TURKEY has the freest press in the world, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Friday, brushing off accusations that media freedoms were being eroded under his rule. “Nowhere in the world is the press freer than it is in Turkey. I’m very sure of myself when I say this,” he said in a televised speech to a conference in Ankara. “The press is so free in Turkey that one can make insults, slanders, defamation, racism and commit hate crimes that are not tolerated even in democratic countries. “I’ve personally experienced this, so has my family,” he added.
Turkey was the world’s top jailer of journalists in 2012 and 2013, ahead of Iran and China, according to the International Committee to Protect Journalists, before improving to tenth place this year. Erdogan’s comments came less than two weeks after police raids on opposition media linked to Erdogan’s arch-foe Fethullah Gulen prompted a furious reaction from the European Union. Erdogan has blamed Gulen for concocting stunning corruption allegations that emerged last year concerning ministers and his own inner circle that also touched his own son Bilal.
The remarks also coincided with the release pending trial of a 16-year-old schoolboy who was controversially arrested on charges of insulting Erdogan by accusing him of being the “chief of corruption”. But Erdogan said: “You cannot insult them (his family) like this in any other country. There is no limit to the insults (we receive). You cannot run such headlines in Europe or the US.” “Europeans accuse us as if such things never happen in their countries. No one raises their voice when journalists are detained in Europe”, said the Turkish President.
There is some truth that the press is reasonably tolerated. But there is law in Turkey that makes it a crime to insult the President or other governmental branches, punishable with upto four years in prison. Unfortunately, this law is most undemocratic and carries with it a tremendous potential for misuse – especially by those in power as has been demonstrated recently.
By arresting and jailing 16 year olds, the Turkish government have tried to show that any dissent would be suppressed. Unfortunately, this is not only bad for Turkey’s international image but is also not the type of behaviour which people expect from a democratically elected president. The best recourse for Turkey to be an example of modern democratic country.
