December 26, 2014

Turkey’s descent into the abyss

Abdullah Bozkurt

It must be crystal clear by now that political Islamist zealots, led by the divider-in-chief Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will do anything and everything to stay in power, even if that means suspending the rule of law and trampling constitutional rights.

Gov’t tries to frame Hizmet with secret statements from shady sources

The alleged government-plot against members of the faith-based Hizmet movement, disclosed in June by former Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin, was further instigated with questionable testimonies obtained from secret witnesses, informants and anonymous complainants leading to criminal prosecutions apparently orchestrated by political authorities.

Prominent theologian says Turkey in crisis with international community

American Professor Philip Clayton has said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's burning of bridges with the European Union after he received criticism from the bloc for detaining leading members of the media is a sign that Turkey is in crisis with the international community.

Zaman Editor-in-Chief Dumanlı urges support for media freedom in letter

Ekrem Dumanlı, the editor-in-chief of the Zaman newspaper, Turkey's most-circulated daily, has written a letter to leading politicians, businessmen and media organizations in Turkey and in the world, asking their support for the freedom of the press in Turkey which he said is “under serious threat.”

Media freedom in tatters with gov’t control of most outlets

2014 is a year which has revealed something which was already clear for those in the media who do not act like government mouthpieces: That the government in Turkey has many media outlets under its direct control, while others behave as if they are state-run.

Journalist platform’s dialogue center evacuated by municipal police

Municipal police evacuated a dialogue center belonging to the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), whose honorary chairman is Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, on Friday morning, an act that GYV officials are calling unlawful.