Government Defends Media Ban, Opposition Challenges It

The government has defended a media ban imposed on reporting about the work of a parliamentary commission established to investigate a major corruption scandal, even as the opposition has challenged the ban, appealing for an annulment of the court verdict for the ban.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ told reporters on Thursday the confidentiality of the investigation conducted by the commission should be protected, maintaining at the same time that the ban did not violate Parliament's bylaws, the legislation in effect or the Constitution.

The issue of a gag order by the Ankara 7th Court of Peace on Tuesday on reporting about the work of the commission sparked a major outcry in Turkey, prompting the opposition and several media outlets to declare that they will not comply with the ban.

Deputies of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) appealed, in two separate initiatives, to another court for the cancellation of the gag order, maintaining that the ban, which does away with freedom of the press, is unconstitutional.

Some media reports incorrectly claimed on Wednesday that the gag order had been issued upon the demand of Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, but it later turned out that it was Hakkı Köylü, the head of the corruption commission, who had submitted the petition for a media ban.

Köylü has also been heavily criticized by the opposition for submitting a petition for a gag order without consulting with opposition members of the commission.

The ban came just a day before four former Cabinet ministers who are allegedly involved in corruption began testifying before the commission on Wednesday.

Gürsel Tekin, secretary-general of the CHP, harshly criticized the ban, maintaining that the gag order was introduced to protect the thieves. Assuming that Parliament Speaker Çiçek was responsible for the ban, Tekin asked on Thursday: “How in the world can the head of a commission take such a decision without consulting with anyone, without any such decision [previously] taken by the commission?”

Describing the behavior of the head of the corruption commission as lawlessness bordering on banditry, Tekin vowed that the party would disregard the ban. “We will, before all else, violate your ban,” he told reporters in İstanbul.

For the ban, the court cited publications that it claimed violated the secrecy of the investigation and the principle of the presumption of innocence. The court's decision, which represents the first time that a media ban has been implemented on the work of a parliamentary investigation commission, is open to appeal.

In protest of the ban, the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) announced on Thursday its representative would no longer serve in the corruption commission.

Pervin Buldan, HDP parliamentary group deputy chairman, said at a press meeting in Parliament that they did not want to be part of a whitewashing process, given that the commission is not allowed to work properly.

Buldan, who underlined that the media ban would serve to hide the truth, said the commission resembles more of one which serves those based on political affiliations rather than like a proper investigation commission.

The gag order is valid until Dec. 27, 2014, when the corruption commission's mission will be completed.

The CHP has demanded that the head of the corruption commission withdraw from the commission. Speaking during a parliamentary press conference on Thursday, CHP Deputy Chairman Akif Hamzaçebi called on Köylü to resign from his position, accusing him of acting against the Constitution by demanding that the court impose the media.

Four former Cabinet ministers -- Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan, Interior Minister Muammer Güler, EU Affairs Minister Affairs Egemen Bağış and Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar -- left their posts under claims of corruption after a graft probe went public on Dec. 17 of last year.

Bayraktar had testified before the commission on Wednesday and Bağış on Thursday, while Çağlayan and Güler are to appear before the commission next week.

According to a report in the Diken news portal on Thursday, during his testimony before the commission, Bayraktar had difficulty answering questions on how Bayraktar İnşaat, a construction company run by his sons, managed to buy a plot of land worth TL 42 million ($19 million) in İstanbul's Koşuyolu neighborhood.

When Bayraktar said the company, which he had founded, bought the land after taking out a loan from a bank, he was reportedly told by the commission that no such loan appears in the bill of accounts of the company. Diken said the information was based on what was recounted by two members of the commission.

Members of the commission were surprised when the documents compiled by the prosecutor's office revealed that Rahmi Bayraktar, the younger brother of Bayraktar, has 29 accounts in two banks, Garanti Bankası and Ziraat Bankası.

When Bayraktar was asked to explain the deposits and withdrawals in his son's bank account, which were particularly numerous in 2013, the former minister reportedly failed to explain the reason behind the movements in the accounts.

Figures on media bans issued by courts, as announced by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, revealed that the number of gag orders issued last year had increased by four times compared to 2010.

In response to a parliamentary question, Arınç said in July that 149 gag orders had been imposed by courts since the beginning of 2010. Out of the total, only four gag orders were imposed in 2010, while the figure skyrocketed to 42 in 2013. In the first half of 2014, the number of media bans courts introduced is 24.

When some media reports incorrectly claimed on Wednesday that the gag order had been issued upon the demand of Parliament Speaker Çiçek, CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had harshly criticized Çiçek for the ban, implicitly accusing him of harming the prestige of Parliament.

Çiçek, who denied the claims later that day, saying he had not submitted the application to the court for media ban, criticized the CHP leader for speaking improperly.

In his response to Çiçek, who also spoke to a television channel on Thursday on the issue, Kılıçdaroğlu continued to criticize the Parliament speaker and demanded an apology from Çiçek.

Underlying that it is he who protects the prestige of Parliament, Kılıçdaroğlu maintained that Çiçek would not have made any correction about the news report on the ban on Wednesday if the CHP leader had not criticized him.

Some media outlets including Today's Zaman announced on Wednesday that they would not comply with the court's verdict.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)