Press freedom around the world is under severe threat, and it is getting worse as time goes by. Turkey is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Even though journalism is a tough occupation, it is more stringent in countries like Turkey, which are ruled by restrictive governments. Turkey continues to implement injustices against journalists that need to be addressed.
“There are few news channels left in Turkey which try to do their job objectively.”
According to researchers, TV is the primary source of news for Turkish society. Thus, having diverse and objective news channels is essential in creating a coherent community. However, what is done today on Turkish news channels is the opposite.
News channels are mostly managed by the government or reflect governmental interests. In such an environment, it gets harder to reach the truth. Hence, society gets confused about how to react and when to speak up.
Money and governmental constraints are the main reasons why numerous news channels have a large degree of bias; however, this shouldn’t lead to such unethical decisions.
There are few news channels left in Turkey which try to do their job objectively. Two of these channels are Tele1 TV and Halk TV. Both of these channels face threats, penalties and humiliations because of their refusal to adhere to governmental constraints.
On 16th June, Halk TV presenter Ayşenur Aslan said, “when trapped inside, they immediately turn their eyes to the outside. Yesterday, for example, Operation claw, we dropped bombs in northern Iraq…. now I’m ashamed.”
Because of this statement, RTÜK (Radio and Television Supreme Council) expressed that her and her guest broke the rule of, “The existence and independence of the state of the Republic of Turkey, the indivisible integrity of the state with its country and nation, can not be contrary to the principles and reforms of Atatürk.”
In one of the religious programs on Tele 1 TV, the guest Cemil Kılıç, who’s a theologist, used rhetoric which disturbed RTÜK.
“What’s interesting now is that the picture of the president is mirrored here under the God writing. Look, they all tied their hands as if they were going to stand in prayer, and they all turned towards the president Cemil said on the programme.”
This statement was found guilty of breaching the rules because of the, “Serious accusations [which] have been made against our President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Religious Affairs Department, which may cause feelings of hatred and hatred in the community.”
On 1st July, Tele1 TV and Halk TV were penalized with a ‘blackout’ for 5 days. This decision was voted on by RTÜK. The majority of RTÜK’s committee consists of right-wing members who are, therefore, an example of the current bureaucracy in Turkey.
In-egalitarian party representation in the committee helps cause the profitable decisions that the government make. İlhan Taşçı, one of the left-wing committee members of RTÜK, recently tweeted about the RTÜK’s unfair decision making process: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “we will get rid of the media virus” words made his second leg of the operation aimed at cutting the voice of television channels trying to make dissent, original and free broadcasting at RTÜK. It was the first stage of this process to make sanctions against the penalties that could result in TV shutdowns. At today’s Supreme Board meeting, TELE 1 and Halk TV were sentenced to five days of suspension. The decision was made by majority vote.
Additionally, lots of people from diverse occupations have expressed their disagreement with this outdated judgement, including:
Future Party (Gelecek Partisi) Deputy Chairman Selçuk Özdağ: “The AKP set out in the name of freedom of opinion before it was founded in 2002. I’m afraid he’s out of class today. In democracies, there must be self-criticism, there must be criticism. Unfortunately, we see that they can’t tolerate different ideas.”
CHP Group Deputy Chairman Engin Özkoç: “The freedom of the press means that the voice of a person living in Turkey is being heard objectively in every sense. The first task of a journalist was to make accurate reporting by paying attention to all things professional moral. That’s what Halk TV did… the sad thing is we really doubt that these are conspiracies. We’re terribly uncomfortable here… I declare that we will resist this fist vigorously.”
Most importantly, the Association of Journalists (Gazeteciler Cemiyeti) draw attention to the points that are essential for a democratic state, speaking about how “RTÜK continues to block the public’s right to receive news. The penalties imposed on Tele1 TV and Halk TV prevent media organizations from communicating public matters. RTÜK decisions cannot be contrary to the requirements of democratic society order and the principles of moderation. The measure of democratic society should be interpreted in a contemporary and libertarian way.”
While impartial news channels encounter punishment, biased channels don’t get in trouble with the government; even though, they were reported far more than Tele 1, Halk TV and their counterparts by audiences to RTÜK.
“According to the 2020 World Press Freedom Index of RSF, Turkey takes the 154th place out of 180 countries.”
The Turkish government and its related organizations pose significant threats to press and media freedom in Turkey. According to the 2020 ‘World Press Freedom Index’ of RSF, Turkey takes the 154th place out of 180 countries. Thus, the journalism sector in Turkey is currently in a very difficult situation.
It has been encouraging to see lots of passionate and consistent individuals on various platforms. Additionally, the efforts of non-profit organizations, on both national and international levels, play an essential part in defending the freedom of the press and its contributors. I believe that the first step that we need to take is to embrace the independent press and media if we want to make a difference in this area. The second thing is being aware of our power and voice, because, in the 21st century, everyone can be a journalist and how we will use this opportunity will make a difference.
Bersun Kılınç
Featured Image courtesy of @kushagrakevat via Unsplash.