Politicians Slam Media Crackdown, Arrest Of Samanyolu Manager

The opposition has sharply criticized the court decision to arrest Samanyolu TV General Manager Hidayet Karaca along with four of other producers and police officials, describing the decision as an assault on free media.

“There is consensus that the legal rights of the journalists and other media members who were detained on Dec. 14 were overlooked during their detentions,” said Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy Chairman Recep Dumanlı.

“The police raids and arrests of a number of journalists and media representatives and the detention of a TV producer are simply unacceptable in any real democracy. The [Justice and Development Party] AK Party needed to change the subject before the one-year anniversary of the largest corruption and bribery investigation in the history of the Turkish Republic [which went public on Dec. 17, 2013] and they did. Yet we have declared this week [Dec. 17-25] as corruption week. We will not let anyone forget this, whatever the consequences,” Dumanlı stated.

Nationalist Turkey Party (MTP) leader Ahmet Yılmaz who paid a visit to Zaman's Ankara office on Thursday, also expressed displeasure with Karaca's arrest, saying Turkey has never been a country where the media is free.

“Last week's operation and the arrest decision were the latest and most viable examples of oppression by the government. They [the government] embarked on this project just to prevent people from speaking about the corruption. Unfortunately, this oppression on the media will only continue to increase,” Yılmaz said.

Karaca and Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı were detained last weekend along with a number of other journalists, scriptwriters, producers and police officials in an operation largely viewed as a politically motivated crackdown on critical media. The court on Friday ruled to release Ekrem Dumanlı while arresting four others, including Karaca.

Given that the operation was held shortly before the anniversary of two sweeping graft probes that came to public attention on Dec. 17 and 25 of last year, speculation is rife that the operation is part of a government effort to stop the anniversary from being used as a springboard for popular protests.

Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Akif Hamzaçebi stated that there is an understanding in Turkey that journalism is a potential threat to the government. “That is why the media has always been under pressure. Today, the government wants to create a so-called illegal organization by using news, films, TV series and columns. But this will not succeed,” Hamzaçelebi said. “Today is the 36th anniversary of the Kahramanmaraş massacre. But the government is so busy producing fake projects that they cannot even care about the massacre,” Hamzaçelebi added.

After an explosion in a movie theater on Dec. 19, 1978, the building of the CHP -- which is supported by many Alevis -- in Kahramanmaraş was attacked. Counterattacks followed, resulting in the assassination of certain prominent figures and, eventually, the massacre of at least 111 Alevis, who were attacked in their homes. Martial law was then declared in the city.

Mustafa Ayan, the head of the Kayseri branch of the CHP, stated that the accusations against Karaca are a clear threat to free expression in Turkey and to anyone critical of its government. “No media members should be detained or arrested in this country. Yet, the detentions appear to be government retribution against media members reporting on corruption and criticizing the government,” Ayan said.

CHP Manisa deputy Özgür Özel criticized the AK Party government for having autocratic tendencies. “What the government is doing today is intimidating the entire Turkish media by detaining journalists and TV producers from a group. What we are witnessing is the creation of an autocracy.”

MHP Osmaniye deputy Hasan Hüseyin Türkoğlu accused the AK Party government of distracting the public from seeing the fact that the territorial integrity of the county is being threatened by the ongoing peace talks between the government and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). “Because of the latest detentions, the negotiations between the government and terrorists remain in the background. Thus, they are free to destroy the country out of the public's gaze,” Türkoğlu said.

“We have seen that film before. The fact that the court ruled for the arrest of four people, including Samanyolu TV General Manager Hidayet Karaca, is nothing but a shame to Turkey,” said Turkish Journalists Federation (TGF) Chairman Atilla Sertel.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)