German Journalists Condemn Attack On Turkish Colleagues

Reactions are continuing to pour in after an attack on Turkish journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan and Ali Aslan in New York by the bodyguards of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with German media organizations strongly condemning the incident on Monday.

The Berlin German Journalists Association, the Union of German Journalists and Reporters Without Borders Germany (RSF Germany) spoke to Today's Zaman and expressed their concern over the increasing restrictions being placed on Turkish journalists. On Thursday, on the orders of Erdoğan's adviser Mustafa Varank, a group of bodyguards led by Erdoğan's nephew Ali Erdoğan first verbally then physically attacked the two journalists who were trying to cover a meeting between Erdoğan and US Vice President Joe Biden at the Peninsula Hotel in New York. They became the targets of Erdoğan's team because their newspapers -- the Zaman and Bugün dailies -- maintain a critical stance against the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government in Turkey.

Bernd Lammel, chairman of the Berlin German Journalists Association, told Today's Zaman that pressure on journalists has reached a level such that Turkish journalists are now attacked even in other countries. As chairman of an association with over 2,000 members, Lammel said what happened in New York rings alarm bells. “We do not want to get used to the prevention of journalists from doing their job in a country that aspires to become an EU member,” Lammel added. In line with similar reactions from Turkish and international media organizations, the Berlin-based association described the attack as “unacceptable.”

Union of German Journalists spokesperson Hendrik Zörner said critical questions are part of independent journalism and that journalists who ask such questions should not be considered targets. The union has 36,000 journalists as members.

Jens-Uwe Thomas, the spokesperson of RSF Germany, demanded the punishment of those who attacked the Turkish journalists while they were doing their jobs.

Prior to reactions from Germany, several Turkish media organizations, politicians and organizations -- such as Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the National Press Club -- condemned the attack, calling it a new low in the restrictions on critical journalism in Turkey by President Erdoğan. After being elected president, Erdoğan began to exclude critical journalists from official events and applied official restrictions on the attendance of such journalists at formal events under the name of “accreditation.”

Orhan Yaman (Cihan/Today's Zaman)