May 17, 2015

EP Greens co-chair expresses shock over Turkish attempt to silence media critical of gov’t

The co-chair of the Greens Group in the European Parliament, Rebecca Harms, has expressed shock over a Turkish prosecutor asking the Ministry of Transportation, Maritime Affairs and Communications to disallow critical media outlets from using the state's communications infrastructure, and called on the Turkish government to “stop heading down the dangerous slope of selective and politically motivated justice.”

In remarks to Today's Zaman, Harms said she is shocked over the latest “bad news” coming from Turkey. She underlined that the motive behind the prosecutor's demand is again the claim of the existence of a “parallel structure” -- a term invented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after a massive corruption scandal to refer to members of the Gülen movement -- and recalled that the same allegation has led to the imprisonment of many journalists in Turkey.

“I call upon the Turkish government to stop heading down the dangerous slope of selective and politically motivated justice. I ask the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] monitoring mission to investigate this recent infringement of media freedom,” Harms said.

Harms also expressed concern over the prosecutor's demand in relation to the upcoming parliamentary election slated for June 7.

“If it [the prosecutor's request] is implemented, it is clearly against fair and free parliamentary elections,” she added.

According to media reports, Ankara Public Prosecutor Serdar Coşkun, who is responsible for the Bureau for Crimes against the Constitutional Order, sent a document to the Turkish Satellite Communications Company (TÜRKSAT) Directorate General on April 27 asking it to prevent the state-owned satellite connection from being used by certain media outlets. The Turkish media reported that the prosecutor's demand came as part of an investigation into claims about the “parallel structure,” and particularly targets the media outlets inspired by the Gülen movement.

The parallel structure is a term that was invented by President Erdoğan following a massive corruption scandal to refer to members of the Gülen movement who he alleges operate from within the police and the judiciary. The Gülen movement is inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.

The government has failed to offer any evidence indicating such a structure exists in the government since December 2013, when senior members of the government of then-Prime Minister Erdoğan were implicated in a massive corruption scandal. Moreover, there is no court decision classifying the movement as an "armed terrorist organization," as is claimed by pro-government circles.

“I call upon the Turkish government to stop heading down the dangerous slope of selective and politically motivated justice. I ask the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] monitoring mission to investigate this recent infringement of media freedom,” Harms said.

Harms also expressed concern over the prosecutor's demand in relation to the upcoming parliamentary elections slated for June 7.

“If it [the prosecutor's request] is implemented, it is clearly against fair and free parliamentary elections,” she added.

According to media reports, Ankara public prosecutor Serdar Coşkun, who is responsible for the Bureau for Crimes against the Constitutional Order, sent a document to the Turkish Satellite Communications Company (TÜRKSAT) Directorate General on April 27 asking it to prevent a state-owned satellite connection being used by certain media outlets. The Turkish media reported that the prosecutor's demand came as part of an investigation into claims about the “parallel structure,” and particularly targets the media outlets inspired by the Gülen movement.

The parallel structure is a term invented by President Erdoğan after a massive corruption scandal to refer to members of the Gülen movement -- which is inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen -- who he alleges operate from within the police and the judiciary.

The government has failed to offer any evidence indicating such a structure exists in the government since December 2013, when senior members of the government of then-Prime Minister Erdoğan were implicated in a massive corruption scandal. Moreover, there is no court decision classifying the movement as an "armed terrorist organization" as is claimed by pro-government circles.

Published on Sunday's Zaman, 17 May 2015, Sunday

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