Erdoğan made this call following a protracted row between him and Doğan Media Group owner Aydın Doğan after Doğan's newspapers ran articles linking Erdoğan to a fraud case in a German-based charity organization, Deniz Feneri (Lighthouse). There are some who support Erdoğan on the grounds that he has the right to launch a counter campaign against newspapers that launched a smear campaign against him; however, others think that although Erdoğan had enough reasons to act as he did, he should not have done it because it will not serve as a means to fight those newspapers.According to Bugün's Mehmet Metiner, Erdoğan, who was speaking to his party members as party leader when he called for the boycott, has the right to do so as party leader. "The Doğan Media Group is engaging in a smear campaign against Erdoğan and his party before the upcoming local elections, and Erdoğan is to remain silent?" asks Metiner. Discussing the possible reason that prompted the Doğan Media Group to carry out such a smear campaign against Erdoğan, Metiner suggests that it is nothing more than an attempt to tarnish the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) image in the eyes of the public before the local elections and show that the AK Party's votes are decreasing despite reports to the contrary. In consideration of this, Metiner finds Erdoğan's boycott call very appropriate. What he thinks is being distorted in this debate is that some try to show Erdoğan as trying to take a certain media group under his control or threatening that media group. "It has nothing to do with this. The freedom of the press which they constantly make a fuss about is settled on an understanding that suggests 'I am accusing you and your party with false allegations; you prove your innocence.' It is not possible to talk about media ethics or honest journalism here," Metiner maintains.
Star's Ahmet Kekeç finds Erdoğan's boycott call wrong and considers it a futile attempt. "The prime minister may think differently. I do read newspapers publishing false news. I even bring them to my house and burst into laughter upon seeing the poor manipulative attempts of these newspapers," says Kekeç. While saying this, he draws attention to the silence of Doğan newspapers and their staff to the boycott of newspapers such as Milli Gazete, Yeni Şafak and Vakit in military buildings. "The boycott of these newspapers continues and the Doğan Media Group pen-slingers continue to remain silent," Kekeç says.
Hürriyet's Tufan Türenç, on the other hand, claims that Erdoğan's explicit boycott call of Doğan newspapers had a boomerang effect and people began to buy several Doğan newspapers at one time. What Türenç finds most significant about this debate is the fact that Erdoğan will go down in history as "the prime minister who boycotts newspapers." "This is a very honorable title he will leave to his grandchildren. I congratulate him," Türenç says, mockingly.
