Last weekend, a sensational assassination was attempted in Turkey. Some terrorists opened fired on the car of Murat Sancak, the chairman of Star Media Group, which comprises two newspapers, two television stations and a vast number of periodicals. Fortunately, Sancak survived unscathed from the attack. The investigation into the attack is ongoing.This was the second attack targeting Star Media Group. A high explosive time bomb was left in front of the building, which houses the group's daily Star and 24 TV station. The bomb was later detonated by a police squad at the scene, while an illegal left-wing organization, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), claimed responsibility for the assault. The MLKP showed the Star Media Group's stance against terrorism as ground and announced that the attacks would continue.So, why is the Star Media Group targeted? It has only one reason. It adopts a political stance in line with the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). And this choice is enough for journalists and media proprietors to be openly targeted in Turkey.In media, a large number of writers and chairmen who sympathize with the AK Party or advocate the party's views are living under police protection due to threats they receive. In eastern and southeastern Turkey, where the separatist outlawed PKK overthrew the reconciliation table again, has recently intensified its violent activities and the condition of people working in media is even graver.Despite all the incidents, more than half of the media outlets in Turkey keep openly abetting terrorism.In addition, this support is not only observed in marginal organizations or Gülen Movement-linked media groups. The Doğan Media Group, which monopolized the media sector for years and still preserves its influence in the sector to a great extent, is also displaying a problematic stance with regard to terrorism.The stance of this group to terrorism, which comprises many newspapers, periodicals and TV stations, has been a matter of debate for a long time.The group's outlets overtly supported vandalism and terrorist acts on the streets during Gezi Park protests in 2013. Before the June 7 general elections, the group's broadcast after the murder of Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, following being taken hostage at a courthouse by outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) militant, caused a stir. The Doğan Media Group's newspapers published and TV stations broadcast footage served by the terrorist organization, violating the principles of journalism and the laws forbidding propaganda promoting violence. Moreover, some of their anchors and journalists made remarks on their social media accounts legitimizing and justifying this dramatic terrorist assault, which caused protests. The Doğan Media Group was neither self-critical nor subjected to any sanctions by professional organizations for this attitude that cannot be tolerated in any established democracy.The Doğan Media Group also nearly ignored the assassination attempt against its rival Star Media Group's CEO, Sancak, just as it previously did not regard the bomb left in front of the Star Media Group's building newsworthy, even though it is one of the leading media companies in Turkey.International reaction necessaryThis situation, which can be defined as the marginalization of groups composing the mainstream media, is one of the outstanding causes of the legitimization of terrorism in Turkey.Along with judicial bodies and human rights organizations, the profession's civil organizations are also insensitive in the face of this dangerous picture. Apart from a few bodies such as the Istanbul-based Media Association, no one has criticized the incidents in terms of journalism ethics and responsibilities.The international institutions closely watching the violations of press freedoms in Turkey are displaying their double standards as they always do. These institutions regard even the legal investigations opened into those involved in overt terrorist acts, such as committing homicides and bombings, in the framework of press freedom in the annual reports they release on Turkey. Despite that, we do not encounter the names of the journalists who are threatened, abducted or assassinated by terrorist organizations in these reports.I wonder why the U.S.- or Europe-based human rights institutions and think-tanks engaged with Turkey do not ever question why hundreds of journalists and media executives live under police protection in Turkey.For instance, will the two attacks organized on Turkey's leading media group and its CEO within this recent month be covered in Freedom House's 2015 report that issues annual press freedom reports on Turkey, or in the EU progress report?