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  • ISTANBUL: Janus-faced Hurriyet daily

    Sunday's Zaman, Turkey
    April 18 2010


    Janus-faced Hürriyet daily (news)

    IHSAN YILMAZ


    Not only are the laws Janus-faced in this country, but several
    institutions that are affiliated with the bureaucratic oligarchy are
    as well. This accusation of being Janus-faced is not in any way
    similar to the bureaucratic oligarchy's century-old habit of accusing
    of every single one of their economic, political, ideological and
    social opponents of hiding their true intentions or of actually being
    traitors or secret obscurantist reactionaries. While the bureaucratic
    oligarchy has never been able to substantiate their accusations, we
    have enough evidence to prove clearly that they have Janus faces.
    I remember mentioning here a few times that laws are Janus-faced in
    the country. This fact manifests itself in two shapes. Firstly, there
    is always a secret interpretation of a law, and while an ordinary
    citizen cannot see it, the bureaucratic oligarchy's prosecutors and
    judges apply this interpretation simply to suppress their ideological
    enemies. The disaster at the 2007 presidential elections is a very
    recent case in point. The second manifestation is related to the
    judicial process rather than the black-letter law. The same law
    applies differently to different people. When Turkish-Armenian
    journalist Hrant Dink wrote a piece and mentioned that the Armenian
    diaspora should throw poisonous Turkish blood out of their veins, the
    judges at the Supreme Court of Appeals (a castle of bureaucratic
    oligarchy) decided that it was an insult to Turkishness, a punishable
    offense under the notorious Article 301, which even the Justice and
    Development Party (AK Party) did not bother to repeal. Hürriyet
    executed Dink metaphorically in its headlines daily, as they did
    Kurdish singer Ahmet Kaya based on a faked picture, paving the way for
    his exile and eventual death in France. The headline of the Hürriyet
    daily read, `Ooo, You're Dishonorable' (Vay Å?erefsiz). No prosecutor
    considered this an insult, as it was uttered against a Kurd. If you
    use this word regarding any judge, you will spend several years in
    jail, but it can be used for non-bureaucratic oligarchy members.
    Anyway. Thanks to Hürriyet and her sister media outlets, and
    columnists such as ErtuÄ?rul Ã-zkök, Dink -- like Kaya -- was made into
    a hate figure. The ground was ready for an assassination, and when the
    boy who assassinated the innocent Dink was caught, he claimed that he
    was influenced by what he read in the newspapers. Every honorable
    person in Turkey understood what Dink meant: He was not insulting
    Turks in anyway but was warning against the danger of hatred in the
    hearts of the Armenian diaspora against the Turks. But the
    bureaucratic oligarchy needed to show to the outside world that, with
    the rise of the AK Party to power, non-Muslims' lives were in danger
    in Turkey. While Dink was accused of insulting Turkishness, Hürriyet
    columnist Bekir CoÅ?kun -- an ultranationalist -- could comfortably
    insult the 47 percent of the Turkish people who voted for the AK Party
    as `belly scratchers' and his fellow Hürriyet columnist Yılmaz Ã-zdil
    could label these people as `container-headed,' meaning that they had
    empty heads without brains. The bureaucratic oligarchy's lawyers did
    not bother to prosecute this at all. Both Ã-zdil and CoÅ?kun, on
    separate occasions, made fun of the accent of Kurdish politician Ahmet
    Türk, and nobody cared.

    That is Janus-faced law in Turkey. What about Janus-faced Hürriyet? As
    I indicated above and as also confessed by its owner, Aydın DoÄ?an, to
    Nuriye Akman in a recorded interview, the Hürriyet daily secretly
    belongs to the deep state or bureaucratic oligarchy. As DoÄ?an said,
    you cannot simply buy the ownership of the trademark. The bureaucratic
    oligarchy needs it for propaganda purposes. The daily is full of
    ultranationalist, ultrasecularist columnists who abhor democratic
    processes, the European Union process and liberalization of the
    country. The headlines are decided by a politburo almost full of these
    people. There are only a few liberal democrat names, such as giant
    Hadi Uluengin.

    Anyway, what about the Janus face? Well, the Turkish Hürriyet has also
    an English version. DoÄ?an bought it from Ä°lnur Ã?evik, who published a
    liberal democratic paper under the name `Turkish Daily News.' DoÄ?an
    first changed the content slightly and then changed the name to
    Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review. But unlike its Turkish
    version, Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review tries to present
    itself as a liberal democratic paper and generally publishes liberal
    democratic pieces of Hürriyet columnists. For instance, they would not
    have Hürriyet's headlines regarding Kaya. They would not publish the
    racist or inflammatory pieces of Ã-zdil. A few days ago, Kurdish
    politician Türk was beaten up by a cowardly ultranationalist while the
    police simply watched. The next day, Ã-zdil, with some language games,
    congratulated the cowardly attacker. The day after, his mentor Ã-zkök
    -- former editor-in-chief of Hürriyet -- was lauding Ã-zdil on the
    basis of his almost-racist piece. On Friday, Hürriyet published a
    not-very-honorable ad hominem attack against social democrat lawyer
    Osman Can, who the bureaucratic oligarchy hates the most nowadays
    after he shattered the image of Sabih KanadoÄ?lu -- the bureaucratic
    oligarchy's `law-faker'-- on a TV program.

    I wonder why Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review does not publish
    these pieces and columns in English if they think that they are bright
    and intelligent pieces. Non-Turkish readers in Turkey also need to
    benefit from these insights. They would not publish them, as Hürriyet
    needs a Western audience that would support DoÄ?an, the (fake)
    democrat, against the so-called `dictatorial' AK Party government.
    Alas. They forget that many Westerners follow the events in Turkey in
    Turkish as well. So, no need for a mask or a Janus face.

    18.04.2010
    http://www.sundayszaman.com/sund ay/yazarDetay.do?haberno7711
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