Zaman Reporter Told Not To Attend Consulate Dinner In Strasbourg

A reporter with the Zaman daily was told not to attend a meeting with Turkey's chief EU negotiator, Volkan Bozkır, at Turkey's Consulate General in Strasbourg in the second case where a Zaman reporter abroad has been singled out by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government for exclusion from an event.

Former AK Party leader and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused the Hizmet movement, a social movement of which Zaman is an affiliate, of plotting to overthrow his AK Party government in response to corruption allegations implicating his inner circle.

Zaman's Strasbourg correspondent Mehmet Dinç, who was earlier told to leave an AK Party dinner held at the European Parliament, was told not to attend a meeting Bozkır will hold with journalists and representatives of Turkish civil society organizations. Dinç, who called the Consulate General, was told not to attend the event, although a statement released by the European Union Affairs Ministry claimed that the ministry was unaware of any accreditation issues concerning the event.

Strasbourg Consul General Serdar Cengiz invited civil society representatives and media members in Strasbourg to attend a dinner in honor of Bozkır. Dinç, who never received an invitation, was openly told not to attend the event, when he inquired for more detail about the dinner.

The correspondent's further inquiry indicated that Bozkır himself was not aware of the incident, consistent with the ministry's written statement.

This is not the first time Dinç has been asked to stay away from an AK Party-organized event. In July Dinç, who was following the Strasbourg program of EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, was asked to leave a dinner held by the AK Party and the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (AECR). The organizers at the time said the dinner was an invitation-only event and Dinç's name had not been included on the guest list, but the correspondent learnt that none of the other journalists attending had received official invitations.

Ferhan Köseoğlu (Cihan/Today's Zaman)