Magalie Cleeren, assistant to co-chairwoman of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Helene Flautre, refuted a news report published by the ultranationalist Cumhuriyet daily on Flautre’s alleged remarks on the faith-based Gülen movement in an e-mail she sent to all Turkish reporters based in Brussels, including the ones working for Today’s Zaman.
The e-mail read that Flautre strongly opposes Cumhuriyet’s distorting her comments, which were made within the framework of a conference at the University of Strasbourg on April 5. According to Cumhuriyet, Flautre said the Turkish judiciary and press are under the heavy influence of the Gülen movement. “We are closely following that this is not a new phenomenon in Turkey,” Flautre reportedly said during the conference.
 |
| Helene Flautre |
Cleeren said Flautre’s statement were made in relation to general problems in Turkey regarding press freedoms. “She stated that all journalists were under pressure, not only the ones ideologically far from the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] but also those close to the ruling party as well as journalists investigating Ergenekon, Fethullah Gülen or the Kurdish question. She indeed evoked Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şik as examples. In this framework, she noticed that their detentions should be seen in the light of their publications, notably Mr. Şik’s book under preparation related to Gülen and its influence within the administration, the police and the justice [system],” the e-mail read.
Journalists Şık and Şener were arrested last month as part of an ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal network accused of working to overthrow the government. Prosecutors involved in the investigation believe that Şık and Şener were working in line with directives coming from Ergenekon to undermine the image of the AK Party government in the eyes of the nation. Critics of the investigation, on the other hand, believe that the two were arrested due to their opposition to the government.
“As already stated in the EP report, she is indeed of the opinion that investigations of alleged coup plans, such as the ‘Ergenekon’ and ‘Sledgehammer’ cases are very important opportunities for strengthening the rule of law and the democratization of Turkey and therefore need to demonstrate the strength and the proper, independent and transparent functioning of Turkish democratic institutions and the judiciary. Furthermore, stating that Ms. Flautre had a phone conversation with jailed journalist Nedim Şener 10 days ago is absolutely untrue. She said she met him in İstanbul and that, 10 days after, he was arrested and jailed,” Cleeren’s e-mail read.
Cleeren also asked Cumhuriyet to rectify their article accordingly and to stop using Ms. Flautre’s statements in an incorrect and abusive manner.
Published on Today's Zaman, 09 April 2011, Saturday
