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EU
Woos Turkey Amid Press Crackdown
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Originally published under the title "Turkey's 'Spies,'
EU's 'Human Rights'."
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Turkish
security forces inspect a truck that was smuggling weapons to Syria,
January 19, 2014.
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On January 19, 2014, the Turkish Gendarmerie command in
southern Turkey searched three
trucks heading for Syria. Accompanying the trucks were Turkish
intelligence officers; the trucks had a bizarre cargo: In the first
container, were 25-30 missiles or rockets and 10-15 crates loaded with
ammunition; in the second, 20-25 missiles or rockets, 20-25 crates of
mortar rounds and anti-aircraft ammunition in five or six sacks. The
crates had markings in the Cyrillic alphabet. One of the drivers
testified that the cargo had been loaded onto the trucks from a foreign
airplane at Ankara's Esenboga Airport and that, "We carried similar
loads several times before."
It was evident that the arms were bound for jihadists fighting against
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regional nemesis, Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad. Nearly two years later, Erdogan would nearly
confess to the arms shipments. "What does it matter if it [the
cargo] was arms or not," he said on November 24. The incident still
has grave consequences for some Turks.
In May 2015, the secular daily newspaper Cumhuriyet published
on its front page video and photographic evidence of arms deliveries by
the Turkish intelligence services to Islamist groups in Syria. A month
later, President Erdogan himself filed a criminal complaint against Cumhuriyet's
editor-in-chief, the prominent journalist, Can Dundar, and the
newspaper's Ankara bureau chief, Erdem Gul. In a public speech, Erdogan said:
"He who ran this story will pay heavily for it."
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Cumhuriyet
editor-in-chief, Can Dundar (right) and the paper's Ankara
representative, Erdem Gul (left) are in jail on charges of being
members of a terror organization, espionage, and revealing confidential
documents.
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On November 26, the journalists Dundar and Gul went to an Istanbul
prosecutor to testify. On the same day, they were arrested under a court
order. Their lawyers' two appeals
for their release were rejected.
They are being charged with being members of a terrorist organization;
espionage, and revealing state secrets. The prosecution has asked for
life sentences for both journalists. Still having nerves that remained
cool, Dundar mocked the judiciary by calling himself "an
inexperienced spy." Really, why would a spy publish secret material
in a newspaper instead of handing it over to his foreign controllers?
The journalists' arrest left the entire world speechless. Several
Western publications and institutions condemned their arrest. PEN
International called
for the immediate and unconditional release of both journalists and
"once again called on the Turkish authorities to drop any other
charges brought against Dundar for his legitimate expression as a
journalist and political commentator."
Turkey keeps on ridiculing itself while persecuting intellectuals and
journalists whom the ruling Islamists passionately wish would not exist
-- or think, or write. In the past, the European Union (EU) had some
leverage on member candidate Turkey, but in recent years, relations
between Ankara and Brussels have grown largely transactional.
As Dundar and Gul completed their 11th day in solitary
confinement, that human rights champion, the European Union, committed to
push forward the process towards Turkish EU membership and open five
accession chapters. To add insult to injury, the photo accompanying that news
shows European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker hugging Turkish
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Was the European President congratulating
the Turkish prime minister for catching and locking up two spies?
The EU, however, apparently does not give up on bolstering human
rights and civil liberties in candidate Turkey -- mostly, it ridicules
itself as Turkey does.
On December 6, the EU said
it will mark this year's Human Rights Day with movies addressing
individual rights, human dignity and the experiences of a varied group of
people, bringing 33 documentaries to audiences in Ankara. That was not
even a joke.
"In order to jointly reflect on these themes and highlight all
the values which form the foundation of the European Union, we bring you
the European Union Human Rights Film Days," reads an introductory
catalogue from the EU's Turkey Delegation. Perhaps the European
Commission's ambassador to Ankara should consider organizing a private
screening in the prison cells hosting journalists Dundar and Gul?
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Part
of the Gollum/Erdogan image for which Dr. Bilgin Ciftci is on trial in
Turkey.
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Apart from arresting its most prominent journalists for being
"spies" because they had run a scoop, Turkey, these days, has
the attention of the international community also for tasking a court
with determining if the former Hobbit Gollum (from The Lord of the
Rings) is good or evil.
Turkish doctor Bilgin Ciftci posted photos on Twitter juxtaposing
Gollum with Erdogan. He was immediately fired from the hospital where he
worked. Then he was brought to court for insulting Erdogan, an offense
punishable by up to four years in prison. His lawyers made a point about
Gollum not necessarily being evil. And then events took an even more
tragicomic turn.
The makers of The Lord of the Rings films, Peter Jackson, Fran
Walsh and Philippa Boyens, stated:
If the images are in fact the ones
forming the basis of this Turkish lawsuit, we can state categorically:
None of them feature the character known as Gollum. All of them are
images of the character called Smeagol ... Smeagol is a joyful, sweet
character. Smeagol does not lie, deceive, or attempt to manipulate
others. He is not evil, conniving, or malicious -- these personality
traits belong to Gollum, who should never be confused with Smeagol.
Smeagol would never dream of wielding power over those weaker than
himself. He is not a bully. In fact he's very loveable. This is why
audiences all over the world have warmed to his character.
Dr. Ciftci's trial has been adjourned until February 23, when his and Gollum's
fate will be decided.
All of that may sound surreal in saner parts of the world. In [EU
candidate!] Turkey, they are just bitter facts of life.
Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based
columnist for the Turkish paper Hurriyet Daily News and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.
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