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WHY WAS TARAF IMPORTANT?
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 17 2012
LALE KEMAL
[email protected]
I used the past tense in the headline deliberately because it has now
become uncertain whether this liberal daily will be able to continue
its editorial independence after the resignation of Ahmet Altan,
editor-in-chief, and Yasemin Congar, his deputy.
Taraf's independent and courageous stance that resisted unprecedented
pressure from both the military and the government was unique in the
Turkish media, and greatly relied on the mentorship of Altan, who is
also a well-known novelist.
The owner of Taraf, Ba癬_ar Arslan, who is also a publisher and the
owner of a famous bookstore called Alk覺m, had a modest budget when he
first suggested running a daily in Turkey to some journalists five
years ago. Those senior journalists warned him at the time about the
difficulties of running a purely independent daily due to the pressure
that would come from both the military and political authorities. This
would be the case, in particular in a country like Turkey, where media
ownership was long ago seized by businessmen using this position of
ownership as a tool to get state contracts. To grab a slice of the pie
from state tenders, they might easily refuse to publicize or deem
newsworthy information that would be harmful to their other interests.
In this sense, Taraf differed from the media ownership structure
mentioned above because the owner stayed away from state contracts and
preserved editorial independence in the real sense.
Taraf ran courageous stories, breaking taboos while opening Pandora's
box, as no other daily could have. Its contribution to the
democratization drive is undeniable.
It was Taraf that disclosed coup plans intended to unseat the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and culminated in the trials
of the suspects. It was through stories that Taraf ran that the
Turkish public learned about grave mistakes being made by the military
in Turkey's 28-year fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK).
Taraf has become the voice of all Turkish citizens' conscience,
whether they are Kurds or the Armenian minority.
But the moment the AK Party government put the brakes on its
democratic reforms and pretended to both rule and govern, as if
curbing the military's power in politics was enough in the absence of
going ahead with structural reforms to end the military tutelage
system, Taraf also turned its arrows of criticism on the government.
The daily has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his
government of becoming more and more authoritarian and allying
themselves with the status quo. In addition, Taraf pioneered in
criticizing the government over the deteriorating state of freedom of
expression.
The resignations of Altan and Congar have, in the meantime, received
mixed reactions from the media.
Hasan Cemal, a veteran columnist writing for the Milliyet daily, wrote
last Saturday: "Be sure that none of the papers except Taraf could
have published the reports that this daily ran. Believe me that many
problematic issues that have prevented democracy and law from
flourishing were doomed to be left in the dark if there had been no
Taraf. Taraf ended this darkness. I cannot stomach now that some
windows are being closed."
Did Taraf face pressure that resulted in Altan's resignation due to
the fact that the government did not hide its displeasure with his
sometimes harsh criticism?
Arslan denied any link between government pressure and Altan's resignation.
Yet a recent statement made by a senior minister from the ruling party
gives strong hints that Altan parting ways with Taraf was indeed a
government operation. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ar覺nc, appearing on
Kanalturk TV last Saturday, criticized Altan's wording in his columns,
and in particular his criticism of Erdogan, which he described as
mockery and insulting.
Ar覺nc claimed that in criticizing the government Taraf pursued a line
that intended to end the AK Party's existence.
"I will regret it if Taraf is closed down. Taraf should continue its
publication by readjusting its line," Ar覺nc added. He sent a veiled
warning to Taraf concerning its future stance on the dose of criticism
directed toward the government with these remarks. Ar覺nc was also
indicating the influence of this relatively low circulation daily when
he stated that its criticisms were intended to end the AK Party's term
in power.
Arslan has long been facing serious economic pressure because there
have been no businessmen buying shares of Taraf for fear that they
will come under pressure from both the military and the government.
Perhaps Arslan was no longer able to withstand the pressure coming
from the government, and that resulted in Altan's departure.
According to the Wikipedia definition, true mentoring is about an
ongoing relationship of learning, dialogue and challenge. Mentoring is
a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital
and psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to
work, career or professional development.
Without Altan's mentorship, it is a big question if Taraf can continue
its editorial independence and survive.
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Dec 17 2012
LALE KEMAL
[email protected]
I used the past tense in the headline deliberately because it has now
become uncertain whether this liberal daily will be able to continue
its editorial independence after the resignation of Ahmet Altan,
editor-in-chief, and Yasemin Congar, his deputy.
Taraf's independent and courageous stance that resisted unprecedented
pressure from both the military and the government was unique in the
Turkish media, and greatly relied on the mentorship of Altan, who is
also a well-known novelist.
The owner of Taraf, Ba癬_ar Arslan, who is also a publisher and the
owner of a famous bookstore called Alk覺m, had a modest budget when he
first suggested running a daily in Turkey to some journalists five
years ago. Those senior journalists warned him at the time about the
difficulties of running a purely independent daily due to the pressure
that would come from both the military and political authorities. This
would be the case, in particular in a country like Turkey, where media
ownership was long ago seized by businessmen using this position of
ownership as a tool to get state contracts. To grab a slice of the pie
from state tenders, they might easily refuse to publicize or deem
newsworthy information that would be harmful to their other interests.
In this sense, Taraf differed from the media ownership structure
mentioned above because the owner stayed away from state contracts and
preserved editorial independence in the real sense.
Taraf ran courageous stories, breaking taboos while opening Pandora's
box, as no other daily could have. Its contribution to the
democratization drive is undeniable.
It was Taraf that disclosed coup plans intended to unseat the ruling
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and culminated in the trials
of the suspects. It was through stories that Taraf ran that the
Turkish public learned about grave mistakes being made by the military
in Turkey's 28-year fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK).
Taraf has become the voice of all Turkish citizens' conscience,
whether they are Kurds or the Armenian minority.
But the moment the AK Party government put the brakes on its
democratic reforms and pretended to both rule and govern, as if
curbing the military's power in politics was enough in the absence of
going ahead with structural reforms to end the military tutelage
system, Taraf also turned its arrows of criticism on the government.
The daily has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his
government of becoming more and more authoritarian and allying
themselves with the status quo. In addition, Taraf pioneered in
criticizing the government over the deteriorating state of freedom of
expression.
The resignations of Altan and Congar have, in the meantime, received
mixed reactions from the media.
Hasan Cemal, a veteran columnist writing for the Milliyet daily, wrote
last Saturday: "Be sure that none of the papers except Taraf could
have published the reports that this daily ran. Believe me that many
problematic issues that have prevented democracy and law from
flourishing were doomed to be left in the dark if there had been no
Taraf. Taraf ended this darkness. I cannot stomach now that some
windows are being closed."
Did Taraf face pressure that resulted in Altan's resignation due to
the fact that the government did not hide its displeasure with his
sometimes harsh criticism?
Arslan denied any link between government pressure and Altan's resignation.
Yet a recent statement made by a senior minister from the ruling party
gives strong hints that Altan parting ways with Taraf was indeed a
government operation. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ar覺nc, appearing on
Kanalturk TV last Saturday, criticized Altan's wording in his columns,
and in particular his criticism of Erdogan, which he described as
mockery and insulting.
Ar覺nc claimed that in criticizing the government Taraf pursued a line
that intended to end the AK Party's existence.
"I will regret it if Taraf is closed down. Taraf should continue its
publication by readjusting its line," Ar覺nc added. He sent a veiled
warning to Taraf concerning its future stance on the dose of criticism
directed toward the government with these remarks. Ar覺nc was also
indicating the influence of this relatively low circulation daily when
he stated that its criticisms were intended to end the AK Party's term
in power.
Arslan has long been facing serious economic pressure because there
have been no businessmen buying shares of Taraf for fear that they
will come under pressure from both the military and the government.
Perhaps Arslan was no longer able to withstand the pressure coming
from the government, and that resulted in Altan's departure.
According to the Wikipedia definition, true mentoring is about an
ongoing relationship of learning, dialogue and challenge. Mentoring is
a process for the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital
and psychosocial support perceived by the recipient as relevant to
work, career or professional development.
Without Altan's mentorship, it is a big question if Taraf can continue
its editorial independence and survive.