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Time of India
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Turkey: Government silences last critical media outlets
AI generated image Turkey's freedom of expression and press freedom has been making headlines in Germany for years. The non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders has ranked Turkey 159 out of 180 countries in its global press freedom index 2025. At the moment, officially "only" four people are in prison for their journalistic activities. While this marks a significant drop from a few years ago, the government is constantly finding new ways to suppress independent journalism. For example, passports of media professionals released from prison have been withheld so they are not able to leave the country. Foreign journalists are also unable to work freely in Turkey, as the arrest of Swedish journalist Kaj Joakim Medin shows. According to estimates by reporters without borders and the international press institute (IPI), more than 95 per cent of Turkish media are considered to be close to the government. This means that they are either directly or indirectly run by business people loyal to the government. New wave of repression Observers report systematic interference in journalistic work. "The situation of media freedom in Turkey has been tense for 20 years," states Berk Esen, a political scientist at Sabanci university in Istanbul. The government's interventions have gradually worsened the situation. "The remaining mainstream broadcasters have been brought into line methodically over the past few years. What has remained is a handful of stations close to the opposition," says Esen. Now the political pressure has taken on a new form: Turkey's two largest TV stations critical of the government, Sözcü TV and Halk TV, will not be allowed to broadcast any programs for 10 days. The broadcasting ban came into force on Tuesday in accordance with a decision by the radio and television supreme council, or short, RTÜK. The decision was justified with the accusation of "incitement of the people". The ban of Halk TV is due to statements made by a studio guest on June 26. The guest had said: "Turkey is not becoming more religious, but more sectarian." In the case of Sözcü TV, RTÜK judged the live broadcast of the protests following the arrest of Istanbul mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu as "incitement to hatred and hostility," according to observers. Imamoglu has been in custody since March and is considered the most important opposition politician and a promising rival to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "The government intended to quickly weaken the opposition by arresting Imamoglu. That didn't work, Imamoglu has even become more popular with the government's opponents. That is why the government is changing its strategy and increasing the pressure on other areas," analyzes Esen. Criticism is no longer tolerated On Monday, one day before the ten-day broadcasting ban came into force, a court upheld the appeal by Halk TV's lawyers and suspended the enforcement for the time being. Nevertheless, the broadcasting bans are seen as a new escalation in the handling of press freedom. For the first time, two opposition broadcasters were silenced on the same day and for the same period of time. "With these punishments, RTÜK is trying to prevent the media from reporting on public affairs and suppress critical voices," the Turkish Journalists' Association, or TGC, stated. Also the deputy leader of the largest opposition party, Gökce Gökcen, expressed her outrage: "The broadcasting bans affect the very stations that have shown how unfounded the accusations against our local political representatives are. This is no coincidence. The fact that the [oppositional] Republican People's Party, or CHP, has become the strongest party in Turkey is being punished, and the press is being punished for reporting on it. In the end, the people themselves are being silenced." The CEO of Halk TV, Cafer Mahiroglu, warned that this step could be followed by the complete withdrawal of the broadcasting license. Also the European Parliament's rapporteur on Turkey, Nacho Sanchez Amor, wrote on X "I doubt even George Orwell could think of something like RTÜK! (...) Freedom of media speech are becoming a distant memory in Turkey. There is now a generation that never knew it and it's so sad." Increasing economic pressure The consequences of those bans are also serious in economic terms. Without advertising revenue, opposition broadcasters are basically unable to survive. "Media that report critically on the government are put under pressure with broadcasting bans and fines and weakened economically," the Turkish Journalists' Association said. According to the Media and Legal Studies Association (MLSA), RTÜK imposed fines totaling 124 million Turkish lira (around €4m at the exchange rate at the time) between 1 January 2023 and 30 June 2024 and ordered broadcasts to be interrupted in 1357 cases. In the first half of 2023 alone, five opposition broadcasters were fined around 20 million Turkish lira (around €1.5 m at the time), while pro-government media remained virtually untouched. A critical phase for Turkey The TV bans hit Turkey at a politically tense time: the peace process with the PKK is causing controversy. Furthermore, numerous high-ranking oppositional CHP politicians are in custody. The former mayor of Izmir, Tunc Soyer, has been under arrest since the weekend. Turkey's third-largest city is considered a CHP stronghold and was previously one of the last major cities in which an opposition party had a majority. "The government currently wants to control rather than eliminate. Of course, this could change in the future," analyst Esen told DW, adding that despite the extremely tense situation, press freedom could continue to worsen. "We haven't hit rock bottom yet," he fears.
The Guardian
27-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
BBC reporter arrested and deported from Turkey after covering protests
The BBC correspondent Mark Lowen has been arrested and deported from Turkey after reporting on the country's largest anti-government protests in years. The broadcaster said Lowen was arrested in Istanbul on Wednesday, having been there for several days to cover the protests, which were prompted by the arrest last week of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu. In a statement, the BBC said: 'This morning, the Turkish authorities deported BBC News correspondent Mark Lowen from Istanbul, having taken him from his hotel the previous day and detained him for 17 hours. Mark Lowen was in Turkey to report on the recent protests. He has been told he was deported for 'being a threat to public order'.' His deportation comes after other journalists were arrested amid the protests, in which thousands of people have taken to the streets across Turkey. So far, more than 1,850 people have been detained, including 11 journalists. İmamoğlu, seen as the main rival of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is being held on corruption charges, which he denies. His supporters claim his arrest is politically motivated. Mark Lowen said in a statement: 'To be detained and deported from the country where I previously lived for five years and for which I have such affection has been extremely distressing. Press freedom and impartial reporting are fundamental to any democracy.' Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, said Lowen's deportation was 'an extremely troubling incident and we will be making representations to the Turkish authorities'. She added: 'Mark is a very experienced correspondent with a deep knowledge of Turkey and no journalist should face this kind of treatment simply for doing their job. We will continue to report impartially and fairly on events in Turkey.' Turkish courts ordered the release of seven journalists on Wednesday. Separately, Turkey's broadcasting watchdog, RTÜK, has said it will impose a 10-day broadcast ban on the opposition TV channel Sözcü, after claims of incitement regarding its coverage of the protests.
The Guardian
26-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘It's disinformation': Turkish state TV avoids any coverage of mass street protests
At the same time as the sound of clanging pots and pans rang out through the streets of opposition strongholds in Istanbul on a recent evening, marking another mass anti-government demonstration, a different reality was being broadcast to viewers of Turkish pro-government channels. Public television showed the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, speaking to a gilded conference room after an iftar dinner. He boasted of his government's achievements, of hiring new teachers and attracting youth to an aerospace and technology conference. The pro-government cable channel NTV carried news of the efforts of the finance minister, Mehmet Şimşek, to stabilise the economy. Neither channel broadcast footage from the protests, which were sparked by the arrest of the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu. Neither did they interview protesters. Though NTV was running a headline that said hundreds of people had been arrested, mirroring statements made by the interior minister. Substantive coverage of the protests has instead been the preserve of the small slice of newspapers and cable channels that exist outside the well funded and slick pro-government broadcasting networks. The opposition-aligned newspaper Cumhuriyet, for instance, has carried news of the conditions inside a maximum-security facility where İmamoğlu has been held, and speeches by another opposition leader to rapturous crowds of thousands. 'This is the negative outcome of what Erdoğan has built for two decades, which is a highly polarised, toxic media environment,' said Erol Önderoğlu of Reporters Without Borders, pointing to the spread of cable channels and media companies with longstanding financial ties to the government. 'Erdoğan now controls about 85% of national and corporate media in Turkey, so we're not talking about a fair media environment where pluralism truly flourishes,' he said. This imbalance is laid bare in the coverage of the protests. Murat Somer, a political science professor who studies polarisation at Istanbul's Özyeğin University, said when pro-government channels do cover the opposition or demonstrators, they portray them as a threat. 'If you listen to the pro-government media, you are hearing that the protesters are a bunch of vandals who are insulting Erdoğan,' he said. Demonstrators are described as 'aggressive and hostile, but also weak and unable to accept that Imamoğlu has committed crimes'. Turkey's government media watchdog (RTÜK) has banned the broadcasting of live footage of the protests, although this sparked a row within the body, whose membership is designed to reflect the makeup of the Turkish parliament. İlhan Taşcı, an RTÜK official from the opposition, posted on X that bureaucrats called the managers of major television networks 'and issued threats that they stop live broadcasts or their licenses would be revoked'. The RTÜK president, Ebubekir Şahin, responded, telling Taşcı 'there is no need for disinformation. The state and its institutions will do what is necessary.' Live footage of the protests would dispel much of what the pro-government channels have said about them, said Somer. 'If there was live coverage, it would show a well-attended peaceful event – yesterday there were thousands of people singing and it almost looked like a concert,' he said. 'But they can't show this. It's disinformation, it's as simple as that.' This skewed coverage prompted opposition leader Özgür Özel and other members of his Republican People's party (CHP) to call for a boycott, targeting businesses that they claim have deep financial ties to the government or fund its media apparatus. The boycott list includes a popular coffee chain, Turkey's widely loved chocolate producer Ülker and media organisations including the state broadcaster. Özel has also called on the government to allow İmamoğlu's trial to be broadcast live. Ten photojournalists were detained in dawn raids this week, with several charged by prosecutors the following day and facing jail time. 'As we know, images are powerful, and with these latest protests we've seen so many remarkable ones in the international media, showing that Turkey's democracy is resisting with so many people in the streets again,' said media expert Emre Kızılkaya, of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. 'Some of the photos we've seen are documenting police brutality with remarkable visuals, and this may have alarmed the Turkish authorities.' Most Turkish people get their news from television, but overwhelming government control means the few channels critical of the government or loyal to the opposition are constantly weathering heavy fines from the regulators. This pressure has only increased since the protests began, including the live broadcast ban, further fines, and arrests targeting employees of opposition channels. Kızılkaya pointed to the crackdown on live broadcast and detentions of journalists who reported from the protests as preventing news that helps to 'capture the essence of these protests'. Opposition-aligned channels, he added, were unable to reflect the mood by interviewing demonstrators on the street or showing clashes with the police. 'Media organisations that are critical of the government see themselves as playing their last game,' he said. 'They see these protests as vital for the future of the right to properly inform the country … the future of journalism is on the line now.'
