“Just for one week, try to write about only the good things politicians said about each other. Let’s see what happens then,” said Gül. His suggestion, which aimed to control those politicians who are involved in harsh polemics in Parliament, has been found to be unworkable by the members of the media.According to Vatan’s Okay Gönensin, Gül’s suggestion is not one that can be put into practice as he notes that the pro-government media outlets cover Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s statements as being “just,” while they cover the statements of his opponents to show how recklessly they speak. The same applies to anti-government media organs, Gönensin says, while commenting that the media organs which try to stay out of the polemics and approach them objectively are attacked by both circles. “The current political environment, which lacks any political civility, will exhaust our nation by the time of the general elections, which are to be held in one-and-a-half years. Perhaps some circles that fail to find solutions to important political issues are expecting to derive benefit from the exhaustion of society; however, the public reacts against the whole political structure without differentiating between parties at such times,” suggests Gönensin.
Sabah’s Emre Aköz, who was among the journalists accompanying Gül on his visit to India, argued that Gül’s suggestion to the media about lowering the tension in the country was actually a joke but that it was interpreted differently in Turkey, as some said Gül was campaigning for the next presidential election.
Radikal’s Akif Beki is also among those who find the practicality of Gül’s suggestion somewhat problematic and difficult for the media to do. He says even though the president tries to stay at an equal distance from all politicians as the head of state, this cannot be the case for the media. “The media try to understand whether an argument is newsworthy, who is on the right side and the wrong side and judge the parties’ arguments. And it is the nation that makes the final decision about those in conflict. I would like to say that we should not be afraid of such polemics. If the politicians didn’t quarrel, it would be impossible to notice the differences between them,” remarks Beki.
Milliyet’s Mehmet Tezkan also thinks Gül’s suggestion is not workable as it is impossible to control politicians through the media because this contradicts the mission of the media. “The best thing is not to interfere with the media,” says Tezkan.
