“Journalists have become accustomed to practicing self-censorship, so it is rarely necessary for the government to censor directly. Now, people in the established media know that they have to stay below the radar if they don’t want to get into trouble.”
First in Turkey, LGBTQI issues became a banned topic for journalists, followed by women’s rights. The boundaries of what could be written in the once-respected daily Hürriyet were narrowed bit by bit after the newspaper was bought up in 2018 by a family close to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“It didn’t happen overnight. Censorship gradually increased,” says Banu Tuna when we meet in her office, a stone’s throw from Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
She was sacked from Hürriyet by the new owners in 2019 after 22 years as a journalist for the paper. Today, she works for an NGO while, like many other Turkish journalists, awaiting clarification on her future in the presidential elections in May.
Tuna has seen first-hand how the Erdoğan regime has gradually taken control of the Turkish media. Today, more than 90 percent of the country’s media is owned by people with close ties to the presidential palace. Hürriyet was the last newspaper bastion to fall under Erdoğan’s control.
Banu Tuna saw her opportunities for critical journalism taken away from her. One example was an article she had written on the environmental impact of the construction of a gas pipeline from Russia. The article was printed, but next day the online version had disappeared.
“I didn’t even ask for an explanation,” she says, “because it was obvious what had happened. Later I heard that there had been a phone call from the Ministry of Energy.”
Direct political calls to the media have been commonplace in Turkey since the large-scale anti-systemic Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013, says Mustafa Kuleili, president of Turkey’s Journalist’ Union (TGS) and vice-president of the European Federation of Journalists (EJF).
“In 2013, they started to censor media outlets directly. They started to call the editor-in-chiefs to cut that live broadcast or edit the graphics on screen. It became a regular thing,” he says.
Since then, Erdoğan has gradually tightened his grip on the media. Especially after the failed coup attempt in 2016, which resulted in the shutdown of 54 newspapers, 24 radio stations and 17 television networks.
Officially, the aim was to stop “disinformation” and “fake news”. According to the president, Turkey is one of the countries in the world most exposed to fake news.
Today, journalists have become accustomed to practicing self-censorship, so it is rarely necessary for the government to censor directly. Now, people in the established media know that they have to stay below the radar if they don’t want to get into trouble.
“People don’t even try to do critical journalism anymore. If you have worked for many years in the Turkish pro-governmental media, you learn how to behave. So, it’s something like psychological torture,” says the chairman.
Tuna no longer recognizes the newspaper where she worked for more than two decades. Even the front page is out of the journalists’ control, she claims:
“We used to publish the nationwide edition of Hürriyet around midnight, but today it happens much later. Every night the front page is sent somewhere where some changes are made. I have an idea where it is, but it is not something that has been announced. However, that place is not in Hürriyet,” she says.
Tuna’s quote was shown to one of the newspaper’s editors, who confirmed in writing that there may be political interference in Hürriyet’s journalistic content.
“The front page sometimes goes for some sort of approval when some crucial things are on it about Erdoğan’s administration. I witnessed this first-hand.”
“The approval place ‘should be’ the Directorate of Communications, but as you can guess, this is not something happening publicly or officially. They use WhatsApp for that. But again, this is not a thing happening every day,” the editor wrote later in the reply.
The source did not wish to be named in the article.
Shortly after the tragic earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in early February, Twitter was shut down for 12 hours for many Turkish users. This is one of the many steps by Turkish lawmakers “to tackle misinformation”.
According to NetBlocks “the restoration comes after authorities held a meeting with Twitter to “remind Twitter of its obligations” on content takedowns and disinformation.”
Veysel Ok, one of Turkey’s leading lawyers on freedom of the press and freedom of expression, fears the government will do something similar in the upcoming elections: “Maybe they will shut everything down. Then we can wake up and see that they have won.”
Ok co-founded the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) in 2017 in response to developments in Turkey after the coup attempt. The organization monitors all freedom of expression cases in Turkey and advises more than 200 clients, the majority of them journalists.
This includes advising them on their rights according to international bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights.
He is currently helping several Turkish journalists who have run into problems while covering the earthquakes.
“After the earthquakes, it has become even more difficult for journalists to report,” he says. “They are not allowed to cover what is happening. They are asked to show a press card or accreditation, although it is not necessary for anyone to have one.”
According to a count by MLSA, four journalists were detained by police between 6-13 February while nine reported being prevented from filming.
“Either it will be the moment of freedom, or it will be a tragedy.”
Mustafa Kuleili has started shooting a documentary film that will culminate on election night. He remains confident that the elections can be a fresh start for journalism in Turkey.
That is, if there is a change of power.
“It would be a great relief for journalists in Turkey, and we would see many changes in the media landscape. We will see new TV channels, new websites, new newspapers, and new faces on TV,” he says. “If Erdoğan wins, it will be a huge mental collapse for those who believe in democratic, Western ideals.”
Tuna dreams of returning to journalism. But for now she anxiously awaits the outcome of the elections — with the same hope for freedom of the protesters of 10 years ago in Gezi Park.
Do you think press freedom in Turkey will be restored if there is a change of government?
“Yes, but it will take time,” she replies.
“We have kind of forgotten how to think freely and how to think critically. And then we have a whole generation of new journalists who have learnt this profession as it works today, which has nothing to do with journalism.”
“It will take time to regain our skills,” she adds.
This article was originally published in Danish by Journalisten and in English by EuObserver.
The views and opinions expressed above are the author’s and don’t represent those of the Free Turkish Press.
