It’s no secret that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has an authoritarian bent of mind. And that includes his hatred of any criticism. That makes for a very hostile environment for the country’s journalists.
One of the country’s preeminent newspapers, Hurriyet, which has a liberal secularist outlook, suffered two attacks on its offices in Istanbul earlier this month.
Supporters of Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) broke office doors with stones and sticks, while yelling, “Allahu akbar.”
The mobs attempted to break into the buildings, presumably to attack Hurriyet’s reporters and editors, while the police took their time arriving on the scene.
AKP deputy Abdurrahim Boynukalin, who orchestrated the first attack on Sept. 6, remarked that the paper’s editor-in-chief, Sedat Ergin, should have been given a beating.
Asked whether his party plans to take disciplinary action against Boynukalın over his remarks,Interim Prime Minister and AKP Chairman Ahmet Davutoglu said that, while it was impossible for him to approve of such comments, he believes Boynukalin did not have bad intentions.
Erdogan himself criticized the daily on Sept. 8, claiming it had distorted some of his remarks in an interview, adding, “What kind of media outlet are you?” The second attack came that day.
Turkish prosecutors also said they were investigating Hurriyet for spreading “terrorist propaganda,” the semiofficial Anadolu News Agency reported.
“Hurriyet is Turkey’s most influential newspaper and a symbol of free journalism,” Ergin told broadcaster CNN Turk. “Attacks on any newspaper should be condemned, but the attack on a paper with this kind of identity will particularly be put as a black page in Turkey’s democratic history.”
The International Press Institute in a statement said that “an important line has been crossed” with the attack. “AKP leaders should denounce this attack and all those involved, and they should state clearly and strongly that violence is not an acceptable response.”
On Sept. 3, a Turkish prosecutor had already launched an investigation into Hurriyet columnist Ertugrul Ozkok to probe whether he insulted Erdogan in an article.
Scores of people have been charged and even arrested, with at least ten being convicted, for insulting Erdogan, since he was elected president in August 2014.
On Sept. 14, Turkish police raided the offices of Nokta news magazine after it featured a photo portraying Erdogan taking a selfie at a soldier’s funeral. The magazine’s lawyers argued that impounding the magazine without a proper court order was unlawful and stated that the country had taken yet another step back in terms of press freedom.
All this comes against the backdrop of renewed fighting between the Turkish Army and the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). On Sept. 6, the PKK killed 16 soldiers and 12 police officers. Since July, more than 110 Turkish security forces have been killed by PKK militants.
“While our nation is standing tall and our security forces have been conducting their struggle with sacrifices, each word and each manner aimed at demoralizing and confusing minds and depressing souls would solely serve terror’s goal,” Erdogan remarked on Sept. 8.
Boynukalın, too, has targeted Erdogan’s critics, claiming they support the PKK.
Erdogan has asked the Turkish electorate for a strong mandate in the forthcoming parliamentary election in order to combat the militants. “The place for settling accounts in democracies is the ballot box, elections,” he declared. “I believe on Nov. 1 our people will demand some are brought to account for what has happened.”
Erdogan hopes to increase his party’s majority from 341 seats to at least 400 out of 550, to enable him to amend the country’s constitution and give himself more power.
Henry Srebrnik is a professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
