Özkök’s resignation signals ‘end of an era’ in Turkish media

 Özkök, who has been at the center of numerous polemics in Turkey, surprised many when he announced his decision to resign from the post of editor-in-chief of the daily early this week. He said he would continue to work for the daily, the flagship of the Doğan Media Group, where he has been for the past two decades, as a columnist.

During his professional life, Özkök drew the ire of many with his newspaper’s attitude on the critical turning points of the country, mainly because he sided with the military and objected to any moves that would save the country from military tutelage and expand freedoms.

Özkök had to vacate his post because he failed to correctly read the developments taking place in Turkey in the last decade, said Ergun Babahan, a columnist for the Star daily who thinks the problems with Hürriyet are not limited to Özkök but extend to the boss, Aydın Doğan.

“The fact that Doğan used his media power for his interests in fields outside the media has brought the media to this point in Turkey. Özkök was an ideal figure for relations with weak governments for Doğan, whose business activities ranged from manufacturing paper and operating the Hilton Hotel to running oil companies. The single-party government spoiled this order. The Doğan media group, which continued to act in line with its old habits, thought that it would discipline the [Justice and Development Party (AK Party)] government by imposing pressure on it through its coverage. Their message was obvious: ‘If you do not act in line with what I say, I will ensure the closure of your party’,” explains Babahan.

When a closure case was filed against the AK Party over charges of “anti-secular activities,” in March 2008, Hürriyet ran many stories supporting the closure of the AK Party. The party was not closed down.

“The Doğan Media Group emerged from this fight with power, prestige and material loss. The changes at Hürriyet are also an indication of surrender,” added Babahan. Following Özkök’s resignation, Doğan, who was frequently involved in a war of words with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, also announced that he is pulling back into a passive role by resigning as chairman and member of the board of directors of the Doğan Media Group. In a statement on Wednesday the Doğan Group said the administrative structure of the company will be “simplified” and that the holding will be run by professional managers in the new era under the chairmanship of Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ, who will be stepping down from her position heading the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD) on Jan. 21.

Özkök’s decision to leave his seat is a milestone in Turkey and a snapshot of the end of an era in Turkish media, Aydoğan Vatandaş, a columnist for the Haber 7 news Web site, said.

With regard to Doğan’s stepping down, he said this shows Özkök and Doğan assumed the responsibility of an era together and that they shared the ultimate defeat.

“This is correct because no editor-in-chief would dare challenge a government without the support of their boss. In Özkök’s opposition to the government, Doğan’s economic interests and the influence of Doğan were in question,” he added.

In his view, Özkök’s leaving his post at Hürriyet is a sign that things are changing in Turkey, that a new plan or scenario is being put into action and that new players are being brought in for the new game.

“This will certainly have a domino effect,” remarked Vatandaş.

Özkök drew the ire of many when Hürriyet covered the passage of a bill in Parliament in 2008 that would have allowed covered students access to a university education with the headline “411 hands raised for chaos,” referring to the passage of the bill by a record number of deputies, 411, in the 550-seat Parliament.

The daily was severely criticized by democratic circles and the government for failing to show respect for the nation’s will, which was reflected through the passage of the bill in Parliament.

In addition, in the days before the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed military intervention that resulted in the overthrow of the coalition government led by the Islamist-leaning Welfare Party (RP), Özkök’s Hürriyet ran a large number of fabricated stories warning of Islamic fundamentalism. Some of these stories were cited as evidence by National Security Council (MGK) generals in a statement the council issued that led to the ousting of the government.

“I believe that Özkök’s heart is sincerely with the state, not the public. It is sincerely with authoritativeness, not liberties. It is sincerely with militarism, not civilian-ism. If you find this very harsh, let me say it in other words: When there is tension between these two groups, he has always sided with the former,” said Alper Görmüş, a columnist from the Taraf daily, in his Friday column.

He said Özkök’s biggest success was that the daily under his leadership fulfilled two opposite functions, as his newspaper played a significant role in the liberalization of social and private life in Turkey but at the same time prevented the political liberalization of the country.

In his farewell column, published last week, Özkök said he was leaving his post because he was tired and apologized for the mistakes he might have made during his time at the helm of the newspaper.