Tension between media groups flares due to military plots

    The first hint of increased tension came from journalist Mehmet Ali Kışlalı, a columnist for the Radikal daily, in late December. The journalist claimed that the details of an ongoing search at the Special Forces Command would be delivered to “pro-government” media groups for publication soon. The search is being conducted by a civilian judge and prosecutor in two chambers of the command where confidential military documents are held. The chambers are referred to as the “cosmic room.” The search was initiated in late December after two military officers were detained on suspicion of plotting to assassinate Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.

“The information acquired will soon be leaked to pro-government media groups and other pro-government circles in a way to support their views. We will see how beneficial such a leakage will be in providing accurate information to the public,” Kışlalı told a Turkish daily.

Kışlalı also accused media groups he referred to as “pro-government” of misinforming the public through news reports that lack evidence and thus plausibility.

The phrase “pro-government media” is often used by columnists and intellectuals who are staunch opponents of the AK Party government in a bid to underrate their success in journalism on the grounds that their reports are aimed at serving as the “mouthpiece” of government policies.

Among “pro-government” newspapers, they cite Zaman, Taraf, Star, Bugün, Yeni Şafak and Vakit.

These newspapers are, however, applauded by most observers for their coverage of historic developments in the country, including an ongoing trial of Ergenekon suspects, alleged military plots to assassinate prominent politicians and civilians and governmental efforts to root out terror.

Ergenekon is a clandestine terrorist organization accused of working to create an atmosphere of chaos in the country in order to trigger a coup d’état. Dozens of its suspected members, including members of the military, journalists and businessmen, are currently in jail pending trial on charges of working to destroy the constitutional order of the state.

Some newspapers are, however, increasingly hesitant about sharing details with their readers on the Ergenekon case. They also failed to cover details of a report first published by the Taraf daily in November about a military plot to discredit the AK Party by assassinating prominent non-Muslim figures in Turkey and placing the blame for the killings on the government. The plan in question was detailed on a CD seized from the office of retired Maj. Levent Bektaş, who was arrested in April for suspected links to a large cache of ammunition unearthed during excavations on land owned by the İstek Foundation in İstanbul’s Poyrazköy district. According to the plan, the houses of non-Muslims were to be the targets of bombings, while the defenders of minority rights would be killed and all the blame would be put on religious people and the government.

Despite the fact that the plot, called the Cage Operation Action Plan, included subversive plans to create chaos in the country with the ultimate goal of ousting the government, newspapers from the Doğan Media Group, such as Hürriyet, Milliyet, Radikal and Vatan, as well as other newspapers such as Akşam, Haber Türk and Sabah, did not write a single word about Taraf’s report on subsequent days.

Only when detentions and arrests were later made regarding the plan and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked about it in a speech he delivered at his party’s parliamentary group meeting did these newspapers carry the news, days after it was first revealed.

In response to the “pro-government” label applied to his newspaper Star, columnist Mustafa Karaalioğlu stressed that honesty is the main principle in journalism. “Some newspapers and TV stations have refused to cover the Ergenekon probe since its launch. … The picture is very clear. They did not trace documents that would shed light on Turkey’s dark past. They did not question or wonder. They attempted to sentence Turkey to shady incidents until eternity. They turned a blind eye to various actual files. Put aside turning a blind eye to those files, they attempted to downplay them. When they were pushed into the corner, they tried to save themselves by complaining that they were not ‘leaked’ documents for news reports. However, all media groups, managing editors and even reporters know that this is not the case,” he remarked.

Some newspapers and online news portals complain that their rivals are forwarded documents about ongoing developments in the country by unidentified parties to be used in their reports.

Karaalioğlu also said if documents were not “leaked” to media organs and if media organs did not evaluate them in their reports, people would be unaware of the greatest scandals in both Turkey and the world at large.

Another Star columnist, Şamil Tayyar, penned a sarcastic column last week that questioned the definition of “pro-government media” and the “leakage of documents.”

“[Radikal’s Mehmet Ali] Kışlalı was right. The interrogation records of military officers Yusuf Akal, Erkan Yılmaz Büyükköprü and İbrahim Göze [accused of plotting to assassinate Arınç] were published in ‘pro-government newspapers.’ Let’s see which ones they are: Hürriyet, Milliyet, Radikal, Vatan and Sabah. … They did a good job, congratulations. My objection is to the definition of journalism in terms of the source of leakage. … So what? They can produce news of ‘secret’ interrogation records if they want. They are forwarded documents if they want,” Tayyar wrote.