21, 2011). Press Freedom in Turkey Criticized Again. Voice of America News, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Freedom-of-the-Press-in-Turkey-Criticized-Again-116609823.html

4. Two Reports of Turkey's Expanding Crackdown on the Press

The New York Times reported that the Turkish police detained 10 people, mostly journalists, in a crackdown on what reports said was a secularist network accused of conspiring to topple the Islamic-rooted government. Critics say the case is part of a government assault on press freedom.

Officers raided homes of suspects in Ankara and Instanbul, copied computer hard disks and seized notes or books that could serve as evidence against the Ergenekon network. Officials allege that Ergenekon tried to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist government in 2003.

The European Union and the Committee to Protect Journalists accused Turkey of suppressing critical news and commentary on the alleged anti-government conspiracy. About 400 people, including journalists, politicians, academics, and retired military officers, are on trial, accused of being part of the Ergenekon network.   "Free press is being intimidated in Turkey," Turkey's Journalists Association said in a statement. The government insists the Ergenekon trials are a step toward democratic reform. Opponents counter that many of the accused are innocent and have been targeted as part of a broader plan to muzzle dissent and undermine Turkey's secular legacy.

A few days later, a Turkish court ordered two investigative journalists jailed pending the outcome of a trial into an alleged plot to topple the Islamic-rooted government, raising further concerns over freedom of the news media in Turkey. The defendant, Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik, were charged with links to the alleged conspiracy to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government in 2003, according to Anatolia, the state-run news agency. The prosecutor's office issued a statement saying the journalists were not detained because of their reporting.

Sik was already on trial for a book he co-wrote about the Ergenekon, a network the government says is plotting to overthrow the government, and another book on the influence of an Islamic group within the police force when he was detained, newspaper reports said.

Sources:
New York Times (March 4, 2011).   Turkey expands media crackdown.

New York Times (March 7, 2011). Turkey charges 2 journalists in conspiracy cases.

5. Freedom House and Human Right Commissioner of Europe Charge Turkey with Persecuting Journalists

The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported that the US-based group Freedom House and the human-rights commissioner of the Council of Europe called on the Turkish government to cease media violations. 'The harassment of media outlets and journalists who hold dissident views is a clear attempt to silence critical voices,' Freedom House senior researcher Karin Deutsch Karlekar told the Daily News.

The Hurriyet article further reported that in the World Press Freedom Index issued by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, Turkey ranked 138th out of 178 countries. Nearly 50 journalists are imprisoned in this country and more than 500 face judicial prosecution for their news coverage. "The harassment of media outlets and journalists who hold dissident views is a clear attempt to silence critical voices and to restrict media diversity," said Karlekar.

The recent arrests of three journalists connected with the dissident online news portal Oda TV also drew a response from Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, who said, "We are always concerned when people are arrested because of what they have written," he told the Daily News in an interview. "We hope the standards [Turkey has] agreed upon with Europe will be fully respected."

"Freedom of expression, not least when it comes to media personalities, is absolutely crucial." "The information we are getting through my office is of some concern," the Council of Europe's Hammarberg said. "We call on the Turkish government to adhere to international best-practice standards regarding judicial investigations and to cease violating media freedom," said Karlekar of Freedom House.

Karlekar also responded to comments made Thursday by Interior Minister Besir Atalay, who said press freedom was "much better" in Turkey than in the United States and other democratic countries. She said, "Freedom House currently rates Turkey as 'Partly Free' in our annual index and media freedom remains constrained by a restrictive legal environment, the imprisonment and prosecution and imprisonment of journalists and a hostile attitude on the part of the government to oppositionist media outlets."

Source: Ozerkan, Fulya (February 18, 2011). Turkey's press freedom controversy goes global. Hurriyet Daily News.   http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=us-freedom-house-urges-government-to-cease-v

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