Turkey police search Gulen-linked media group

September 1, 2015 By administrator

Turkish police have staged a major swoop on the offices of an anti-government media group linked to US-based opposition figure Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey’s police searched 23 media offices and Ipek University in Ankara, which all belong to Koza Ipek Holding company, “as part of a terrorist investigation into Fethullah Gulen,” the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The media group owns several newspapers and two television channels, including the Turkish dailies Bugun and Millet, the television channels stations Bugun TV and Kanalturk and the website BGNNews.com.

Gulen’s Hizmet (Service) movement was an important supporter of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) when it came to power in 2002. The alliance, however, broke up a decade later, after Gulen was accused of using his influence in the country to topple the government.

Meantime, opposition journalists complain that the move is part of a major government squeeze on all opposition media.

The media crackdown comes as the government, which is fighting a major offensive against Kurdish militants in the southeast, prepares for snap elections on November 1.

The ruling AKP was hopeful of winning the June 7 elections and form a single-party government. However, the AKP plan failed and no party managed to win the minimum number of parliamentary seats required for single-party government.

Talks then got underway on forming a coalition government with the country’s four major parties in parliament.

After coalition talks failed as well, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan approved the formation of an interim government that will run the country until snap elections in November.

Turkish media boss attacked by gunmen in İstanbul

August 20, 2015 By administrator

Murat Sancak, chief executive officer of the pro-government Star Media Group, was attacked on Thursday by unidentified gunmen while in his car in the Hadımköy neighborhood of İstanbul.

Unidentified assailants opened fire on the car that Sancak was in, news reports said. Several bullets hit the car. Sancak and his bodyguards were unharmed.

Police teams were sent to the area to investigate after the incident. Report Zaman

The Turkish Journalists’ Association (TTGC in a statement condemned the attack on Sancak. It was pointed out in the statement that recent acts of terrorism in the country are also targeting journalists and media groups and that the attacks aim to disrupt the peace in Turkey. The TGC also called on the authorities to find the perpetrators and emphasized that the organization is always against these kind of attacks.

Yerevan: Media forum participants visit Armenian Genocide Memorial

March 19, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – Participants of the Yerevan-hosted media forum “At the Foot of Mount Ararat” on Thursday visited Memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims (Tsitsernakaberd).

Accompanied by director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan, the journalists from different countries got familiarized with the temporary exhibition pf the museum (the main exhibition opens on April 24). They headed to the eternal flame where they laid flowers and joined hands to form a circle to commemorate the victims (photo).

One of the participants, London-based journalist Isaac Karipidis told the Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent the visit to Tsitsernakaberd was close to his heart, since he is from a family of the Pontic Greecks that faced massacres in the Ottoman Empire.

President of the International Federation of Journalists Jim Boumelha said he visited Armenia and participated in the media forum to show that reporters can really make changes.

PACE: draft report criticizes Turkey’s media environment, citing Dink assassination and Gezi Park

January 23, 2015 By administrator

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) published a draft report, on Jan. 12 focusing on the deteriorating situation of journalists, independent media and freedom of speech in Turkey, among other countries; specifically citing in Turkey’s case the Hrant Dink investigation and the Gezi Park protests.

The draft report titled “Protection of media freedom in Europe” calls on Turkey to fully investigate the violent death of journalist Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was shot by 17-year-old Ogün Samast, on Jan. 19, 2007, in front of the Agos newspaper’s office, where he served as editor-in-chief.

The draft report states: “He [Dink] had received numerous death threats from nationalist Turks. Several people, including the young gunman who carried out the killing, were convicted in connection with the murder; but public officials, including members of the security forces, [who were] suspected of complicity or trying to impede the investigation, have escaped without punishment.”

Maintaining that “journalists in Turkey still face threats to their safety and professional independence from overly restrictive laws, [and] hundreds of questionable criminal investigations,” the draft report also cites “improper government interference with the work of the media, and intolerance of criticism on the part of the government” as the reasons for Turkey’s worsening media environment.

The report also underlines that “independent media monitoring organization Bianet reported that police assaulted at least 105 journalists while they were covering the events of the Gezi Park protests,” protests which erupted in May 2013 over government plans to destroy a park located in the Taksim district of İstanbul and build Ottoman-style military barracks in its place. “Police also detained 28 journalists, some of whom were held overnight and questioned,” states the draft.

According to the draft, “the assembly welcomes the considerable reduction in the number of journalists detained in Turkey but regrets the number of journalists who are still [being] prosecuted or detained.” The report states that although many journalists have been released from pre-trial detention because of judicial reforms, more than 20 journalists are still in prison in Turkey at the time of the writing of the report.

The most recent of these operations against independent media happened on Dec. 14, when police operations were carried out at the buildings of Turkey’s best-selling daily Zaman and the Samanyolu Broadcasting Group, both headquartered in İstanbul. Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı as well as Samanyolu TV chief executive Hidayet Karaca, along with dozens of journalists, scriptwriters and police officers, were detained during the operations. Karaca was charged with heading a terrorist group based on a TV series that was broadcast years ago on the Samanyolu TV station and was later imprisoned pending trial.

Although the report in its current form fails to mention the Dec. 14 police operation, the largest against independent media in the history of the country, the finalized version is still to be published and the events of Dec. 14 are expected to be added via amendments.

Turkish police raid newspaper, detain editor-in-chief, head of broadcaster

December 14, 2014 By administrator

ISTANBUL

Turkish police have launched a media operation to detain 31 people, including media figures and former police chiefs, simultaneously raiding addresses in 13 provinces across the country.

The raid on daily Zaman occurred at 7.15 a.m. local time, as supporters of the newspaper stood guard in front of the office building over rumors that such an operation would take place.

Police returned to the newspaper’s office at around 2.00 p.m. on Dec. 14 after leaving the building in the morning without starting any proceedings. Zaman editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanlı was taken to police station after being shown the notification of his detention.

Many of Turkey’s media organs were broadcasting live in the newspaper’s office when Dumanlı was detained.

As the raids were being carried out in the morning, the crowd outside the Zaman offices chanted slogans and held banners reading, “The free press cannot be silenced.” Dumanlı also made a speech, broadcast live on television, defiantly calling on the police to detain him.

Samanyolu Media Group Head Hidayet Karaca and a producer, scriptwriter and director were also detained, as well as Tufan Ergüder, the former head of the Istanbul Police Department’s anti-terror branch and the former head of the Hakkari Police Department.

In addition, three police officers have been separately detained in Tunceli, Mardin and Şırnak provinces and have been sent to Istanbul, Doğan News Agency reported.

‘Detentions for launching armed terror organization’

The Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office has released a public statement, giving the list of individuals to be detained in the operation.

“The detentions have been ordered [for the people on the list] in order to take their testimonies on charges of founding and directing an armed terror organization, being a member of this organization, and engaging in forgery and slander,” the statement said.

A total of 11 people have been detained so far, the statement added.

Istanbul Deputy Public Prosecutor Orhan Kapıcı has declined to comment on whether Fethullah Gülen was on the list.

The semi-official Anadolu Agency reported that the operation was launched for the detention of 32 people, including senior police officers and media members, on charges of fabricating crimes and evidence in a 2010 investigation into an organization reportedly closed to al-Qaeda.

Some 122 people were detained in an operation against the “Tahşiye Organization” in 2010. Mehmet Doğan, a senior leader of the organization, spent 17 months in prison before being released. It was claimed that retired imam Doğan was opposed to the ideas of Fethullah Gülen.

Zaman and Samanyolu are known for ties to U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, who has been at odds with the Turkish government, particularly since last December.

The government accuses the Gülen movement of trying to stage a “coup” via a large corruption probe that broke in December 2013, which included a number of former Cabinet ministers and their sons, along with many state officials.

The latest move comes only two days after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signaled a fresh campaign against Gülen’s supporters.

In his most recent tweets posted on Dec. 10, mysterious Twitter user Fuat Avni, whose identity remains unknown, suggested that several journalists close to Gülen movement, including Zaman editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanlı, would be detained in a raid on Dec. 12. He also gave many details about the dates, names and cities of alleged police operations, but later on Dec. 11 he posted more tweets suggesting that the police operations had been cancelled after the raid was revealed.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç had earlier said rumors voiced by Fuat Avni over the potential detention of dozens of journalists should be taken “seriously.”

“I find the Twitter posts to be serious. I hope they will not come to pass, or not come true to this extent, for anything to happen out of jurisdiction,” Arınç said during budget discussions at Parliament late on Dec. 11.

December/14/2014

Anti-Armenian articles increase in Turkish media

August 23, 2014 By administrator

A new report is publicized in the Turkish press, and with respect to the study of xenophobia and discrimination in Turkey.

As a result of a study that was conducted from January to April 2014, Armenians again were most targeted in the Turkish press in terms of xenophobia, reported Haberdar website of Turkey.

After the Armenians, the second in this list are the Jews, who are followed by the articles that incite hatred toward Christians, and Greeks and Kurds round up the “top five.”

During the specified period of time there were 188 articles that incited enmity and hatred toward ethnic and religious groups and nations, and this number surpasses the number of such articles that were published in the Turkish press in the years past.

Turkish and Azerbaijani media began warmongering misinformation, The smoky evidence of Armenian soldiers killed

August 8, 2014 By administrator

Here is first Zaman misinformation:

The Azerbaijani army has killed 47 Armenian soldiers, while over 100 more have been injured, in the latest border skirmishes in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to the Azerbaijan Press Agency (APA).

In the series, he is fired on all cylinders, the sites of misinformation of Azerbaijan are the kings!

As mentioned in a previous article, the vesti.az site published a photograph on August 7 soldiers allegedly Armenians who were killed in a clash on the night of August 2 to 3 last Karabakh.

Following this publication, the Press Service of the NKR Defense Army had declared that it was the result of a sick imagination Azeri minds.

After searching the web, we provide evidence of misuse of a photograph taken in 2013 in Malaysia, with the bodies of six Filipino soldiers. Not 4 as shown by amateurs in propaganda.

Here is the Article

http://article.wn.com/view/2014/02/15/starting_over_in_lahad_datu

Jean Eckian © armenews.com

ERBIL: Independent media fades in Iraqi Kurdistan

August 6, 2014 By administrator

By Kamal Chomani
Contributor, Iraq Pulse

ERBIL, Iraq — The independent media, one of the essential elements of Iraqi Kurdish democracy, is experiencing its worst days since its emergence in 2000. As private media outlets — especially satellite TV stations — proliferate, independent sources are being squeezed out of the picture.

The changing political and socioeconomic dynamics in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have added tension to the conflicts among political parties. After the emergence in 2000 of Daily Hawlati, the first free Kurdish media outlet, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) began establishing a number of media outlets to undermine the independent media. These outlets are widely referred to as the “shadow media,” as they claim to be independent but are subservient to their respective political parties.

Independent media, nevertheless, continued to flourish with outlets such as the weekly Awene and Lvin magazine. Many analysts believe that the opposition party Gorran would not have emerged in the 2009 elections without the assistance of Iraqi Kurdistan’s strong independent media.

Alarmed by their weakening grip on information, regional authorities moved to stifle independent media with force and intimidation. In 2008, Lvin reporter Soran Mama Hama was killed by unknown armed men for writing critically on the political situation in Iraqi Kurdistan. Independent journalists received death threats for reporting on corruption and other topics the authorities would rather ignore. In 2010, Sardasht Osman was killed for satirizing the political situation. Kawa Germyani was murdered outside Sulaimaniyah late last year after extensively documenting corruption in PUK territory.

In 2011, Kurdistan’s independent media entered a new era. NRT, a free satellite TV station, was founded in Sulaimaniyah by Shaswar Abdulwahid, CEO of Nalia Company. NRT was set on fire by armed men only 72 hours after its official launch.

Shwan Muhammad, editor-in-chief of SpeeMedia, a new free biweekly, said the decline of independent media is one of the greatest threats to Kurdish democracy.

“The free media revolutionized during the first decade of the 21st century, but entering the second decade, it has been challenged by emerging digital media, in particular new satellite TV stations that are funded by political parties. Unfortunately, free media has not been able to compete with them due to a lack of any economic resources,” he told Al-Monitor.

Muhammad still believes that an independent media is the only hope for Iraqi Kurdistan’s democracy.

Sirwan Najm, a newsagent in Erbil, said sales figures for independent newspapers are dropping by the day. He told Al-Monitor, “Before, I’d sell 300-400 copies of every issue of an [independent] newspaper, but now I hardly sell 15.”

Najm explained the reasons for the decline: “The KDP and PUK created many newspapers to undermine the free media. And they printed everything without any reliability. This has negatively affected the reputation of free media as well because readers have lost their trust in media in general.”

Despite the fact that independent media outlets, former opposition TV stations and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) itself are facing financial crises, another pro-KDP satellite TV station is opening. Kurdistan 24 will soon start broadcasting, and sources state that it will be funded by KRG head Massoud Barzani’s son Masrour Barzani, reportedly in response to Nechirvan Barzani’s Rudaw Network, which strongly promotes Nechirvan’s policies. The PUK also opened Kurdsat News, a new satellite TV station in response to Rudaw, in March.

Sardar Muhammad, the editor-in-chief of Awene who was recently listed as one of the #100InformationHeroes by Reporters Without Borders, is concerned about the media situation. He underscored, “The decline of free media is the decline of democracy.”

“Free media has been a hope for strengthening democracy. Unfortunately, because of different reasons, free media has stopped developing,” he told Al-Monitor. “Four years ago, our circulation was much better than now as TV stations appeared, and they are paid well by the political parties. Rudaw, for example, gathered some good journalists because it can pay them well. In the meantime, some partisan outlets are distributed for free. This has also negatively impacted our performance.”

Former opposition TV satellite stations are struggling to keep up. The Kurdish News Network (KNN), the Gorran movement’s station, announced recently that it will dismiss some of its journalists for lack of funding. Following KNN, Payam TV, the Islamic Group’s station, announced that it will stop broadcasting unless its viewers support it financially.

Faruq Ali, Payam TV’s general manager, told Al-Monitor that the network is experiencing a serious financial crisis as its sponsoring party is unable to pay as well as before.

The situation has media advocates concerned.

“Some media outlets are paid well on the public budget and this has made some pro-political parties and partisan media outlets do well, whereas independents can’t develop, all at the expense of democracy and free speech,” Rahman Ghareeb told Al-Monitor. He is the general coordinator of Metro, a Sulaimaniyah-based independent organization for defending freedom of speech.

Independent media outlets urgently need a plan. Harem Karem, a co-founder and editor of The Kurdistan Tribune, has proposed some regulations to invigorate and professionalize the media in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Regrettably, thelack of an effective regulatory body has paved the way for chaos. There is more echoing of one another, misinformation and unnecessary attribution to anonymous sources than grassroots journalism,” he told Al-Monitor. “Political parties as well as powerful individuals have established their own media outlets with large budgets, not only to have a favorable voice but also to defend themselves.”

Karem described his idea, saying, “An independent [nonpartisan] regulatory body — including a road map and organizational structure — would be based on the reality on the ground. The body will be set up and managed by the industry to organize and regulate the media and ensure that public interests are protected. The body’s primary objective would be to regularly examine the culture, practice and ethics of the domestic media; provide guidelines, code of conduct and training; enforce regulations and provide pre-publication advice to the media industry. I have spoken to the industry leaders, who are ready to support the project, but the question is: Will Prime Minister Barzani approve such a project?”

Al-Monitor asked Farsat Sofi, head of the KDP bloc in the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament, whether there are any projects in parliament to fund all media outlets without prejudice. Sofi said, “There are no projects, but parliament will support such initiatives.”

According to the Kurdistan Syndicate of Journalists, over 800 media outlets have been registered in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Of them, 153 are satellite TV stations, local TV stations and radio stations, while the remainder are daily and weekly newspapers and magazines.

Muhammad, Ghareeb and Ali unanimously agreed that the Iraqi Kurdish parliament should pass a bill granting funds to all media outlets unconditionally. Otherwise, independent media will continue to suffer.
Kamal Chomani
Contributor, Iraq Pulse

Kamal Chomani is a Kurdish journalist writing on the political affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government and covering Kurdish politics in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey for leading impartial Kurdish media outlets. Chomani has had a regular column for The Kurdistan Tribune since 2010. On Twitter: @KamalChomani
Original Al-Monitor Translations

New Nixon Documentary Highlights How Easily the White House Can Mislead the Press

August 5, 2014 By administrator

By Sarah Mimms

nationaljournal.com

August 4, 2014 In late 1971, the media portrayed Richard Nixon as a combatant in the war for women’s equality, pushing forcefully to appoint the first woman to the Supreme Court of the United States. But in reality, as his secret recordings reveal, Nixon never intended to seat a woman on the bench at all. As he would time and again during his presidency, Nixon used the media to promote a false narrative about himself. And the press was never the wiser.

The episode is one of many dissected in director Peter Kunhardt’s new HBO documentary, Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words, released this week just ahead 40th anniversary of Nixon’s resignation. Using only the secret tapes recorded by the president and media accounts from the time, the documentary offers a unique and personal perspective on one of the most studied presidencies in U.S. history, undiluted by modern analysis.

What emerges is a portrait of a deeply paranoid president, convinced that his “enemies”—most frequently, the press—were out to get him. And of course, eventually, they did.

Whereas most documentaries following the Nixon presidency focus on the Watergate scandal and the press’s involvement in his ultimate downfall, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are mentioned just once in “Nixon by Nixon.” Instead, the film uncovers the troubling ways in which the Nixon White House would manipulate reporters and just how much the press got wrong. The documentary raises questions about just how much the media can truly know, much less report, about any administration.

Take, for example, Nixon’s nominations to the Supreme Court. In September, 1971, two Supreme Court justices announced their resignations, giving Nixon an opportunity to shift the Court’s ideological lineup. His staff floated a list of possibilities to the press, including two women, either of whom would become the first female to serve on the Supreme Court.

The Nixon administration signaled publicly that the president would name Mildred Lillie, then a judge for the Second District Court of Appeals, to one of the seats. But listening to Nixon’s secret tapes on the matter, it becomes clear that both women were included merely to gain favor with the press and female voters ahead of the 1972 election.

But the media obsession over Lillie and her potentially historic appointment became too much for Nixon. In a recorded phone call, Nixon asks Attorney General John Mitchell to float some other names to the press, telling Mitchell: “I would like to sorta get off the woman kick if we can.” He even mentions the possibility of adding some Jewish names to the list, despite frequently using a four-letter slur in reference to them in his private phone calls and telling staff, in a separate conversation: “Most Jews are disloyal. You can’t trust the bastards.”

In the end, the American Bar Association ruled Lillie unqualified for the position and media reports portrayed Nixon as having suffered a minor defeat.

But the recordings make it clear: Nixon had no intention of appointing a woman to the Court. He repeatedly characterized women as too “emotional” for such a position and spoke repeatedly with Mitchell in the days leading up to the ABA’s decision to insure that the association would find Lille not qualified for the job. “He’s aware of the fact that we’re going to have to put it on them?” Nixon asked Mitchell, referring to then-ABA president Lawrence E. Walsh. ” … Let them take the rap for the women.”

Two days later, Nixon nominated two white men: Lewis F. Powell Jr. and William Rehnquist. In media footage, Nixon makes the announcement as if with a heavy heart, promising that one day soon a woman will serve on the Supreme Court. The crowd applauds.

This is the disturbing theme of Nixon by Nixon: that the president who told Henry Kissinger, “The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy. The press is the enemy,” was so often able to subvert the media establishment. It wasn’t just Lillie. Media clip after media clip from the era is followed immediately by a secret recording of the Nixon White House directly contradicting it, on everything from his connections to the Watergate scandal to the war in Vietnam.