As of: February 9, 2024, 5:01 p.m
By: Erkan Pehlivan
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Press
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to arrest journalists.
© dpa
Freedom of the press continues to be suppressed in Turkey.
Exiled journalists in Germany are also affected.
IPPEN.MEDIA spoke to two of them.
Ankara – Turkey ranks 165th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RoG) press freedom index.
The reason for this is the ongoing suppression of the press and free speech.
Anyone who criticizes President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his government or people close to him will have problems.
This is also shown by current figures from other non-governmental organizations.
According to the Turkish non-governmental organization “Media and Law Studies Association” (MLSA), a total of 1,401 websites were blocked on the Internet in January 2024 alone.
Most of the blocked messages dealt with allegations of corruption and irregularities related to ties to the ruling AKP party.
The blocked content includes reports about Deputy Justice Minister Ramazan Can and Fahrettin Poyraz, a former MP from Bilecik's AK Party.
Exiled journalists in Germany targeted by Erdogan's justice system
The journalist Cevheri Güven, who lives in exile in Germany, is also among those who are being targeted by the Turkish justice system.
People in Turkey have not been able to access his pages on X, Facebook and YouTube for a long time.
The content on Güven's social media pages is explosive.
Corruption, nepotism and connections to the mafia within the inner circle of Erdogan and his ministers are repeatedly highlighted there.
YouTube blocks the videos of exiled journalist Cevheri Güven.
© private
In an interview with
fr.de
from
IPPEN.MEDIA
, Güven is outraged by the international corporations that bow to the Turkish judiciary and thus to Erdogan's dictates: "Facebook, X and YouTube follow Turkey's decisions that restrict freedom of expression," said the journalist.
“My X account with 550,000 followers was blocked in Turkey.
My YouTube channel is also blocked in Turkey.” The corporations have economic interests.
Apparently they don't want to mess with the powerful man in Ankara.
Güven to
fr.de
: “The platforms think commercially and work with the Turkish government to destroy the freedom of expression of journalists in exile, the only alternative for the Turkish people.”
In the past, Erdogan had threatened companies to open a representative office in Turkey.
Anyone who doesn't comply with this should initially receive less bandwidth and later no longer be able to receive anything from Turkey.
A method Erdogan used to bring social media under control.
Court rulings are implemented in this way and, above all, quickly.
Autocensorship and fear of Erdogan
But it's not just the Internet in Turkey that is under strict control by the Turkish judiciary.
The press is also feeling the wrath of the Turkish government.
According to a report by the Turkish organization Dicle Firat Gazeteciler Dernegi, 280 members of the press had to appear in court 821 times.
26 of them are said to have been arrested last year.
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Compared to previous years, the number of arrests has decreased, says Can Dündar in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
But one should not be deceived, says the journalist from Turkey, who also lives in German exile: “The decline in the number of imprisoned journalists is not due to the fact that Turkey has become more democratic.
The pressure on journalists and the media has been great for years.
Many journalists have either left their profession or left the country.
Some are in prison, others have been released.”
On the other hand, it is also because members of the press in Turkey are no longer as critical as they used to be - out of self-protection.
“A significant number of them practice self-censorship to avoid being attacked or imprisoned.
Opposition television channels were repeatedly shut down and heavily fined.
Under these conditions, of course, you don’t go into sensitive topics and think twice about critical reporting,” says Dündar.
Dündar is editor-in-chief of the online medium “Özgürüz” (in German: We are free).
As one of the last free media outlets, the reporters can still provide independent reporting from several cities in Turkey.
This medium is also in the sights of the Turkish government because it also reports critically about the country and those in power.
Further repression against the press can be expected in Turkey
Especially in view of the upcoming local elections on March 31st, Erdogan will not be able to afford to have his activities reported on.
The Turkish ruler desperately wants to recapture the metropolis of Istanbul and also the capital Ankara from the CHP.
Therefore, further repression against journalists in Turkey is to be expected.
(Erkan Pehlivan)