Author Topic: And the purges continue  (Read 5917 times)

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Offline JohnF

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And the purges continue
« on: April 26, 2017, 10:46:16 AM »
Another 1,000 folks arrested today from a list containing over 3,000 names.  This coming on the day it was announced by Reporters Without Borders that Turkey has dropped four points in their rankings, to 155 out of 180 in their Press Freedom Index.

They say:

The witchhunt waged by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government against its media critics has come to a head since the abortive coup of July 2016. The authorities have used their fight against “terrorism” as grounds for an unprecedented purge. A state of emergency has allowed them to eliminate dozens of media outlets at the stroke of a pen, reducing pluralism to a handful of low-circulation publications. Dozens of journalists have been imprisoned without trial, turning Turkey into the world’s biggest prison for media personnel. Those still free are exposed to other forms of arbitrary treatment including waves of trials, withdrawal of press cards, cancellation of passports, and seizure of assets. Censorship of online social networks has also reached unprecedented levels. More

Murat Yetkin wrote a decent article in the TDN, as he says:

Unfortunately, we are living in a world where journalism is not getting more difficult but more dangerous – to the extent that journalistic associations have launched an award journalists working under difficult circumstances.

Doğan Tılıç is an experienced Turkish journalist (and also a part-time academic on communications) who has been working as the Ankara bureau chief of the Spanish News Agency (EFE) for nearly three decades. He is also active in national and international journalism associations, including leading positions in the Association of European Journalists (AEJ); he received the UNESCO Press Freedom award in 2016.

Tılıç is now among the top three finalists in Spain’s prestigious Cirilo Rodriguez journalism award for 2017, together with EFE’s Istanbul correspondent, Ilya Topper. Other finalists include Carlos Frangillo, the Washington correspondent of TVE who worked for years in Russia before, and El Mundo’s Garcia Prieto, who reported for years from Russia, Israel, Iraq, Syria and Thailand as a woman war reporter.
More

Now that the power will be in the hands of one man, I suspect Turkey will finish up somewhere between North Korea and China in next years Press Freedom Index.  I hope Mr Yetkin has a plan B, given some of his criticism recently of the ruling party.

JF


Offline Colwyn

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2017, 11:10:43 AM »
"Nowhere in the world is the press freer than it is in Turkey. I’m very sure of myself when I say this. The press is so free in Turkey that one can make insults, slander, defamation, racism and commit hate crimes that are not tolerated even in democratic countries," {R.T. Erdogan, December 2014}.

“Erdogan directly or indirectly controls 80% of the media in Turkey,” {E.Onderoglu, Turkish Representative: Journalists Without Borders, 2017}.
[The Public Prosecutor has called for a 14 year prison sentence for Onderoglu]

Offline JohnF

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2017, 11:31:17 AM »
"Speaking at one of his regular meetings with muhtars [neighborhood heads] at the presidential palace in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdoğan said: “I say, ‘Give me the list of jailed journalists.’ I look at the list and see that all of them are thieves, child abusers or terrorists."

The problem is that a lot of folks believe him.  Unfortunately for the journalists, the important ones who "believe" him are his hand picked judges and prosecutors.

JF


Offline incir

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2017, 14:43:29 PM »
And it's only going to get worse:(

Offline JohnF

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Offline kevin3

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2017, 17:19:47 PM »

Offline Jacqui Harvey

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2017, 20:01:57 PM »
The more we read these posts the more we are thinking of selling up.  Very sad as we do love the place so much.  ;D :o :'(

Offline Ian

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2017, 20:23:39 PM »
It was a factor in our decision to sell our beautiful home in Calis.

I cannot accept living in a country where the government suppresses "freedom of speech" and locks up (and worse - as he will next try to bring the death penalty back) people that speak out - so sad  :(

Offline patrice

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2017, 22:47:45 PM »
Ditto Ian

Offline JohnF

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Re: And the purges continue
« Reply #9 on: April 30, 2017, 11:05:55 AM »
Another 1,600 or so arrested yesterday and 4,000 folks dismissed from their jobs - Ministry of Justice workers, members of armed forces and a hundred or so air force pilots.

Mainstream media (BBC, CNN etc) all now appear to be picking up on purges, and now calling these dismissals and arrests by that term.

Oh and lets not forget the ban on TV dating shows...  not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing  :)

JF




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