The atmosphere is heavy regarding censorship phenomena in Turkish media
The climate in Turkey's media is oppressive, after the expulsion of an Azerbaijani journalist, the removal of news, and the distortion of a poll following the prime minister's intervention. At the same time, the Turkish public is strongly concerned by the new restrictions on Internet access.
The Turkish newspaper «Zaman» reveals that the editor of its English edition «Today’s Zaman» Mahir Zeinalov (a citizen of Azerbaijan), was expelled because of the criticism he directed at the Turkish prime minister via messages on Twitter. Specifically, the journalist had written that «the prosecutors demanded the arrest of persons linked to Al Qaeda, but the heads of the police services appointed by Prime Minister Erdogan did not implement the prosecutorial orders, resulting in the members of Al Qaeda escaping abroad».
The journalist, about 1.5 years ago, had married a Turkish woman and had a residence permit, while he had been working for four years in Turkey.
The process began when a complaint was filed to the prime minister's office that the journalist «made false statements against state and government officials».
Ultimately last Tuesday (February 4) the Turkish Ministry of the Interior approved the journalist's deportation.
Scandal prevails especially in the Turkish media sphere due to the revelation of telephone conversations from which it emerges that there was interference by Erdoğan in the poll published on March 15, 2013 by the pro‑government newspaper «Χαμπέρτουρκ».
In the first conversation the newspaper's director talks with the president of the media group to which the newspaper belongs, and in the second the president talks with the son of the Turkish prime minister, Bilal Erdoğan.
A poll that had been conducted on behalf of the newspaper showed reduced percentages for the pro-Kurdish Party of Peace and Democracy. The subject of the discussions was to remove three seats from the Nationalist Movement Party and add them to the percentage of the pro-Kurdish party.
Commenting on the issue, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahçeli said that «the media, although they should be impartial and independent, have become slaves. It appears that the internet gatekeepers have stepped in to hinder the freedom of information».
It is noted that a few days ago it was revealed that on June 4, 2013, Erdogan, while he was in Morocco, had called the address of the television channel of the same group (Kambertürk) asking that a statement by Bahceli regarding police violence in the incidents that had erupted during that period throughout Turkey, triggered by the protests in Taksim Square in Istanbul, not be broadcast.
Finally, the issue of the new Internet regulations is causing major reactions in Turkey. According to the regulations that were passed yesterday in the Turkish parliament, the responsible «Telecommunications Service» will have the ability to request immediate removal of content from websites, which must be done within four hours. However, it will also be able, using the same procedure, to shut down the website.
Source: protothema.gr
