Turkey continues attacks against opposition journalists

PanARMENIAN.Net - Hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out against a prominent newspaper in the country, an angry mob of his supporters descended on the publication’s headquarters, smashing windows, chanting profanities and trying to storm the building, the New York Times reports.

Two days later, while the government kept silent over the episode, Mr. Erdogan bashed the newspaper for a second time, criticizing its staff for distorting his words in a Twitter post. That attack ignited a second wave of violent protest, prompting the newspaper’s editor to flee the building and make a live plea on television for police intervention.

“I’ve been a journalist for 40 years and it’s the first time I’ve been subjected to an attack involving sticks and stones,” Sedat Ergin, the editor in chief of Hurriyet, one of Turkey’s most influential newspapers said, according to the New York Times. “If our paper is being physically attacked twice in 48 hours by violent mobs, then we must accept that this is now an issue about our life safety.”

The attacks are part of a growing campaign of intimidation against the opposition news media here. Over the last two weeks, three foreign journalists have been deported from Turkey; scores of people have been investigated on accusations of insulting the president; and a magazine and opposition news media organization have been raided, with some of their executives being investigated on terrorism charges.

Even for Turkey, which is known as a hostile environment for journalists and ranks 149th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders news media freedom index, the wave of crackdowns has been fierce, with a new trend of violent attacks inspired by Turkish politicians.

One of the leaders of the first protest against Hurriyet, on Sept. 6, was Abdurrahim Boynukalin, a deputy for the governing Justice and Development Party. He delivered a speech outside of the newspaper’s offices vowing to make Mr. Erdogan an all-powerful president by ensuring that his party wins an absolute majority in a November election.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu expressed his disapproval of the assault on Hurriyet on Tuesday, September 15, a week after the second attack.