The core reason is that in Turkey governments try to create a pro-government media by using various measures, such as easing restrictions on media ownership, allowing media companies to participate in public tenders, doing favors for media bosses in public tenders, giving media bosses credits from public banks and other incentives, while the media companies that have investments and interests in a wide range of businesses try to squeeze as many favors as possible from governments with their media power (i.e., pro or anti-government news coverage). The current battle between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Aydın Doğan may be the fiercest of these battles so far, perhaps because no government has been as aggressive as the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in trying to promote a government-friendly media, while no media owner has so far been as greatly disappointed by the government as Doğan, a true media tycoon who owns nearly half of the Turkish media and collects nearly half of the total media advertising revenue. The Erdoğan-Doğan battle is, of course, also a reflection of the power struggle that is going on between the old and new elites of Turkey and their conflicting ideological orientations in an increasingly polarized political environment as municipal elections, to be held in March 2009, approach.
The battle broke out when the Doğan group carried the story of a serious corruption case being heard in the German courts. The German prosecutors have alleged that a Turkish charity association, named Deniz Feneri e. V., established in Germany to provide humanitarian aid, illegally transferred charity funds to certain individuals and companies known to be pro-AKP in Turkey. The story also alleged that Prime Minister Erdoğan had personally received some of the illegally transferred funds and that the AKP government had exercised "political pressure" on German authorities for the release of the defendants in the case. There is no proof for the former allegation, and the latter has been denied by German authorities.
Erdoğan responded to the coverage by accusing the Doğan group of spreading false news to damage him and his government because he and the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality, run by the AKP, had refused to issue illegal construction permits for a residential development Mr. Doğan wanted to build in central İstanbul. Erdoğan went on to threaten the Doğan group by making further disclosures about Doğan's other illegal dealings if his media did not correct the coverage about him, tacitly admitting to withholding evidence of crimes committed by Doğan. Erdoğan's ultimatum was protested by the IPI Turkish National Committee (whose members are mostly from the Doğan group) as "harassment and blackmail" of the media.
I do agree with Erdoğan that he and his government have not at all been treated fairly or objectively by the Doğan group, which like most other media groups, frequently distorts news coverage in accordance with the owner's political sympathies and business interests. But I disapprove of his engaging in a battle with Doğan for a number of reasons: First, for failing to immediately call for a full investigation into the Deniz Feneri affair, which is a very serious case of fraud. Secondly, for failing to go to court against the Doğan group instead of making threats that imply blackmail. And thirdly, for escalating political polarization, which threatens to further destabilize the already unstable Turkish political sphere, at a time when the country has to deal with serious challenges in both domestic and foreign policy.
If Erdoğan truly wants the media in Turkey to provide fair and objective news coverage and abide by professional ethics and principles, I suggest that the government should, without delay, initiate the following legislative measures, which may be expected to substantially improve the generally dismal situation: Ban media owners from participating in public tenders; introduce a cross-ownership ban that would not allow media bosses to own both print and broadcast media; make the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT) as independent as the BBC so that it can set the standards of quality journalism; and increase the limits on the shares of foreign investors in media companies.
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