Cumhuriyet newspaper's relationship with FETÖ
Mustafa Balbay, who served as Ankara representative and columnist for the Cumhuriyet newspaper for 20 years and is a deputy from the Republican People's Party (CHP), was dismissed by the newspaper's executive chair, Akın Atalay, without any justification. Following the dismissal, he summarized the state of the newspaper in February 2016 as follows: "Everything, from supporting FETÖ [Gülenist Terror Group] to Kurdish nationalism, is free in Cumhuriyet, but a CHP deputy is forbidden to write."
The elder brother of Uğur Mumcu, one of the cult secularist writers that are identified with Cumhuriyet, pointed out the main problem, saying: "Now, I do not read Cumhuriyet where my brother writes. But, [FETÖ member] Nazlı Ilıcak appreciates it very much. Why does Ilıcak appreciate it? This is because the FETÖ-affiliated media was seized and FETÖ dominates Cumhuriyet. Does Fetullah Gülen like Atatürk and Cumhuriyet very much under normal conditions?"
In fact, Kemalists and Atatürkists, who are the main readers of Cumhuriyet, staged a protest against the aforementioned editorial line of the newspaper at its booth at the TÜYAP book fair in November 2015. The group voiced their rebellion against Cumhuriyet, which was revealed in the partnership between the PKK and FETÖ.
Well, how have things got to this point?
Cumhuriyet's relation with FETÖ became concrete with Can Dündar beginning to write for the newspaper. Dündar was caught by the press on Dec. 17, 2014, while he was holding a secret meeting with FETÖ-linked police officer Nazmi Ardıç who had İlhan Selçuk, the legendary editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, and Balbay arrested as part of the Ergenekon case. Then, Dündar vindicated Celal Kara, a prosecutor who executed the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts, by personally interviewing him in an attempt to bring legitimacy to FETÖ's theses.
In the following days, Dündar became editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet where he had been writing for less than a year. Under Dündar's management, Cumhuriyet brought FETÖ-affiliated prosecutor Aziz Takçı, who stopped National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks, and another FETÖ-linked prosecutor, Özcan Şişman, who is known for his negligence in the Reyhanlı massacre, to its headlines to acquit them.
Moreover, Cumhuriyet and Zaman newspapers published the same headlines two times in six months in a way that almost unveiled their cooperation with FETÖ. One of these headlines was "A bomb against the heart of the state," which was aimed at escalating the horror of the PKK's terrorist attack in Ankara.
Apart from interviewing FETÖ-linked prosecutors, Cumhuriyet also interviewed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) terrorists who killed public prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz by shooting him in the head. The newspaper almost justified the atrocious murder with the headline, "This was a method that we were obliged to."
Moreover, a Cumhuriyet correspondent went to the Qandil Mountains and interviewed Cemil Bayık, one of the PKK's leaders, and presented PKK terrorists as "Environmentalist PKK militants who do not even throw cigarette butts on the ground." This was both an unforgettable detail and evidence that Cumhuriyet had broken from its history as "the protector of the Atatürkist regime."
Recently, a FETÖ-affiliated troll found with more than $250,000 at home despite being a teacher was arrested. Presenting himself as a Kemalist and having more than one million followers on a Twitter account, @jeansbiri, he initiated the hashtag #AkSilahlanma in an attempt to create an impression in domestic and foreign media that Justice and Development Party (AK Party) followers bear arms.
Cumhuriyet put this baseless perception manipulation, which was aimed at triggering a civil war, in the headline, "AK Silahlanma Provocation: Both the judiciary and the government are silent about the calls from social media." Thus, Cumhuriyet almost disclosed that it has a part in the media section of the FETÖ operation. These are what I observed from the outside as a reader. There are also money flows allegedly found by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK). However, the addressees of these accusations, Dündar and Atalay, have already fled abroad. Therefore, the proper thing to do would be to continue the investigation by urgently transferring the foundation covering the Cumhuriyet newspaper to somebody who contributed to the Board of Directors of the Cumhuriyet Foundation and liberate those journalists against whom there is no concrete evidence.
The liberation of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, which is coeval with our Republic, from FETÖ pressure will be a gain for Turkey's freedom of the press.
The elder brother of Uğur Mumcu, one of the cult secularist writers that are identified with Cumhuriyet, pointed out the main problem, saying: "Now, I do not read Cumhuriyet where my brother writes. But, [FETÖ member] Nazlı Ilıcak appreciates it very much. Why does Ilıcak appreciate it? This is because the FETÖ-affiliated media was seized and FETÖ dominates Cumhuriyet. Does Fetullah Gülen like Atatürk and Cumhuriyet very much under normal conditions?"
In fact, Kemalists and Atatürkists, who are the main readers of Cumhuriyet, staged a protest against the aforementioned editorial line of the newspaper at its booth at the TÜYAP book fair in November 2015. The group voiced their rebellion against Cumhuriyet, which was revealed in the partnership between the PKK and FETÖ.
Well, how have things got to this point?
Cumhuriyet's relation with FETÖ became concrete with Can Dündar beginning to write for the newspaper. Dündar was caught by the press on Dec. 17, 2014, while he was holding a secret meeting with FETÖ-linked police officer Nazmi Ardıç who had İlhan Selçuk, the legendary editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet, and Balbay arrested as part of the Ergenekon case. Then, Dündar vindicated Celal Kara, a prosecutor who executed the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 coup attempts, by personally interviewing him in an attempt to bring legitimacy to FETÖ's theses.
In the following days, Dündar became editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet where he had been writing for less than a year. Under Dündar's management, Cumhuriyet brought FETÖ-affiliated prosecutor Aziz Takçı, who stopped National Intelligence Organization (MİT) trucks, and another FETÖ-linked prosecutor, Özcan Şişman, who is known for his negligence in the Reyhanlı massacre, to its headlines to acquit them.
Moreover, Cumhuriyet and Zaman newspapers published the same headlines two times in six months in a way that almost unveiled their cooperation with FETÖ. One of these headlines was "A bomb against the heart of the state," which was aimed at escalating the horror of the PKK's terrorist attack in Ankara.
Apart from interviewing FETÖ-linked prosecutors, Cumhuriyet also interviewed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) terrorists who killed public prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz by shooting him in the head. The newspaper almost justified the atrocious murder with the headline, "This was a method that we were obliged to."
Moreover, a Cumhuriyet correspondent went to the Qandil Mountains and interviewed Cemil Bayık, one of the PKK's leaders, and presented PKK terrorists as "Environmentalist PKK militants who do not even throw cigarette butts on the ground." This was both an unforgettable detail and evidence that Cumhuriyet had broken from its history as "the protector of the Atatürkist regime."
Recently, a FETÖ-affiliated troll found with more than $250,000 at home despite being a teacher was arrested. Presenting himself as a Kemalist and having more than one million followers on a Twitter account, @jeansbiri, he initiated the hashtag #AkSilahlanma in an attempt to create an impression in domestic and foreign media that Justice and Development Party (AK Party) followers bear arms.
Cumhuriyet put this baseless perception manipulation, which was aimed at triggering a civil war, in the headline, "AK Silahlanma Provocation: Both the judiciary and the government are silent about the calls from social media." Thus, Cumhuriyet almost disclosed that it has a part in the media section of the FETÖ operation. These are what I observed from the outside as a reader. There are also money flows allegedly found by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK). However, the addressees of these accusations, Dündar and Atalay, have already fled abroad. Therefore, the proper thing to do would be to continue the investigation by urgently transferring the foundation covering the Cumhuriyet newspaper to somebody who contributed to the Board of Directors of the Cumhuriyet Foundation and liberate those journalists against whom there is no concrete evidence.
The liberation of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, which is coeval with our Republic, from FETÖ pressure will be a gain for Turkey's freedom of the press.