(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"No one is working for Zaman in Ankara now. They have fired all the journalists and correspondents, ”says journalist Servet Yanatma (35) in Turkey's capital Ankara.
For over 13 years, Yanatma, who has a doctorate in journalism and history, has written for Zaman. The newspaper is one of Turkey's largest, with a daily circulation of almost 700. On Friday 000 April, he and close to 29 other journalists from Zaman and the news agency Cihan were out of work, in addition to several editors in the newspaper's English language edition.
“A staff manager from the Istanbul office came to our office. Each one was invited to a meeting, where they were told to leave the newspaper. Everyone was told this on the same day, ”explains Yanatma, who recently returned to Ankara after one year as a fellow at the Reuters Institute for Journalism Studies at the University of Oxford.
The dismissals come in the wake of the government's takeover of the newspaper in March, when Turkish police stormed the editorial offices in Istanbul using tear gas and water cannons. The 50 journalists and correspondents at the Ankara office have until now continued to work after the acquisition. Yanatma says that the content of the government-critical newspaper has changed dramatically overnight, and that it has subsequently lost thousands of readers.
“The newspaper now bases all content on government-friendly news sources. The authorities use different tactics to gain control and ownership of the media in Turkey. The situation is getting worse with each passing day, ”he says.
More and more newspapers and media houses are being taken over and controlled by the Turkish authorities (see fact box). According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ), the newspaper's journalists in Istanbul have also witnessed rebel police arresting their colleagues.
“The prosecution appoints so-called chiefs to control media houses and newspapers. They use terror charges against the media houses to take control – but everyone knows that it is politically motivated, ”Yanatma emphasizes.
Angry. Yanatma began his career as a journalist at the same time as the Justice and Development Party (AKP) took over government power in November 2002, when the party's founder Recep Taayyip Erdogan was installed as prime minister in 2003, and later president in 2014. He stresses that he does not want to name government members. or other political leadership in the interview with Ny Tid.
He describes several ways in which the government is gagging the press. Government-critical journalists, for example, are denied access to press conferences. Yanatma also refers to various situations where government members threaten and hang government-critical journalists on live broadcasts, and that journalists are intimidated into silence and self-censorship.
"The more power the government gets, the more authoritarian they become. The really big change in the pressure on the media came after the massive corruption investigation and revelation in December 2013, when three ministers in the government were forced to resign. "
In the wake of these incidents, the government increased pressure on and harassment of media owners and journalists, to gain control of the flow of public information, and to prevent critical debate on corruption investigations.
"Of course I'm angry, but I have hope. Like me, most of my colleagues are angry. And they are desperate that they can not do anything about it. They know they can lose their jobs if they ask critical questions. "
Pressure cookers. "When freedom of speech stops working, you get a pressure cooker that will explode at some point. There is not much the world community can do, "says professor and human rights expert Mads Andenæs.
He believes that freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Turkey are losing in a foreign policy context, due to considerations of security and refugee policy. He further believes that it is necessary to make an effort in international forums, even if one is dependent on Turkey in other contexts.
"The world community is indirectly helping to strengthen the Turkish government's control and censorship of the media."
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has freedom of expression and human rights as central pillars in foreign policy, and I know that a lot of good work is being done there. But civil society must keep up in this area. When it comes to Turkey, the good intentions come under pressure, "says Andenæs.
State Secretary Tore Hattrem in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tells Ny Tid that the human rights situation in Turkey is worrying.
"This applies not least to freedom of expression and assembly. We regularly raise this in meetings with the Turkish authorities. Norway participates actively in human rights forums in Turkey, and has a broad network among activists and civil society actors. Norwegian foreign service missions in places such as Geneva, Strasbourg, Vienna and New York also have a close dialogue with Turkish representatives on human rights issues, "says Hattrem.
"The EU supports censorship." Servet Yanatma believes, however, that the world community is acting weak when it comes to the situation in Turkey.
"Although the international community and the EU acknowledge violations of freedom of the press in Turkey in reports and statements, they do not put enough pressure on the authorities in practice," he said.
"I would actually go so far as to say that the world community is indirectly helping to strengthen the Turkish government's control and censorship of the media. The EU prioritises maintaining a good relationship with the Turkish government, and does not want conflicts to get in the way of their own interests, "Yanatma points out.
He says he has witnessed Turkish journalists in both London and Brussels being banned from press conferences, or not being allowed to ask questions – even though they have a valid press card and work and live in the country they report from.
"The Turkish people have the right to know what is happening in their country. If journalists are not allowed to ask questions in public, how can it put pressure on politicians and the ruling party? It is very easy to control a country when you block critical issues, "he says.
