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Turkey's
Free Speech Assault is Beyond 'Worrying'
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Originally published under the title "Turkey: Death to
Free Speech."
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A
criminal indictment was filed against Sedat Ergin (left),
editor-in-chief of the country's most influential newspaper, Hurriyet,
for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right).
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Defending his quest for an executive presidential system Turkish
President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan cited Hitler's Germany as an effective form of
government. Yes, he said, you can have the presidential system in a
unitary state as in Hitler's Germany. His office later claimed
that the president's "Hitler's Germany" metaphor had been
"distorted" by the media. Erdogan's words on Hitler's Germany
may or may not have been distorted, but the way he rules Turkey reminds
one powerfully of how Hitler ruled the Third Reich.
With or without a distortion of Erdogan's words, a criminal
indictment was filed against Sedat Ergin, editor-in-chief of the
country's most influential newspaper, Hurriyet. Prosecutors
demanded up to five years in prison for Ergin, for allegedly insulting
Erdogan. The indictment claims that Hurriyet insulted the
president by paraphrasing his Sept. 6, 2015 remarks about an attack by
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on the Iraqi border, which
killed 16 Turkish soldiers.
Such insane charges are no longer news in Erdogan's Turkey. On Jan.
11, prosecutors opened
a criminal investigation into the host and the producer of a popular
talk show on charges of "terrorist propaganda." The move came
after a caller, identifying herself as a schoolteacher, protested the
civilian casualties during recent security operations against the PKK. The
caller was urging the public to raise its voice against the deaths of
"unborn children, babies and mothers." She did not even mention
the PKK.
500 journalists were reportedly
fired in Turkey last year, while 70 others were subjected to physical
violence.
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According to a report by the Turkish Journalists Association, 500
journalists were fired in Turkey in 2015, while 70 others were
subjected to physical violence. Thirty journalists remain in prison,
mostly on terrorism charges. Needless to say, the unfortunate journalists
invariably are known to be critical of Erdogan.
Journalists are not the only ones threatened by a judiciary and law
enforcement apparatus staunchly loyal to Erdogan. On Jan. 15, police detained
scores of academics whom Erdogan had labeled "dark people"
for signing a declaration that denounced military operations against the
PKK.
Over 1,100 Turkish and 300 foreign academics signed the declaration
that Turkish prosecutors think "insulted the state and engaged in
terrorist propaganda on behalf of the PKK." Just before the arrests,
Erdogan decried the signatories and called on the judiciary to act
against the "treachery."
"Just because they have titles such as professor, doctor in front
of their names does not make them enlightened. These are dark
people," Erdogan said. "They are villains and vile because
those who side with the villains are villains themselves."
In their declaration, these "traitors" said they refused to
be "a party to the crime" and called on the government to halt
what they called a "massacre."
One convicted mafia leader, a notoriously nationalistic man, publicly
threatened the signatories that "we will take a shower in their
blood." Unlike the "terrorist" academics, he has not so
far been indicted for that threat.
"For Turkish democracy (whatever that is) this is yet another
low. It confirms that this is a 'democracy' with rapidly diminishing
freedom of speech. It is 'democracy' where the 'voice of the nation,'
which practically is the voice of the political majority and its
glorified leader, intimidates and silences dissenting voices," wrote
Hurriyet columnist Mustafa Akyol.
The Turkish Justice Ministry's statistics
perhaps best explain the huge democracy deficit in the Turkey of Erdogan.
Turkey's prisons have a total capacity to house 180,176 inmates. As of
January 13, Turkey had a total of 179,611 inmates, meaning that there
will not be any space if Turkish prosecutors detain just 565 more.
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Europe,
cherishing its "transactional" relations with Turkey, prefers
to look the other way.
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All of this is happening not in Germany of the late 1930s but in
Turkey of the 21st century.
Meanwhile, Europe, cherishing its "transactional" relations
with Turkey, prefers to look the other way and whistle.
All the European Union could say about the prosecution of the
academics who signed the declaration was that it is "extremely
worrying." Brussels cannot see that Turkish affairs passed the
threshold of "extremely worrying" a long time ago.
Prominent journalist Can Dundar, who has been in jail on terrorism
charges since Nov. 26, was right when he wrote
in an open letter to Italy's prime minister, Matteo Renzi, that
"the rapprochement between Turkey and the European Union over
refugees should not overshadow violations of fundamental rights and
freedoms in Turkey during the country's EU accession process."
In reality, Turkey's irregularities are too big to be hidden behind
the usual diplomatic words such as "concern" and
"worrying." Ahead of Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's
meeting in London with Britain's David Cameron, more than two dozen
prominent writers, including David Hare, Tom Stoppard, Hari Kunzru,
William Boyd, Ali Smith, Sarah Waters and Monica Ali, called on the
British prime minister to urge the Turkish government to halt its
crackdown on freedom of speech.
The English, Welsh and Scottish branches of PEN put
it in plain language: "Over the past five months, intimidation,
threats and even physical assaults against journalists, writers and
publishers have become the norm [in Turkey]."
Turkey is now more than "worrying."
Burak Bekdil is an Ankara-based
columnist for the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News and a fellow at the
Middle East Forum.
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