PM’s clash with Doğan is harmful: Der Spiegel
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 24, 2009 00:00
BERLIN - The increasingly aggressive attacks by the prime minister against the Doğan Group may harm not only the press freedom in the country but will also scare away potential foreign investors, says German magazine Der Spiegel. It says the prime minister perceives Aydın Doğan, the chairman of Doğan Group, as a threat to his dominance.
The prime minister’s efforts to harm Turkey’s largest media group through a tax fine are hurting the country by threatening freedom of expression and diminishing its attractiveness to foreign investors, according to German magazine Der Spiegel.
In a weekend article titled "The Sultan and Doğan," the magazine said the increasing aggressiveness on the part of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan toward the Doğan Media Group had reached a crescendo as next Sunday’s local elections near. Since the company’s flagship paper, Hürriyet, started reporting on the Lighthouse e.V. scandal in Germany last September, Erdoğan has targeted DMG Chairman Aydın Doğan as if he was his main competition in the elections, Der Spiegel said.
"The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is expected to win in the local elections," Der Spiegel wrote. "However, Erdoğan believes only one person can prevent that. He shouts in the microphone, ’We did not reach power with the help of the media, but with the help of the public.’"
The Lighthouse e.V. scandal involves the alleged channeling of donations collected from Turks living in Germany to business interests with close links to the AKP.
"Erdoğan was also forced to listen to the Doğan newspapers and television channels reporting on the exhaustion of the AKP’s economic policies and the slowdown in the reform program," Der Spiegel said. "Four weeks ago, the government showed its strength and the tax office imposed a fine of 380 million euros. Doğan says, ’Erdoğan could not bully us, so he is trying to destroy us.’ Erdoğan’s party colleagues say there is nothing political behind the fine, but Erdoğan planted the seeds of doubt himself."
The magazine said the DMG has no intention of backing down, quoting Aydın Doğan as saying, "I believe and trust in the judges and I am proud of my country."
Taraf daily’s Yasemin Çongar told the magazine that Erdoğan accused the DMG for supporting the so-called 1997 soft-coup that toppled Necmettin Erbakan’s government. Erdoğan at the time was the mayor of Istanbul and the rising star of Erbakan’s Welfare Party, or RP. The process that started in February 1997 resulted in Erbakan’s resignation under pressure from the military.
Der Spiegel said the extent of the fine and the prime minister’s attacks not only limit freedom of expression but also harm the confidence of foreign investors, asking, "Are the laws supreme or the will of Erdoğan?"
Citing many examples of the prime minister filing complaints against columnists and cartoonists who he thought were insulting him, the magazine said Erdoğan could not tolerate criticism. It also said private channel ATV and daily Sabah were first seized and then sold to the Çalık Group, which has close links with the AKP and employs Erdoğan’s son-in-law.
Elmar Brock, a member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, said Erdoğan fears losing his power. "The economic crisis threatens to undo his success story," Brock said. "The question is this: Who is in charge? Is it the new or the old elites? Is it Erdoğan’s burgeoning conservatives or the secularists that include the Doğan elite?"
Der Spiegel also suggested that the attacks on the DMG would harm Turkey’s chances of joining the European Union, with European Parliament member Ria Oomen-Ruitjen quoted as saying, "The question that will soon be asked is, ’Does Turkey want to become an EU member?’"
Hürrriyet Daily News & Economic Review is a Doğan Media Group Publication
In a weekend article titled "The Sultan and Doğan," the magazine said the increasing aggressiveness on the part of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan toward the Doğan Media Group had reached a crescendo as next Sunday’s local elections near. Since the company’s flagship paper, Hürriyet, started reporting on the Lighthouse e.V. scandal in Germany last September, Erdoğan has targeted DMG Chairman Aydın Doğan as if he was his main competition in the elections, Der Spiegel said.
"The Justice and Development Party, or AKP, is expected to win in the local elections," Der Spiegel wrote. "However, Erdoğan believes only one person can prevent that. He shouts in the microphone, ’We did not reach power with the help of the media, but with the help of the public.’"
The Lighthouse e.V. scandal involves the alleged channeling of donations collected from Turks living in Germany to business interests with close links to the AKP.
"Erdoğan was also forced to listen to the Doğan newspapers and television channels reporting on the exhaustion of the AKP’s economic policies and the slowdown in the reform program," Der Spiegel said. "Four weeks ago, the government showed its strength and the tax office imposed a fine of 380 million euros. Doğan says, ’Erdoğan could not bully us, so he is trying to destroy us.’ Erdoğan’s party colleagues say there is nothing political behind the fine, but Erdoğan planted the seeds of doubt himself."
The magazine said the DMG has no intention of backing down, quoting Aydın Doğan as saying, "I believe and trust in the judges and I am proud of my country."
Taraf daily’s Yasemin Çongar told the magazine that Erdoğan accused the DMG for supporting the so-called 1997 soft-coup that toppled Necmettin Erbakan’s government. Erdoğan at the time was the mayor of Istanbul and the rising star of Erbakan’s Welfare Party, or RP. The process that started in February 1997 resulted in Erbakan’s resignation under pressure from the military.
Der Spiegel said the extent of the fine and the prime minister’s attacks not only limit freedom of expression but also harm the confidence of foreign investors, asking, "Are the laws supreme or the will of Erdoğan?"
Citing many examples of the prime minister filing complaints against columnists and cartoonists who he thought were insulting him, the magazine said Erdoğan could not tolerate criticism. It also said private channel ATV and daily Sabah were first seized and then sold to the Çalık Group, which has close links with the AKP and employs Erdoğan’s son-in-law.
Elmar Brock, a member of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, said Erdoğan fears losing his power. "The economic crisis threatens to undo his success story," Brock said. "The question is this: Who is in charge? Is it the new or the old elites? Is it Erdoğan’s burgeoning conservatives or the secularists that include the Doğan elite?"
Der Spiegel also suggested that the attacks on the DMG would harm Turkey’s chances of joining the European Union, with European Parliament member Ria Oomen-Ruitjen quoted as saying, "The question that will soon be asked is, ’Does Turkey want to become an EU member?’"
Hürrriyet Daily News & Economic Review is a Doğan Media Group Publication