Yes, even after 10 years of Justice and Development Party (AKP) governments, the transition still continues largely because the AKP has not implemented the institutional changes that are necessary for the betterment of democracy as some political actors use every opportunity to retain their benefits. The recent example of this is an international campaign which alleges that 100 journalists are being held in jail.
Let’s be honest about Turkey and the democratic standards of the country. We have many problems in terms of press freedom, etc. Yet, at the same time we should be honest about the international media campaign as well.
I would like to remind international observers of the most recent debate about press freedom in Turkey. You do remember it was about using taxation on media holdings to punish the opposition media? Those of you in Brussels and Washington, D.C., who closely monitor Turkey were concerned about what you heard in 2009, right? Many Turkish journalists paid frequent visits to Western capitals, media outlets, and told horrible stories about freedom of press in The Turkey, how the AKP government was using taxation to punish the media companies to silence the journalists, right? Many media institutions in the West published reports underlining their concerns on how bad the situation of press freedom in Turkey was, right? The European Commission even stressed the “fact” that the freedom of press and freedom of expression in Turkey were under threat, remember?
Did you ever wonder what happened after 2009, when you said all these things about freedom of the press in Turkey? Did Turkey pass a law to correct what was wrong in the system? No. Did the Turkish government take positive action towards the media? No. You don’t hear what has happened to the tax issue mostly because the complaints and concerns that were conveyed from Turkey to the Western capitals were part of a media campaign which, in turn, was part of a campaign of twisting the facts and presenting them as if everything was going downhill in Turkey. The aim of the campaign was not to defend the freedom of press but to defend a media group’s interests against the government.
What happened in the end was that media conglomerate Doğan Holding, which was behind the media campaign, sat down with the government, negotiated and agreed that everything was back to normal.
Is a media group reaching an agreement with the government alarming for freedom of press? Yes, indeed it is alarming, but not because of government pressure. Such deals, after all, are a common practice for Turkish media groups. That is my point, many of the complaints that you -- Western observers -- hear are part of campaigning by interest groups who are anything but advocating democracy as a whole.
Now I have a question to the institutions in the West that released many reports and statements underlining their concerns on press freedom in Turkey: What has happened to your words? Will you take a look what have you said and question whether there has been an improvement in Turkish policies toward press freedom on the particular issue you raised?
I am not accusing Western observers and institutions that raised their voice in concern for the freedom of the press as they merely reflected what they had heard from Turkish sources. Yet, what I want to emphasize for those who are monitoring Turkey is the fact that many things that you hear about Turkey are mostly related temporary political campaigning and are far from being sincere or from advocating real democracy.
Especially those who come from the secularist segment of society and who are now advocating “democracy and freedom of the press” in Western capitals are not advocating real democracy. Rather, they are lobbying for their own interests. Democracy or freedom of the press for them are just a nice cover they can hide behind.
The recent concern that was raised by Ece Temelkuran and other Kurdish-Turkish neo-nationalists are not related to real democratic demands but are a part of a hypocritical media campaign, nothing but crocodile tears.
Does it mean the Turkish democracy and press freedom are perfect in Turkey? No, not at all. It just means that those who are advocating “democracy” are usually nothing but liars.
You can’t build a genuine democracy unless you really have genuine democrats and a genuine fight for democracy. This is the problem in Turkey…
