Europe monitoring Doğan Group fine
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 02, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - The European Union is closely monitoring the legal process in the tax fine imposed on the Doğan Media Group, Turkey's biggest media conglomerate, the bloc's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said Tuesday.
"We know the legal process is underway. And we acknowledge that. But the European Commission will closely monitor this legal case. The important thing is that the judiciary acts in full independence," Commissioner Olli Rehn said.
DMG was fined around $500 million in tax penalties over claims it had not fulfilled its liabilities on time during the sale of 25 percent of Doğan TV to Germany’s Axel Springer for 375 million euros. National and international press associations have said the move was aimed at silencing critical reporting.
Rehn told the EU-Turkey inter-parliamentary committee that the recent tax fine on DMG made him start to think about the freedom of press in Turkey.
He said the EU would closely watch the legal process in respect to proportionality, impartiality and judicial independence in the EU-candidate country, also adding that freedom of the press would be given prominence in the commission’s next progress report.
Rehn said the EU Commission could not and did not intend to intervene in a tax dispute between a private company and the state, but added that the lack of understanding and a financial sanction threatening the economic existence of a media group unequivocally touched the freedom of the press, which is a cornerstone of open societies.
Doğan, which owns top selling dailies including daily Hürriyet, a news agency and network broadcasters, has been the target of harsh criticism from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The prime minister has called on supporters not to buy the group's newspapers after they ran stories alleging government corruption. Rehn also told the conference that Turkey must renew its focus on EU reforms.
The Daily News is a DMG publication.
DMG was fined around $500 million in tax penalties over claims it had not fulfilled its liabilities on time during the sale of 25 percent of Doğan TV to Germany’s Axel Springer for 375 million euros. National and international press associations have said the move was aimed at silencing critical reporting.
Rehn told the EU-Turkey inter-parliamentary committee that the recent tax fine on DMG made him start to think about the freedom of press in Turkey.
He said the EU would closely watch the legal process in respect to proportionality, impartiality and judicial independence in the EU-candidate country, also adding that freedom of the press would be given prominence in the commission’s next progress report.
Rehn said the EU Commission could not and did not intend to intervene in a tax dispute between a private company and the state, but added that the lack of understanding and a financial sanction threatening the economic existence of a media group unequivocally touched the freedom of the press, which is a cornerstone of open societies.
Doğan, which owns top selling dailies including daily Hürriyet, a news agency and network broadcasters, has been the target of harsh criticism from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The prime minister has called on supporters not to buy the group's newspapers after they ran stories alleging government corruption. Rehn also told the conference that Turkey must renew its focus on EU reforms.
The Daily News is a DMG publication.