{"id":27577,"date":"2015-01-30T21:53:21","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T21:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/?p=27577"},"modified":"2015-01-30T21:53:21","modified_gmt":"2015-01-30T21:53:21","slug":"jesters-alone-do-not-a-court-make-mr-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firdevstalkturkey.com\/jesters-alone-do-not-a-court-make-mr-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesters alone do not a court make, Mr President!"},"content":{"rendered":"
On 28 January, Washington-based watchdog organization Freedom House published its \u201cFreedom in the World 2015\u201d<\/strong><\/a> report and listed Turkey among the \u2018Partly Free\u2019 countries where freedom of expression, civil society, and the rule of law suffered significant reversals during the past year.\u00a0 Freedom House said \u201cTurkey drifted further from democratic norms, with Prime Minister Erdo\u011fan rising to the presidency and overseeing government attempts to quash corruption cases against his allies and associates as well as greater interference in the media and judiciary.\u201d<\/p>\n On 29 January, President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan invited a carefully selected group of four journalists to his new palace. In return, the journalists facilitated him to give his messages on key issues on live television<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hurriyet columnist Akif \u00a0Beki, who clearly confused Freedom House\u2019s yearly \u201cFreedom in the World\u201d report with its \u201cFreedom of\u00a0 the\u00a0 Press \u201c report,\u00a0 started mocking the \u00a0organisation . He claimed they moved Turkey from \u201cNot Free\u201d to \u201cPartly Free\u201d this year, while criticising Mr Erdogan\u2019s presidential style and asked Mr Erdogan to comment about this contradiction.\u00a0 The President did not disappoint him.<\/p>\n \u201cThese groups, like Freedom House, have no credibility in the world. Their credibility is nil. It is even possible that they may be deliberately founded to serve a purpose. \u00a0As you know, there are organisations specially established to be used like that. \u201d\u00a0 Erdogan said.<\/p>\n The President\u2019s language when talking about Freedom House was more colourful than normal. \u00a0\u201cThey play for themselves and dance to their own music\u201d, he said, adding a bit of slang: \u201cWe are not really bothered\u201d or as he put it in Turkish- \u201cO t\u00fcr gruplar veya kurulu\u015flar bizi \u00e7ok da \u0131rgalam\u0131yor\u201d.<\/p>\n Hours before the Presidential TV show, Human Rights Watch published its World Report 2015<\/em><\/a> , <\/em>reviewing human rights practices in more than 90 countries. \u00a0It said that President Erdo\u011fan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government were undermining the gains of the past decade, eroding human rights and the rule of law.<\/p>\n According to HRW Turkey researcher Emma Sinclair-Webb, \u00a0\u201cVictory at the polls is no excuse for the Turkish government and President Erdo\u011fan to roll back the reforms of the past decade and erode the institutions that make Turkey a democracy. A tamed justice system, enhanced and unchecked police powers, and a muzzled press have hurt Turkey\u2019s citizens and dented its international reputation.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Again on the same day, The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a report on the\u00a0Protection of Media Freedom in Europe<\/a>. Named and shamed, along with Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Hungary, as one of the countries where serious cases of press freedom violations have been prominent, Turkey was urged to step up its efforts in improving its press freedom records.<\/p>\n