Turkish Media Outlets Have Become Mouthpiece of President Erdogan

A man reads Turkish newspaper with Erdogan photo — A man reads Turkish Al-Sabah newspaper bearing the headline “People’s Revolution” in Istanbul, April 17, 2017. Photo: AFP

Omar Sindi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Turkish Media outlets have become mouthpiece of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his AK Party governing apparatus!

For a while, overviewing and reading the Turkish news papers, from columnists to Op Ed writers, I observed no scintilla of evidence of criticisms of President Erdogan including but not limited to foreign policy, domestic agendas, transparency during election, nothing, period; however the last Turkish elections processing period was tainted and not cleanly reported by the other Media Outlets…

In a free society authorities must abide by the principle of freedom of the press (the whole coverage freedom of the press is beyond the scope of this narrative). Totalitarian dictatorship or authoritarian regimes don’t want to hear the press criticizing their actions, members of their family, or their cronies in any shape or form.

To a great degree, the Turkish press media outlets resembles the media outlets of the former Soviet Union and their Socialist Camps. During the Cold War era Soviet Union empire, they propagandized a utopian society that was going accordingly, but the reality was a dystopian society- far different. That time when one would not hear or read the internal Media Outlets criticizing government policy, foreign or domestic, is akin to what is currently happening in Russia, with President Vladimir Putin controlling the Russian media outlets.

“The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed a bill lifting lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution- a constitutional change likely to remove a pro-Kurdish opposition party from parliament. Lawmakers have until now enjoyed immunity from prosecution. The new law allows prosecutors to pursue any of the 138 members of parliament who are currently under investigation. Of those, 101 are from the HDP or Turkey’s main opposition party CHP ( Reuters in Istanbul 7 Jun 2016).” When authority takes away immunity from a member, it’s like taking the rights away from citizens that they represent in that country.

Pro-Turkey fighters are looting in the Kurdish of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), March 18, 2018. Photo: AFP

What happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul is a gruesome and abhorrent act, and those culprits should not go with impunity; the Turkish press went full attack on the Khashoggi case murder investigation, most likely because president Erdogan wanted to propagandize it for realpolitik, but there are perhaps many cases like Jamal Khashoggi’s murder inside and outside Turkey, but the Turkish press never or rarely mentions them. The Afrin City in Rojava Kurdistan is outside of the Turkish border, but is occupied by the Turkish army and their proxies -different factions of Islamic terrorist organizations who are operating inside Afrin. They are committing heinous crimes against civilians inside Afrin and the region.

Ethnic cleansing, kidnapping, raping… ISIS (Daesh) wounded terrorists were treated in Turkish hospitals, and it has been widely reported by other Media outlets, but not by the Turkish Media outlets. There are many academics, writers, and MPs that are in Turkish jails because of their dissent with President Erdogan’s policy, and the Turkish press do not mention these unfair actions taken by the current government. For decades, Turkey has become a spoiled kid in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It gets away with disregarding NATO’s democratic protocol and value. Rojava Kurdistan (Northern Syria) is more stable and more peaceful relative to the rest of Syria. The World Community and NATO should stand firm against the Turkish Invasion of Rojava Kurdistan. Stop adding insult to injury, Syrian people have suffered enough at the hands of dictators, reactionary movements, Islamic terrorists, kleptocrats… The Afrin city and its region was very peaceful before the Turkish invasion and is now destabilized…

Kurdish Phobia: The Kurdish people are not a threat to Turkey, nor to the Turkish people, but at the same time their rights cannot be denied too! In lieu of the war, dialogue must happen for the understanding of peace. How long will these people be at each other’s throats? The Kurdish issue is not a terrorism problem, no matter how much President Erdogan tries to propagandize this political discourse under cover of a terrorisms issue. Infact, the Kurds are fighting against the nihilistic ISIS (Daesh) in Iraq and in Syria. The Kurdish issue is a nationality issue and it cannot be solved military. The job of the media outlets is to promote the peace, and encourage politicians not to be loggerheads on the peace! politicians owe the future generations if they don’t provide political stability and a peaceful environment if they can!

“The Telegraph reports that Erdogan’s post-coup purge may force NATO to suspend Turkish membership: This prompted John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, to warn that Turkey faced suspension from NATO if it persisted with it ruthless purge. Membership of NATO requires countries to uphold certain democratic principles, and Mr. Kerry said the US will measure very carefully what is happening in Turkey.”

The Turkish press shouldn’t become so obsequious to President Erdogan and his Ak Party governing apparatus, as he signals in so many occasions a full scale war in Rojava Kurdistan. They should caution him on the status of a full scale invasion of Rojava Kurdistan. The situation could easily spiral out of control. They might bite something bigger than they can swallow in the mired Middle East power struggle. There are too many unknown factors in this equation.

Just like Sadistic Dictator Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in the early 1990’s. Saddam Hussein and his Ba’ath Party government had the chance to make peace with the Kurdish people in 1975, under the leadership of General Mustafa Barzani, and instead they chose to make a deal with the Shah of Iran; Iraq yielded the estuary of the Persian Gulf to Iran thinking the scheme would work, and the Kurdish issue in Iraq would be over.

After the downfall of Shah from power in Iran, the new Shia led regime came to power in Iran, and they were more ambitious in the regional hegemony than many political pundits thought they would be. Saddam thought to retake the estuary by the force – Saddam’s government went to war with Iran, a war that lasted for eight years, and an estimated millions of people were killed on both belligerent sides. Billions upon billions of dollars were spent, and the war ravaged both countries. About 15 years later, the misadventurous invasion into Kuwait ultimately caused his demise, the downfall of his Ba’ath Party from power and the destruction of Iraq…

There is an old expression saying that there is no perfect world. There is also a saying that there is no perfect media outlet. However, when a politician or political party get caught in a political scandal, or on corruption, they pay the price, and that is the job of press: To disclose things to the public, without the fear of prosecution. For example, in the United States, in 1972 the Republican President Richard Nixon’s associates were involved in a breaking in of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at Watergate office in Washington D.C. It’s known as the “Watergate Scandal”.

The American press investigated this unlawful act while President Richard Nixon’s administration resisted investigation and created constitutional crises in the U.S. The United States Congress stepped in, because this break in was against the US Law; of those who were involved, some of them went jail, and some of them resigned, and ultimately, President Richard Nixon was forced to resign.

The ongoing Russian probe interference into the 2016 presidential election in the US, by Robert Mueller and his team investigating President Donald Trump is a litmus test for the United States Constitution. However, many times before, the United States has faced constitutional crises, but each time they overcome!

When a media outlet becomes the mouthpiece of a politician or a political party, it’s morally blind, and the subsequent outcome is more terrifying than gratifying!

Omar Sindi, a senior writer, analyst and columnist for iKurd.net, Washington, United States.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.