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Turkish premier says media not exempt from penal code
Yeni Safak website, Istanbul
4 Jun 05
Excerpt from interview with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
published by Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak website on 4 June
[Newspaper's introduction to interview omitted]
[Question] You have been in office for two and a half years. Do you
think that you have been successful during this period? In other
words where have you been successful and where do you see deficiencies?
[Erdogan] I would like to start with novel steps in domestic
politics. I believe that we have made some very serious progress in
domestic politics. We are not where we should be yet but we have made
serious progress. Virtually no one was convicted because of his or
her thoughts during our tenure.
[Question] Could that happen in the future now that the new TCK
[Turkish Penal Code] has gone into effect?
[Erdogan] I do not view the penal code issue the way the press has
approached it. An act that is considered criminal for an ordinary
citizen must also be a crime for a journalist. In other words
what is at issue here is not punishment for ideas. If there is any
falsification of truth, any slander, or any false reporting anywhere,
then the price paid for it. We have seen this in the past. It is a
crime when an ordinary individual does it but it is not a crime when
a journalist does it. For example they attack us over the issue of
immunity. The media attack us. Now the same media that attack us over
immunity want immunity for themselves. If you are attacking me then
you should drop your own armour of immunity too. No one has objected
to making this a crime. [There have been proposals to change] the
penalty to a large fine instead of imprisonment.
OK, but then the large fine must be imposed on everyone else. Then
what will happen to people who cannot pay the fine? Then wealthy
and well-to-do people in this country would not have a problem? Is
that fair?
[Question] The draft law does not refer to slander only. There is
a provision about basic national interests. For example national
interests could include issues such as the withdrawal of troops from
Cyprus and the Armenian genocide.
[Erdogan] The law has its own language. I am not a lawyer. I do not
know what is said in the reasoning for basic national interests but
I do not agree with that example. No judge could evaluate the matter
that way. [Passage omitted]
Yeni Safak website, Istanbul
4 Jun 05
Excerpt from interview with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,
published by Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak website on 4 June
[Newspaper's introduction to interview omitted]
[Question] You have been in office for two and a half years. Do you
think that you have been successful during this period? In other
words where have you been successful and where do you see deficiencies?
[Erdogan] I would like to start with novel steps in domestic
politics. I believe that we have made some very serious progress in
domestic politics. We are not where we should be yet but we have made
serious progress. Virtually no one was convicted because of his or
her thoughts during our tenure.
[Question] Could that happen in the future now that the new TCK
[Turkish Penal Code] has gone into effect?
[Erdogan] I do not view the penal code issue the way the press has
approached it. An act that is considered criminal for an ordinary
citizen must also be a crime for a journalist. In other words
what is at issue here is not punishment for ideas. If there is any
falsification of truth, any slander, or any false reporting anywhere,
then the price paid for it. We have seen this in the past. It is a
crime when an ordinary individual does it but it is not a crime when
a journalist does it. For example they attack us over the issue of
immunity. The media attack us. Now the same media that attack us over
immunity want immunity for themselves. If you are attacking me then
you should drop your own armour of immunity too. No one has objected
to making this a crime. [There have been proposals to change] the
penalty to a large fine instead of imprisonment.
OK, but then the large fine must be imposed on everyone else. Then
what will happen to people who cannot pay the fine? Then wealthy
and well-to-do people in this country would not have a problem? Is
that fair?
[Question] The draft law does not refer to slander only. There is
a provision about basic national interests. For example national
interests could include issues such as the withdrawal of troops from
Cyprus and the Armenian genocide.
[Erdogan] The law has its own language. I am not a lawyer. I do not
know what is said in the reasoning for basic national interests but
I do not agree with that example. No judge could evaluate the matter
that way. [Passage omitted]