In the last couple of years there has been a growing trend in Turkish media outlets and Turkish society to bicker about how media in Turkey has become increasingly and excessively oppressed since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became prime minister in 2002.
The argument is that Erdoğan's authoritarian approach toward the media in Turkey and the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) spin-doctors are turning the country into a circus where only one voice prevails. Aside from elements inside Turkey that harshly criticize the government and Erdoğan for continuously deteriorating the freedom of the press, international media outlets also appear to be highly critical on the subject.
Citing that Turkey's score regarding freedom of the media has reached rock bottom, international media outlets have seemed deeply concerned about it lately.
Those who continuously cry out because of the grave threat to the freedom of the press in Turkey are actually doing it not overseas, but in Turkey, and with remarks full of insults and harsh criticism. One might expect in such an environment, which is depicted as a hell for journalists critical of Erdoğan, that these journalist must get locked up on a daily basis, which is not the case. Even more interestingly, those who do not abstain from explicitly insulting, threatening or degrading Erdoğan as well as the AK Party, whether in newspapers or on social media, are the ones arguing about how the freedom of speech has worsened.
WRITTEN MEDIA IN TURKEY
Statistically speaking, the number of newspapers published from Oct. 12 to Oct. 19 is 44, and 4,357,859 papers were sold on a daily basis. The five best-selling papers are the Zaman, Hürriyet, Sözcü, Posta and Sabah, totaling 1,941,600 papers a day. One could rightfully expect from the aforementioned accusations that most newspapers at the top belong to pro-government or pro-Erdoğan media groups. That would be quite mistaken. Except for Sabah, four newspapers at the top strongly oppose the government, and above all Erdoğan. In other words, when 1,628,473 newspapers were sold last week in Turkey, people read articles and columns that harshly criticized or maybe insulted Erdoğan as well as the government. Taking into account that over 20 newspapers are assumed to be anti-government that have a circulation of around 3 million a day, people in Turkey enjoy the freedom of reading opposing political views on a daily basis. There is a wide range of different views reflected in Turkey by means of written media. Strikingly, the Özgür Gündem daily, a newspaper strongly linked with the PKK, is published every day. A comparison might make it clearer. A newspaper linked with al-Qaida is published in the U.S. on a daily basis and one of the leaders of the terrorist group pens columns for the daily. How interesting would that be, right?
Those who do not abstain from explicitly insulting, threatening or degrading Erdoğan as well as the AK Party, whether in newspapers or on social media, are the ones arguing about how the freedom of speech has worsened.
The bloody twin suicide bombings in Ankara on Oct. 10 went down in history as the deadliest terrorist attack in Turkey's history. In an environment where the country needed common sense following such an atrocious terrorist attack, some media outlets lashed out at Erdoğan and harshly criticized him on the grounds of self-produced accusations. To set an example, taking the Özgür Gündem daily into consideration might be useful. Being a PKK-affiliated newspaper, the headline on the front page of Özgür Gündem daily was "Murderer Erdoğan." How can one explain such a headline with the freedom of press that is assumed to not exist? While the Özgür Gündem daily preferred to depict Erdoğan as the one and only perpetrator of the deadliest attack in Turkey's history, another opposition newspaper, the BirGün daily, opted for "Yıkılsın Bu Ölüm İktidarı" (May this government of murder be toppled).
In addition, it is also claimed that Erdoğan cannot stand cartoonists. A recent example was Nokta magazine, which published an issue with Erdoğan taking a selfie in front of the coffins of fallen Turkish soldiers on the cover. The issue was pulled from the market, which was heavily criticized by the opposition and interpreted as damaging freedom of the press. On this subject, looking at what features and lounge writer Jane Louise Kandur had to say in her piece published in Daily Sabah on Sept. 18, 2015, might elucidate the issue:
"The photomontage on the cover of Nokta was compared to one of Tony Blair taking a selfie in front of bombs going off in Iraq. A better comparison would be a picture of Tony Blair taking a selfie in front of the double-decker bus that was blown to pieces in 2007 during the London terrorist attacks. Or George W. Bush smiling while taking a selfie in front of the Twin Towers, with bodies plummeting to their death. Such photographs are unthinkable, because such photographs would be attacking the very unity and integrity of the country in question. A photomontage of a leader taking a photo in front of the coffins of men who died while trying to protect the integrity of the country against a violent illegal terrorist threat is nothing less than treason."
While some newspapers expressed their excessive anger and hatred, many journalists and columnists insulted Erdoğan and the government on social media. Just a couple of examples from social media that can be found at any second by searching certain words could prove to be better:
Journalist Can Dündar, on his official Twitter account, said: "You should not have exploded that last bomb," referring to Erdoğan after the Ankara bombing.
Journalist Ahmet Altan, on a TV program, said: "The AK Party is no longer a political party. We are faced with a group of gangsters."
Academic and columnist Koray Çalışkan, on his official Twitter account, wrote: "A man dragging his country into war to save himself ... Calling him an animal is a shame. Calling him a demon is a sin. [But] calling him a murderer is deserving," referring to Erdoğan.
At this point, considering what might happen to a person explicitly threatening the president of the United States on Twitter, Facebook or other social media platforms is likely to cause a shock for those who complain about freedom of the press in Turkey.
"Threatening the president of the United States is a specific crime, carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. The Secret Service even has a dedicated team called the Internet Threat Desk. In 2013, North Carolina man Donte Jamar Sims was sentenced to six months in prison for tweets like 'Ima Assassinate president Obama this evening!' "Kevin Collier wrote in the Daily Dot.
Additionally, a person in Würzburg, Germany openly threatened German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his social media account. The 31-year-old far-right man suggested that Merkel be hanged. He was sentenced late October to two years and three months.
STUDIES ON FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
Another much debated issue in Turkey and the international arena is work on the scores of countries around the world based on how free the press is. Yıldıray Oğur, in his piece titled "Press Freedom in Turkey: Myths versus Facts," published in Daily Sabah on Jan. 15, 2015, says:
"According to Freedom House, the state of press freedom in Turkey is worse than Kuwait. Reporters Without Borders similarly indicates that the country ranks 154th out of 180 countries, which means that journalists in Iraq and Ethiopia are better off than their colleagues here."
In addition, PEN International conducted research in Turkey and released a report titled "Turkey: Free Expression Under a Shadow" in which the organization criticized the country for not having a journalism-friendly environment. The study reflects the outcome of face-to-face and email interviews. Most interviewees, according to PEN International, are writers, journalists and activists. The methodology is similar to that of the aforementioned organizations. Most journalists, writers and activists, however, are anti-government. Speaking on the subject, Meryem İlayda Atlas, the Lacivert magazine editor-in-chief and Daily Sabah opinion editor, expressed her disbelief at such indexes and lists. Atlas said:
"Most interviewees are anti-government and intentionally give Turkey a very low mark just so that freedom of the press in Turkey looks in a terrible state. I, personally, was interviewed by PEN International and the only one who may have been assumed to be pro-government. Such lists are not credible."
BROADCAST BANS AND LAWSUITS
Recently, a broadcast ban was imposed in an effort to prevent Ankara bombings suspects from escaping. Some media outlets, television channels and newspapers saw no harm in reporting further, lashing out at the government for trying to hide the truth. But in the end, the ban was lifted, a prosecutor's office released a statement and harshly criticized such media outlets for acting "irresponsibly," which reportedly opened the way for nine suspects to escape. This example actually sums up how hatred for a government and a political leader blinds some circles.
The five best-selling papers are the Zaman, Hürriyet, Sözcü, Posta and Sabah, totaling 1,941,600 papers a day. Except for Sabah, four newspapers at the top strongly oppose the government.
There is a misleading perception in Turkish society regarding lawsuits filed only against anti-government media groups. According to data compiled by the law department of the Turkuvaz Media Group, which is labeled as pro-government there have been 391 lawsuits filed against Turkuvaz Media Group since 2013. Out of 391, 285 lawsuits are ongoing. Specifically, in 2015 up to now, there have been 152 lawsuits filed against the group and 145 of them are ongoing.
In addition to Turkuvaz Media Group facing lawsuits, some pro-government columnists and journalists also share the same fate. Cem Küçük, a columnist for Star newspaper, says he has seen 150 lawsuits filed against him in a year. Turgay Güler, the editor-in-chief for Güneş newspaper, says he faces up to 12-and-a-half years in prison in total in lawsuits. Ahmet Kekeç, another columnist for Star, is a defendant in seven ongoing cases.
In such a piece where freedom of the press in Turkey is discussed in detail, it would be a shame to not ask journalists and columnists who are assumed to be anti-government to share their views on the subject.
Ahmet Hakan Coşkun, a renowned columnist for Hürriyet daily and TV host on CNNTürk, refused to comment on the issue despite knowing the topic and questions that would be asked.
Bedri Baykam, a columnist for Cumhuriyet daily, accepted the request to answer a couple questions. The initial part of the first questions that Baykam was asked was whether freedom of the press in Turkey is under threat under Erdoğan and the AK Party. Baykam said:
"Yes, I believe freedom of press is very much under threat under the AK Party. As we know, several journalists have been fired from their newspapers due to extreme pressure on their bosses or editors-in-chief. Also in the past, as we know several opposition journalists have been to prison for five or six years. Also, Mr. Erdoğan has filed lawsuits against so many cartoonists, he is even intolerant of cartoons, let alone columnists or journalists. That goes without forgetting all the pressure on and lawsuits filed against ordinary people because of their remarks on social media. How can you talk about freedom of the press in a country where an internationally known pianist like Fazil Say is under threat a condemnation for having retweeted a remark that was also retweeted by hundreds of other people! In no other civilized democratic country would you be able to see anything like that."
The second part of the first question was about what has changed in his work or columns if freedom of the press is under threat and journalists and columnists are oppressed. The question was left unanswered by Baykam.
The second question to Baykam was about what he thinks of lawsuits being filed against pro-government journalists. Baykam said:
"Can you please tell me which pro-government journalists have been sued lately? If you are referring to the TV stations or newspapers that are pro- Gülen, they are definitely not pro-government! I never heard about any pro-government journalist being sued! If there are any of them that are sued for non-political reasons that I cannot know, like bank debts or neighbor disputes."
Saygı Öztürk, the Ankara representative of the Sözcü daily, was the third anti-government person that Daily Sabah reached out to. Speaking on the issue of whether freedom of the press in Turkey is under threat, Öztürk said that he definitely agrees that freedom of the press is under threat in Turkey. Claiming that almost every news article written by his newspaper faces investigation, Öztürk said that journalists feel under pressure due to the fear of being sued. When asked about whether Sözcü abstains from publishing critical articles given that his paper often prefers harsh headlines, Öztürk said journalists, irrespective of their papers, unwittingly self-censor while writing a piece or reporting. Öztürk also mentioned broadcast bans, which he believes is another obstacle in the way of freedom of press.
Hilal Kaplan, a columnist at the Sabah daily as well as Daily Sabah and a TV host, touched on claims that no pro-government journalist faces lawsuits of any kind. Kaplan said that there are at the moment seven lawsuits against her, two of which from the Hürriyet daily. Labeling lawsuits as a part of being a journalist, Kaplan said: "Lawsuits, whether against pro- or anti-government journalists, do not restrict freedom of the press."
Dismissing claims that Turkey has turned into an empire of fear, Kaplan said: "In a country where the president is labeled a murderer, thief and dictator, we cannot speak of an empire of fear. President Erdoğan rightfully searches for ways to put up a fight by means of lawsuits." Kaplan also said that those who speak of freedom of the press and write pieces insulting and bashing the government and Erdoğan at the same time contradict themselves. Kaplan further added: "Freedom of the press is used as a political tool."
Haşmet Babaoğlu, a columnist at Sabah, laughed off those concerned about freedom of the press in Turkey and how it is under grave threat. Babaoğlu preferred to say: "Media is not an area of freedom as those who often mention freedom of the press think. Just as human rights are an ideological manipulation, so is freedom of the press an expression of ideological hegemony."
In politics, one can tease a rival. Media outlets close to a political view can pick on a political party. False reporting is a reality. Even by going too far one can argue that disrespect, insults and defamation have taken place in the Turkish media and the Turkish public is used to it. Claiming, however, that there is no freedom of the press in Turkey while taking advantage of it with disrespect, insults and defamation is hypocrisy. Leaving Turkey behind countries like Iraq and Kuwait regarding freedom of the press and complaining about it in the international arena is by no means acceptable. Talking about an attack on the building of a newspaper, which is also by no means acceptable, day after day and treating a broken window like a shrine are not sincere when a head of a pro-government media group is assaulted by armed men and nobody seems to be interested. Explicitly pledging to seize all pro-government newspapers is also not sincere if one continuously talks about freedom of the press. Playing the side that is holier than thou may manipulate public perception, but in no way benefits Turkey.
