Police Raid On Owner Of Critical Media Blasted By Int'l Journalism Associations

OKTAY YAMAN/ KADİR UYSALOĞLU/ / BERLIN
A police raid on the corporate headquarters of a critical media group has been harshly criticized by leading international journalism organizations and media outlets.
In a statement to Today's Zaman on Tuesday, Jo Glanville, the director of English PEN, said, “The international writers' organization PEN is gravely alarmed about the government's heavy-handed tactics against journalists in Turkey, including foreign correspondents.”
“At a time of high tension in the country and the region, it is vital that journalists are allowed to operate freely and gather information without intimidation or hindrance,” Glanville said.
On Tuesday morning auditors accompanied by the police raided the corporate headquarters of Koza İpek Holding as well as subsidiary companies in what the opposition and advocacy groups say is part of an intimidation campaign to muzzle free and independent media.
The Bugün and Millet dailies, TV stations Bugün TV and Kanaltürk and the website BGNNews.com are all subsidiaries of the İpek Media Group.
The raid on Koza İpek Holding that owns some critical media outlets came just two months before an early election slated for Nov. 1.

AEJ vice president: Raids resemble political harassment

In a statement to Today's Zaman, Association of European Journalists (AEJ) Vice President William Horsley criticized the raids against Koza İpek Holding, saying they “look like politically motivated harassment and an attempt by those in high political authority to misuse the powers of the state for their own advantage only weeks before a general election.”
Horsely, who is also the media freedom representative at the AEJ, said: “Turkey remains bound by its international obligations to protect media freedom and diversity. Such attempts to stifle critical voices and control the media sphere are not acceptable.”
“The Turkish government has already abused its power by unjustly arresting and jailing journalists, by censoring the Internet and by harassing and intimidating those who seek legitimately to hold public officials to account. These abuses, and all attempts to silence media outlets by official threats and the misuse of anti-terrorism or other laws, must stop immediately,” he added.

IPI says raid ‘troubling'

The International Press Institute (IPI) described the raid as “extremely troubling.”
“We are extremely troubled by today's news, which follows claims of an impending crackdown on news media outlets ahead of the Nov. 1 election,” IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M. Ellis said in a statement.
Underlining that the Turkish government urgently needs to recognize the absolutely vital role of free, independent media in a democracy, Ellis added: “These raids appear to be an attempt to pressure Koza İpek to induce self-censorship in its media holdings. Coupled with the recent bringing of terrorism charges against two British journalists reporting on clashes in southeast Turkey between government forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), they seem to be the latest steps in a broad campaign to intimidate and silence critical journalism.”
Ellis noted that IPI, in recommendations accompanying a special report issued in March, had specifically called on Turkey's government to end its use of financial regulatory agencies to pressure media outlets via raids such as those seen this morning. The report is available in English as well as Turkish.
Journalists Without Borders also said it was deeply concerned by the police raid on the media group.
In remarks to the Cihan news agency, Johann Bihr, the Eastern Europe and Asia director of the Paris-based independent journalist organization, said, “We are deeply concerned by the raid targeting the critical media.”
Holding President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responsible for the raid, Bihr said Erdoğan has increased pressure on dissident media outlets after the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lost power in the general election in June.
Erdoğan, one of the founders of the AK party, is concerned that he may go on trial due to allegations of many violations of the Constitution as well as corruption.
“Put an end to the violence targeting the critical media immediately, and keep within democratic limits,” Bihr added in a call to the government.
The current interim power-sharing government that will be in place until the early election in November is largely under the control of the AK Party.
Journalism associations from all over Europe have also condemned the raid in remarks to Cihan.
“I condemn the police raid on the dissident media in Turkey,” said Thomas Bruning, secretary-general of the Netherlands Association of Journalists.
Underlining that the raid is a tool which the government uses to intimidate the media, Bruning revealed he is not surprised by the move saying, “It is something expected from a regime that has, more and more, restricted the freedom of the press.”
Bruning called on the European Union to put in place measures against Turkey's pressure on critical media, warning that the country would otherwise rapidly move away from European norms and values.
Bruning also said they would meet with Turkish journalists in İstanbul in the coming months to discuss the pressure on the media.
Marios Lolos, the president of the Greek Photo-Reporters Association, described the police raid as “shameful.”
“This can't go on like this,” he said, noting that the government pressure on critical media has increased in Turkey in recent years. “We remain in solidarity with our colleagues in Turkey,” Lolos added.
The Russian Union of Journalists also described the raid as unacceptable. Rafael Rafael Huseynov, the secretary of the union, said the union condemns all kinds of pressure against the media.
Stressing that the media should not be under political pressure, Rafael Huseynov added, “The free media must not be silenced.”
The Union of Albanian Journalists similarly condemned the raid, saying it is worrying that the raid took place based on political motivations.
Noting that Turkey is among the countries with a low score in terms of media freedom, Aleksander Cipa, the president of the union, said: “This is quite worrying. The Union of Albanian Journalists calls on the political authority to guarantee freedom of the press.”
Michael Konken, the president of the Union of German Journalists, condemned the raid, saying, “The police raid is yet another example of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's policy of eliminating step by step freedom of the press in Turkey.”
In remarks to the Zaman daily, Konken added, “We strongly condemn the latest incident and demand that all journalists in Turkey be able to freely exercise their profession no matter in the media outlet they work for.” (Cihan/Today's Zaman)=