TURKISH MEDIA: GOVERNMENT TOOLS

Blogger News Network
September 19th, 2007 by The Stiletto

Given how Turkish newspapers "report" the news, "independent
journalist" Alexis Debat would have no trouble landing a top spot
at any one of them. For instance, during Pope Benedict’s visit to
Turkey last November, local papers quoted Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan as claiming that the pontiff told him, "You know we don’t
have a political role, but we wish for Turkey’s entry into the EU" –
which prompted a swift "clarification" by the Vatican that essentially
boiled down to "as if."

In the latest example of great moments in Turkish journalism, here is a
comparison of how the paper Hurriyet sumarized a September 13th speech
by R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs to the
Atlantic Council of the United States (ACUS) and what the third-highest
ranking official at the U.S. Department of State actually said.

Hurriyet: Nicholas Burns … has said that Turkey-US relations have
reached a "critical juncture."

Burns: "I am pleased to be back at the Atlantic Council to discuss
what is one of the most critical relationships for America in the
world today – the relationship between the United States and Turkey."

Note: Nowhere in his remarks, does Burns say that the relationship
between the two countries has reached a "critical juncture"; he does
say several times that the two countries have a critical relationship.

"Critical juncture" suggests a crossroad, which in turn suggests a
parting of the ways. No diplomat would use such language to an ally.

***

Hurriyet: "Turkey is critical for us, an indispensable ally, with her
commitment to secular democracy. Prime Minister Erdogan and President
Gul are reliable. They have kept promises they have made to us in
the past.

Turkey is an important portal for energy sources to reach Europe. We
support Turkey’s accession to the European Union."

Burns: "The Turkish people have just concluded important, even historic
elections. These elections demonstrated the strong health of Turkey’s
democracy, the most impressive in the Moslem world. The result was
a decisive and Turkey can now expect a period of renewal and growth
at home and responsibility and challenge in its foreign policy. The
United States government looks forward to a very close relationship
with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan. President
Bush and Secretary Rice respect both of these men. We have worked
very well and productively with them in years past and know that
will continue in the years to come. We would like to agree with the
newly-elected Turkish leadership on a period in the coming months of
high-level visits, discussions and joint commitment to face together
the challenges of stability and peace in the Middle East."

…

"Turkey is the gateway for exports of oil and natural gas from the
Caspian region and Iraq to Europe.

Building on our successful cooperation in the 1990’s to develop
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the South Caucasus gas
pipeline, we now seek to expand this critical energy infrastructure
into a Southern Corridor to help our European allies – Greece, Italy
and into Western Europe – create a free market for energy supplies
in Europe. These efforts can also help Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and
Turkmenistan bolster their own independence by providing them access
to European energy markets." …

"We are among the strongest supporters of Turkey’s EU aspirations. We
call on Europe’s leaders to signal clearly and unambiguously that
Turkey will have a voice in the European Union in the future."

Note: Nowhere in his remarks does Burns say that Erdogan and Gul,
specifically, have been reliable allies and kept their promises to
the U.S. Rather in weeping, historic terms, he states that Turkey
has been a dependable and important ally in a turbulent region dating
back to the Truman Doctrine.

***

Hurriyet: "The energy agreement between Iran and Turkey bothered us. It
is beneficial for both the US and Turkey to keep Iran, which supports
the Taleban and wants to possess nuclear power, under control."

Burns: "We have worked well together to support of the clear
international consensus demanding that Iran cease its nuclear weapons
development programs. Turkey has also proven to be strong partner
in countering Iran’s support for terrorists in the Middle East. But
the United States and Turkey still need to work out some tactical
differences in handling Iran. We understand that Iran is a neighbor of
Turkey and key trading partner, which sends over a million tourists to
Turkey each year. Turkey’s recent conclusion of a memorandum on energy
cooperation with Iran, however, is troubling. Now is not the time for
business as usual with Iran. We urge all of our friends and allies,
including Turkey, to not reward Iran by investing in its oil and
gas sector, while Iran continues to defy the United Nations Security
Council by continuing its nuclear research for a weapons capability."

Note: Hurriyet toned Burns’ remarks down big time.

This was the one and only clear criticism of Turkish policy Burns
dared to utter in his speech, and it was all-but censored. Burns
pussyfooted around every other sensitive topic – in some cases
ignoring some very inconvenient facts. For instance, Burns talked
about Turkey’s "160-year legacy of modernizing reform, as the most
successful example in the world today of a secular democracy within
a Muslim society that can inspire reformers in the greater Middle
East and beyond." He did not mention how the Armenian Genocide and
successive massacres of other Christian minorities during the Ottoman
era left modern Turkey 99.8 percent Muslim, how converts from Islam
are prosecuted and sometimes murdered, and the spate of murders of
Catholic priests that have occurred over the past couple of years. If
you are not Muslim, Turkey is neither secular nor a democracy.

***

Hurriyet: "The PKK is a terrorist organisation. Our good faith
should not be underestimated. I hope that solid steps will be taken
against the PKK within the next six months.""The PKK is a terrorist
organisation.

Our good faith should not be underestimated. I hope that solid steps
will be taken against the PKK within the next six months."

Burns: "[T]he United States condemns the PKK as a vicious terrorist
group. We mourn the loss of innocent Turkish lives in these attacks. We
remain fully committed to working with the Governments of Turkey and
Iraq to counter PKK terrorists, who are headquartered in northern
Iraq. We are making progress in putting in place the mechanisms
required to produce such concrete results against the PKK. We will also
follow up our success in working with Turkey and our other European
partners to interdict PKK terror financiers in Europe and bring them
to justice."

Note: Nowhere in his remarks does Burns mention a timetable.

***

Hurriyet: "The Fener Greek Patriarchate is of ecumenical status. The
US recognises Patriarch Bartholomeos as a friend. A priests’ school
should be opened in Heybeliada."

Burns: "We … hope Turkey will help make its own case with the EU
by allowing the Ecumenical Patriarch’s religious school at Halki in
Istanbul to reopen decades after it closed."

Note: Burns is very specific as to which school should be re-opened,
which has quite a different meaning than opening a school. Also,
Burns ties this to Turkey’s EU bid, not to U.S. "friendship" with
the Patriarch.

***

Hurriyet: "Normalize relations with Armenia. The Turkish-Armenian
border should be opened. We are opposed to the passing of the Armenian
bill in Congress. In the case of this bill passing, those in Turkey
who seek to keep a dialogue between the Armenians and the Turks will
be silenced."

Burns: "[T]he U.S. and Turkey face a serious challenge with regard to
Armenia. Each year on April 24, Armenian Remembrance Day, President
Bush has issued a public statement lamenting the mass killings
and forced deportations of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman
authorities at the end of World War I. …

We believe passage of the U.S. House of Representative’s Resolution
106, which would make a political determination that the tragedy of
1915 constituted genocide, would undercut voices emerging in Turkey
for dialogue and reconciliations concerning these horrific events. We
therefore have recommended to Congress that it not pass such a
resolution. We strongly encourage Turkey to normalize its relations
and reopen its border with Armenia, steps that will help bring peace,
prosperity and cooperation to the Caucasus. Now, in the wake of the
AKP’s resounding electoral victories, is the time for Ankara to make
a bold opening toward Armenia. And we hope that Armenia will respond
in kind."

Note: The phrase "will be silenced" has an ominous ring to it, as
compared to what Burns actually said.

Considering that Nationalist sympathizers "silenced" Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink by shooting him dead outside the offices of
his newspaper, Agos, this wording is not accidental.

***

Hurriyet: "Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, used even against
Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk, should be lifted."

Burns: [W]e hope Turkey will repeal Article 301 of the Penal Code,
which restricts freedom of expression and has led to outlandish
legal cases against private citizens and global figures such as Nobel
Laureate Orhan Pamuk.

Note: And why should it be lifted? For some reason, the editors
at Hurriyet did not feel comfortable using the phrase "freedom of
expression." Maybe they would have found themselves in violation of
Article 301, somehow.

***

Hurriyet: "We are working for the UN to start a new venture in Cyprus."

Burns: "We appreciate the difficulties that such cooperation poses
for Turkey given the still-evolving Turkey-EU relationship, the
circumstances of Turkey’s participation in activities within the
European Security and Defense Policy, as well as the complications
resulting from the lack of a Cyprus settlement. Yet it is vital for
all of us, including Turkey, that NATO and the EU are indeed able to
work together in crisis areas around the world. For this and many other
reasons, we call on all relevant parties to reinvigorate UN-brokered
efforts to reach a comprehensive Cyprus settlement that reunifies
the island into a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. We welcome last
week’s meeting of President Papadopoulos and Mehmet Ali Talat, and
look forward to future such meetings to implement last year’s July
8 agreement."

Note: This bowdlerization of Burns’ remarks makes no sense – at least
not to The Stiletto. Maybe "new venture" is a code phrase that only
Turks can understand.

The U.S. State Department Web site posted Burns’ speech, and hard copy
was no doubt distributed to reporters covering the event. Hurriyet’s
"version" of the speech cannot be chalked up to a poor translation.

In a country where journalists can be prosecuted and jailed for
insulting Islam or Turkishness, it is reasonable to assume a chilling
effect that induces papers to report the news the government wants the
people to know instead of the news the people need to know. Until
Article 301 is repealed, Turkey will never be a Western-style
democracy. In the long run, the U.S. does Turkey no favors by
pretending otherwise.

Note: To reward Israeli president Shimon Peres for personally calling
Abe Foxman to ensure that the Anti-Defamation League doesn’t let up in
lobbying against the symbolic Congressional resolution recognizing
the Armenian Genocide, Turkey provided Israel with intelligence
on suspected Syrian nuclear facilities before a sortie into Syrian
airspace by Israeli F-15I planes. Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida reports
that Turkish intelligence did not inform Erdogan of its plans. In an
article no doubt meant to create the cover of plausible deniability for
Erdogan, Hurriyet reported that an unnamed government official demanded
to know whether the Israeli planes flew over Turkish airspace during
the mission. Anyone who does not believe that Peres’ phone call and
Turkey’s behind-the-scenes role in the Israeli sortie is not a quid
pro quo is either naïve or not paying attention.

Turkey will stop at nothing to guarantee that it will never be held
accountable for the Armenian Genocide.

The Stiletto writes about politics and other stuff at The Stiletto
Blog.

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