A group of journalists from Turkey talked about press freedom in that country on February 15, 2012.
Event Summary:
Salih Memecan, chairman of the board of directors of the Media Association and a cartoonist, begins the discussion by explaining that as a journalist of experience in the Turkish media, he has witnessed the growing liberties of the press over the years. Memecan particularly mentions the media’s ability to discuss topics that were “taboo” a few years back. The Kurdish issue, for example, their demands for rights and the role of their language in Turkish society can be addressed more openly, as well as the Armenian genocide and the responsibilities for such massacres. Memecan remains cautiously optimistic, however, arguing that some of the journalists who are currently detained would not be in a more liberal country such as the United States. He emphasizes that “there are still issues, but we are on the right track and lobbying for it to be better. “ These imprisonments, he concludes, are particularly due to the military coups which have been omnipresent in recent Turkish history.
Ergun Babahan, a journalist for Today’s Zaman, initiates his portion of the discussion by comparing the history of civil rights in Turkey to the enslavement of African Americans. He explains that there has been in the past a systematic discrimination against certain segments of the population. “Now times have changed” and the growing Turkish middle class is demanding a greater political influence. It particularly advocates for the development of its liberties and education.
In the past, however, the old system resisted these changes, with military coups constantly countering these growing liberties. These repressive regimes established “military propaganda without discussing sensible issues.” As a result, Kurdish rights, the problems of mass incarceration and the Armenian genocide were ignored for many years. Journalists were under intense governmental pressure, and many were killed or imprisoned. Today, while “Turkey is not a perfect liberal democracy, it is improving”. The last assassination of political journalists resulted in the killers being brought to justice, showing a drastic improvement in the freedom of the press. Babahan even claims that “Turkey is a very free country now and you can write anything you wish to.”
Turkey’s problems in the future may lie in the fact that the government has become very strong, having been in power for 10 years and this may cause problems with the media. Moreover, the mainstream media is owned by several businessmen in the energy, mining and banking sectors who have an interest in the government remaining in power so they can secure contracts. The judiciary branch poses another issue because it often leads towards the security of the state rather than protecting the freedom of the press. If an event is allegedly endangering the stability of Turkish society, the justice system has proved to be willing to sacrifice the civil liberties of its citizens. The majority of the judges also do not abide by the EU Humans Rights court, even though its rulings are superior to Turkish domestic law. To Babahan, the structure of the judiciary needs time to change and “needs new and trained judges.”
He concludes by explaining that while freedom of expression is not limited in Turkey, the problems lie in the ownership structure of the mainstream media and the judiciary branch’s role in securing the media’s rights.
Deniz Ergurel, the secretary general of the media association, ends the discussion by focusing on the technological side of Turkey’s media. To him, the most important invention of our generation is the internet, because it “has changed how we communicate, how we inform ourselves and even how we find our soulmates.” As a result, it plays an important role in politics as well, seeing as Turkey has the 13th largest online community in the world. With an internet population of 35 million users, most of which are young, the internet has become an engaging influence. Twitter, in particular, “has become an important playground for opposition ideas.” It has offered a platform for public debates and criticisms. It is also used as a direct communication device between government officials and citizens. E-commerce as well has become a large market.
Although many websites have been banned in the past such as Youtube, many users are finding ways around these barriers. Ergurel emphasizes that “Turkey is one of the hottest places for the internet” which is resulting in a higher demand for quality content. Turkey, according to the journalist, is now a more vibrant, more open and more democratic society. He concludes that seeing as it is now impossible to prevent information from reaching people because of the internet, Turkey “cannot be a closed society.”
The three journalists then answered questions regarding military coups, the agenda of the AK party and the imprisonment of journalists.
Biographies:
SALİH MEMECAN
President of the Media Association
Cartoonist at Sabah Newspaper
Salih Memecan acquired his BA and MA in architecture from Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) and received his doctorate in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania as a Fulbright scholar. As a cartoonist for the Sabah daily, Memecan draws the cartoon strips Bizimcity and Sizinkiler. Bizimcity’s animated version appears on ATV prime-time news programs. Memecan’s cartoons are published in various magazines and newspapers abroad. He has had more than 50 books of cartoons published. As the chairman of the board of directors of the Media Association, Memecan directs the association’s long-term plans and represents the association at the highest level.
DENİZ ERGÜREL
Secretary General of the Media Association
Blogger, freelance journalist
Deniz Ergürel received his BA in communication from the Ege University of Turkey in 1999. He worked as an assistant program director at TV8 and as a producer in NTV between 1999 and 2001. In 2001, Ergürel moved to Mexico to work for a Turkish company as a sales manager in order to develop his professional work experience and his language skills. Between 2001 and 2008 he lived in Mexico, Brasil and USA. In 2008, Ergürel relocated to Turkey and served as an administrative director at a Turkish renewable energy company focused on solar energy. In 2010, he joined the Media Association as the founding Secretary General. His duties include the administration of the association, new project development and international relations. Mr. Ergürel speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese fluently. Since 2011 he works as a freelance journalist on new technologies and social media. His personal interests include digital journalism, photography and new media business models.
ERGUN BABAHAN
Columnist at Star Newspaper – Today’s Zaman
Commentator at 24 TV
Mr. Ergun Babahan received his BA in Law from Istanbul University Law Faculty in 1981. After completing his internship in Izmir Bar association, he worked as a freelance lawyer. In 1984 he joined Yeni Asır newspaper as a political news reporter and became the assistant managing editor until 1987
In 1987, Babahan, joined Söz newspaper as the founding staff and started working there as a managing editor. Later on, he worked in Hürriyet newspaper as a news editor for a year.
In 1988, he received a scholarship from John Knight Professional Journalism Program in Stanford University. Upon completing the program he started working in Sabah newspaper as an assistant managing editor. However, this only lasted a year, due to the other scholarship that Babahan received from Ford Foundation at University of Maryland at College Park and attended “A Seminar on American Foreign Policy Process”
Relocating to Turkey in 1991, he continued his work in Sabah newspaper as a managing editor and became the managing editor in chief until he joined Yeni Binyil newspaper in 2000 as the founder editor in chief.
In 2002, he became the Ankara Bureau Chief of Akşam newspaper. In August of the same year he re-joined to Sabah newspaper as editor in chief and columnist. Since 2010 he works at Star newspaper and Today’s Zaman as a columnist and also as a political commentator at 24 TV.