Circle of repression expands: 90% of Turkish media under control of Erdogan and his aides

Amira Sherif

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s scandals continue day after day, as the French press organization Reporters Without Borders revealed in a report that 90% of Turkish media are either under the control of the Turkish president’s government or businessmen close to him, which has angered civil organizations defending public freedoms in the country.

Reporters Without Borders reported that during the year 2020, Turkish courts issued rulings to delete 1,358 news published in the local media that referred to Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law and former finance minister, in addition to his son Bilal, businessmen and prominent members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

According to media reports, Turkey is turning into a prison republic under Erdogan, where the number of new prisons doubles and is proportional to the increase in the number of those imprisoned by the Turkish security services, including prisoners of opinion, politics, the press, and defense of human rights.

According to statistics of the Turkish opposition parties, about 140 new prisons have been built in the last few years, as 14 prisons were built in 2014, 18 in 2015, 38 in 2016, 12 in 2017, 15 in 2018, 26 in 2019 and 18 in 2020, while 39 new prisons will be opened next year.

The head of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), Gökhan Dormus, considered that “the statements of the French organization are accurate and correct after the government controlled most of the media in the country.”

Dormus said, “The independent press has been facing great challenges and difficulties for years, as the Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK) and the Press Advertising Authority (BİK) have held them accountable and financially suspended them under the pretext of organizing the work of the media.”

“These two bodies are working to punish the media with orders from the government, and we have many examples. It imposed fines last January on independent newspapers, including the daily Evrensel, in addition to preventing them from publishing ads for a period of three days, which may lead to crises in these newspapers,” he added, explaining that journalists are also subjected to physical assaults, in addition to being arrested as a result of their coverage of the events.

“Up to now, the number of journalists and media workers who are behind bars has reached 67, yet other colleagues are seeking to preserve their profession and credibility despite government pressure,” he noted.

Dormus pointed out that “our union believes in democracy as a basis for freedom of the press, and that is why the authorities must stop threatening journalists and control the media through various companies. I believe we need in Turkey controls over media ownership, so that they do not fall into the hands of those who support the government, such as businessmen.”

The authorities’ closure of hundreds of media outlets during the failed coup attempt against Erdogan’s rule in mid-2016 also led to a decline in the role of non-governmental media.

Since the failed coup attempt, the authorities have arrested and conducted investigations with hundreds of journalists, and as a result dozens of them fled the country. Nevertheless, Turkish courts issued sentences in absentia against some of them, including well-known journalist Can Dundar, against whom the authorities issued several sentences in absentia with long prison terms.

Earlier last year, the German authorities revealed that there is a suspicion of the involvement of a company based in the state of Bavaria that provides the Turkish authorities with a program used to spy on dissidents and journalists.

The Turkish president continues his campaigns of arrests against opponents and journalists, as the spying scandal in which Ankara was implicated reveals the falsity of talking about democracy and freedoms in Turkey, as only tyrannical and repressive regimes resort to these methods.

Erdogan rejects any opposition voice inside or outside his party, and the recent espionage scandal confirms respect for the European Union’s position rejecting Turkey’s accession due to its lack of respect for human rights principles and its adoption of a policy of repression against opponents.

Tens of thousands of journalists, civil servants, military, politicians, civil society activists, lawyers, jurists and artists are arrested on fabricated charges, with many of them imprisoned on charges of insulting and demeaning the Turkish president, which reflects the enormity of Erdogan’s inflated ego, who uses oppression and imprisonment as a weapon at home, in addition invasion and occupation abroad.