The media landscape in Turkey today is virtually dominated by the ruling conservative Islamist party, but some ‘media’ persist in sailing against the current, despite pressure, threats of fines and arrests.
In the Sisli neighborhood of Istanbul, in a discreet chalet, the headquarters of the newspaper Birgun (One day) is located on the ground and first floor, founded in 2004, which sells 30,000 copies and has a recording studio for the broadcast of documentaries on the internet, all guaranteed by a team of 60 people, 35 journalists.
On the eve of the second round of the presidential elections on Sunday, the morning is hectic: one of its journalists in Ankara, Mustafa Bildircine, appears on the front page of the newspaper after being threatened with legal proceedings for “defamation”, following a article that denounced an alleged case of bribery from a family linked to power.
A common situation for many journalists in the face of the prolonged power of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP). In judicial processes, if the sentence lasts up to one year, it can become a fine, but if it exceeds two years, it implies imprisonment.
“With 20 years of AKP in power, some capitalist media groups started to control almost all the ‘media’. This trend existed before, but now the difference is that the media groups are controlled by the AKP. And in collusion with businessmen who are supporters of the ultra-liberal economy,” says Yasar Aydin, director of the publication, in his office.
On the wall, a frame with an illustration and the symbol of the newspaper, two arms, one blue and one red, reaching out and joining hands, symbolizing the ties between the newspaper and its readers.
Similar problems have plagued the day-to-day life of Bianet, an information agency located in Beyoglu, a neighborhood of Istanbul dating back to the last century and located near the famous Taksim Square.
Founded in 1999 and dedicated to the defense of human and minority rights, Bianet’s main funder is the Swedish news agency Sida.
“We have already been subject to forced blocking orders. Our former editor-in-chief was recently tried for insulting a former ‘lobbyist’ of President Erdogan. He was acquitted,” reveals the editor of the English-language service Volga. Kosçuoglu, 41. years old, plus editions and Turkish and Kurdish language.
At his side, the agency’s director general, Murat Inceoglu, recalls the recent arrest of a journalist from the Kurdish news agency Mesopotamia, also based in Beyoglu.
“During election periods, pressure and arrests have increased, particularly against Kurdish journalists. Violations of freedom of expression, blocking of access to websites, trials… we regularly publish reports that monitor the situation”, specifies Volga Kosçuoglu.
Birgun and Bianet, both engaged in a specific field of combat but with profoundly unequal weapons.
“The public Anatolian news agency (Anadolu) and the public television TRT have become an ideological instrument of the AKP. The state agency manages to cover 100% of the country’s population, it is the only communication instrument that manages to do so”, reveals the director of Birgún.
“Today, 90% of TV stations are controlled by the AKP and 85% of the press is owned or controlled by the party. They control them”, continues Yasar Aydin, before recalling that in the first two days after the devastating earthquakes of February 6, access to social networks was limited.
The class organization also reveals worrying signs: only 2% of Turkish journalists are organized in unions
“To form a union, at least 10% of the workers must adhere to the project, but the majority do not. For this reason, and in general, there are no collective contracts. Most of the people who try to organize unions end up being fired and left without a job,” said the director of the newspaper.
The newspaper has already brought 60 cases to trial, 20 journalists have been brought to trial, but the fact that they are organized in a union along with other newspapers, in a “solidarity network”, softens the impact of the government offensive.
“If the police intervene in a ‘media’, we allow them to use our media to continue their work. 5-10% of our budget goes to pay fines. If we make news about Erdogan’s palace, his family or around it, we are usually prosecuted and fined,” says Aydin.
A situation that is not unknown among Bianet journalists, despite the fact that repressive attitudes are discriminatory.
“We are relatively safe compared to Kurdish journalists. [que] are in a more fragile situation, they may face break-ins at their homes or offices. We are safer, firstly because we are Turks and because Sweden, a country of the European Union, supports us”, admits Volga Kosçuoglu.
“When there was an order to completely block our digital page, in 2019, it was news in all the international media, in the main news agencies, and it gave us some protection,” he adds. “Kurdish journalists don’t do much different work than we do, but the state can criminalize them more easily.”
Even the prospect of a victory for opposition candidate Kemal Kiliçdaroglu in next Sunday’s presidential election does not seem to cheer Bianet’s hosts.
“If Erdogan is defeated, who will replace him will not be much different, there are also racists among them. The anti-immigration leader Umit Ozdag, from the ultranationalist Victory Party (Zafer) announced an agreement with Kemal Kiliçdaroglu and will support him in the second round, bad signal”, laments CEO Murat Inceoglu. An opinion that does not find the consensus of the journalists who attend the conversation.
The funding of Bianet by a foreign agency has already been criticized by Turkish ultranationalist forces, who are threatening a law to suppress that support. “But organizations like ours are already being affected, part of the money they sent us is being diverted to Ukraine after the invasion of Russia,” they reveal.
Outside the Bianet headquarters is the Kurdish journalist Nedim Turfent, also a poet, arrested in 2016 for denouncing the police repression of workers in southeastern Turkey. He spent six years and seven months in prison, where dozens still remain.
Source: TSF
