Hi KJC, you are breaking the law of democratic Turkey:
"It also bans media from airing "pessimism". Lawyers say this could be interpreted to mean anything - including criticism of the unpopular three-party coalition government that is partly to blame for a devastating 9.4 per cent contraction in the economy last year"
globalarchive.ft.com
EUROPE: Turkey seeks to push through controversial media bill
Financial Times; Apr 25, 2002
By LEYLA BOULTON
The Turkish government plans to push through parliament a controversial media bill that clashes with the constitution and the country's commitments to the European Union, critics say.
Aydin Dogan, the dominant Turkish media magnate whose newspapers account for two-thirds of Turkish newspaper advertising revenues, is the bill's most important backer outside parliament, and its most likely beneficiary.
The bill, to be submitted to the full parliament after its adoption in committee earlier this month, would remove a ban on media owners' right to bid for lucrative government tenders, including electricity distribution rights won by Mr Dogan's diversified conglomerate before a court ruled he could not exercise them. The support of Dogan group media is considered essential by most politicians eyeing an election due to be held by 2004.
EU diplomats argue that the law would also set back Turkey's bid to join the European Union, by tightening rather than liberalising restrictions on freedom of expression. For instance, the draft bill retains an effective ban on Kurdish-language broadcasting that Turkey had undertaken to lift by the end of last month. It also bans media from airing "pessimism". Lawyers say this could be interpreted to mean anything - including criticism of the unpopular three-party coalition government that is partly to blame for a devastating 9.4 per cent contraction in the economy last year.
In spite of a virtual blackout of coverage of the issues by Mr Dogan's eight newspapers and two television channels, the bill has been attacked by numerous critics struggling to broadcast their objections on other media, including internet news channels.
Nuri Kayis, head of the official radio and television media watchdog, has warned that the bill poses a threat to fundamental freedoms in Turkey and would allow already powerful media magnates to run "out of control".
Karen Fogg, the European Commission's envoy to Ankara, whose own e-mails were recently hacked and published in the media, has openly voiced concerns expressed privately by diplomats representing EU member states.
She has argued that the law contradicts the EU's criteria for a fully-functioning democracy - which Turkey must embrace before starting accession talks - as well as the government's stated commitment to ease constitutional restrictions on freedom of expression.
Savas Unsal, chief executive of Superonline, Turkey's leading internet service provider, says the law, which seeks to apply the same restrictions to the internet, would lead to a "huge exodus of Turkish websites out of the country, dealing a major blow to local internet content provision and the expansion of internet and related sectors".
The government has so far ignored all pleas for amendments to the bill, in an attempt to circumvent the legislation's most influential opponent, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The president vetoed the bill last year. If no change is made to the draft rejected by Mr Sezer, he has no choice but to accept the legislation submitted to him a second time
Mr Sezer, who, perhaps as a warning, was recently attacked in Dogan group media for over-spending on curtains for the presidential palace, can still refer the law to the constitutional court. The court's deliberations - possibly influenced by an even more powerful media - could take years to produce a result.
Copyright: The Financial Times Limited 1995-2002 |
