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Fars: Erdogan’s policy towards Muslim nations of region is false

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The Syria incident showed that the real aim of Turkey in the region is to restore the Ottoman Empire, says an article by Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Slamming the dual and false policy of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan towards Muslim nations of the region, the Iranian news agency says, “After the incident between Erdogan and Israeli President Shimon Peres in Davos, nations fighting for their rights in the region were enthusiastic about such a step taken by Turkish Prime Minister, however, as the time showed, this step was not in the interests of Islam, but was a tactical move aimed at raising his authority in the region.”

“Ankara’s passivity in connection with the deaths of nine Turkish citizens in the Israeli naval attack on the Turkish flotilla revealed secret relationship between Turkey and Israel. Anticipating things, we can notice that in the initial period of Syria destabilization Turkish government with the consent of Israel sent its servicemen for training for sabotage operations to Tel Aviv.

So the real face of Erdogan and his government gets unmasked more and more every day. The Syria incident shows that the real aim of Turkey in the region is to restore the Ottoman Empire,” says the author.

Summing up the criticism of Turkish authorities, the Iranian news agency says, “If Turkey has proclaimed itself the defender and supporter of the fighting nations in the region, then why doesn’t it stop its relationship with Israel, why doesn’t it cancel the security agreements with this country? The scream of Gaza children is a serious ordeal for Erdogan and the Arab world, Erdogan’s allies. The future will show if their statements proclaiming that they are patrons of fighting nations are real.”

Turkish Prim minister Erdoğan tells Turkish journalists: don’t cover conflict with Kurds

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By Özgür Öğret and Nina Ognianova/CPJ Europe and  Central Asia Program Staff

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey  is known to lash out publicly at journalists of whose coverage he disapproves. He  has called on media owners and editors to discipline reporters and columnists critical  of his policies, particularly when it comes to the sensitive Kurdish issue. In  more than a few cases, to avoid trouble, newsroom managers have listened and  dismissed the staffers in question.

But Erdoğan’s most recent televised message to  the media crosses from reprimanding into directly instructing journalists to  stop covering the long-standing conflict between the Turkish Armed Forces and  the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This is unthinkable.

At a live TV debate on August 31, the prime  minister told journalists: “This [news about the conflict] must be ignored;  there is no other way.” He proceeded to claim that U.S., French, and British  media do not cover military action in Afghanistan. (This, of course, is untrue.  A simple Google news search of the keywords “coalition forces in Afghanistan”  returns 21,000 hits.)

Erdoğan brought up the recent kidnapping by the PKK of an opposition member of parliament, who was released two days  later in southeastern Turkey. The prime minister said he believed the  kidnapping had been staged and, by covering the incident, Turkish media served  as a propaganda platform for the PKK. “I really expect the media [to act] as  one hand, one heart,” Erdoğan said. “I want to come to an understanding with  you on this subject. This is a message to all the media. There are soldiers of  all the coalition forces in Afghanistan. There were 158 losses in the last  month, I received the numbers today. However, you cannot see this in either a  British newspaper or in a French one. However, when it is us, print media  covers it all.

“What are they [Turkish media] doing?” the  prime minister said. “The most important target of terrorism is propaganda.  [Terrorism] gets it done for free here. On whose side will the media be?”

Propaganda of terrorism is an umbrella term in  Turkey, where the legal system provides authorities with ample opportunity to  prosecute and imprison journalists, publishers, academics, activists, and  demonstrators on the vaguely defined charge. Dozens of journalists are in  prison in Turkey for their work, the vast majority of them on PKK and  terrorism-related charges.

The prime minister has publicly claimed a  commitment to freedom of the press and freedom of expression as pillars of a  democratic society, including in last week’s exclusive interview  with CNN journalist and CPJ board member Christiane Amanpour. But when he  equates media coverage with abetting terrorism, he sends a message to Turkey’s  judiciary and prosecutors to keep going after members of the press who cover  the sensitive Kurdish story.

In his August 31 statements, Erdoğan  specifically told the media to stop reporting on fallen Turkish soldiers, who  are officially recognized as “martyrs” by the Turkish state. When a journalist  pointed out that readers demand coverage of the issue, the prime minister was  straightforward: “Here, I believe that covering it even in small ways should be  put aside. It should not be covered at all.”

It’s of little surprise, then, that  pro-Kurdish local television station Gün TV is banned from broadcasting its  evening news programs for a week starting tomorrow. The program’s hosts were  also banned from appearing on air–not only on Gün TV but on any station–for the  same period. An astronomy documentary series will be aired instead of news,  local reports said. The ban was ordered by the High Board of Radio and  Television (RTÜK)–the state media regulator–on a complaint made by Mustafa  Toprak, the governor of Diyarbakir province, on request of local police. The  complaint reportedly said that Gün TV was involved in terrorist propaganda by  praising the PKK and its leaders, according to the local press.

Meanwhile, the  trial of more than 40 Kurdish journalists, charged with supporting  terrorism, continued for a third consecutive day in Istanbul today. The  accusations stem from media coverage of PKK activities.

Özgür Öğret is a Turkish freelance journalist and CPJ’s Istanbul correspondent.

Nina Ognianova is coordinator of CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia Program. A native of Bulgaria, Ognianova has led CPJ advocacy missions to Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.