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TURKISH-AMERICAN GROUP VOICES CONCERN OVER ANTI-TURKISH SENTIMENTS ON FOX NEWS
TODAYSZAMAN.COM
2 February 2012
Texas Governor Rick Perry is seen backstage during a break in a
Republican Presidential candidates debate in Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina on Jan. 17. (Photo: Reuters)
One of the largest Turkish-American organizations, the Turkish
Coalition of America (TCA), has sent letters to News Corporation
Chairman Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-owned Fox News Chairman
Roger Ailes to make known its concern regarding anti-Turkey sentiments
voiced on Fox News during the Jan. 17 Republican presidential debate.
The letters were prompted by media reports that Murdoch's News
Corporation is considering a bid to buy one of Turkey's biggest media
groups, which owns the Sabah daily and popular TV station ATV. TCA
President G. Lincoln McCurdy explained his concerns in the letters
sent to both Murdoch and Ailes.
He stated that during the Fox News-hosted Republican Presidential
Primary Debate in South Carolina on Jan. 17, "Fox News' anchor
Bret Baier recited a litany of out-of-context statistics arranged to
portray Turkey in the worst possible light and then suggested to Texas
Governor Rick Perry that such statistics might indicate that Turkey,
one of the United States' most robust NATO allies, no longer deserved
to be a member of NATO."
"Led on by this outrageous question, Governor Perry responded in a
manner that nearly caused an international incident, accusing Turkey's
democratically elected government of acting like 'Islamic terrorists'
and suggesting that Turkey should be expelled from NATO," he added.
McCurdy said taken together, the moderator's question and the
candidate's response shocked and alarmed Turkish-Americans and the
people of Turkey. "Though this was a single broadcast, as you well
know, in this global and interconnected world, everyone is listening.
The negative impact of this single broadcast, therefore, should not
be underestimated," he continued.
The letters concluded that "taking into account the uproar the debate
caused among Turkish-Americans and throughout Turkish society,
as well as News Corporation's interests in doing business in
Turkey, TCA requested meetings with senior representatives of both
organizations so that it could personally convey its concerns, talk
about issues related to Turkey and establish a dialogue between the
Turkish-American community and Fox News to prevent future incidents
which do not benefit anyone."
TODAYSZAMAN.COM
2 February 2012
Texas Governor Rick Perry is seen backstage during a break in a
Republican Presidential candidates debate in Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina on Jan. 17. (Photo: Reuters)
One of the largest Turkish-American organizations, the Turkish
Coalition of America (TCA), has sent letters to News Corporation
Chairman Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation-owned Fox News Chairman
Roger Ailes to make known its concern regarding anti-Turkey sentiments
voiced on Fox News during the Jan. 17 Republican presidential debate.
The letters were prompted by media reports that Murdoch's News
Corporation is considering a bid to buy one of Turkey's biggest media
groups, which owns the Sabah daily and popular TV station ATV. TCA
President G. Lincoln McCurdy explained his concerns in the letters
sent to both Murdoch and Ailes.
He stated that during the Fox News-hosted Republican Presidential
Primary Debate in South Carolina on Jan. 17, "Fox News' anchor
Bret Baier recited a litany of out-of-context statistics arranged to
portray Turkey in the worst possible light and then suggested to Texas
Governor Rick Perry that such statistics might indicate that Turkey,
one of the United States' most robust NATO allies, no longer deserved
to be a member of NATO."
"Led on by this outrageous question, Governor Perry responded in a
manner that nearly caused an international incident, accusing Turkey's
democratically elected government of acting like 'Islamic terrorists'
and suggesting that Turkey should be expelled from NATO," he added.
McCurdy said taken together, the moderator's question and the
candidate's response shocked and alarmed Turkish-Americans and the
people of Turkey. "Though this was a single broadcast, as you well
know, in this global and interconnected world, everyone is listening.
The negative impact of this single broadcast, therefore, should not
be underestimated," he continued.
The letters concluded that "taking into account the uproar the debate
caused among Turkish-Americans and throughout Turkish society,
as well as News Corporation's interests in doing business in
Turkey, TCA requested meetings with senior representatives of both
organizations so that it could personally convey its concerns, talk
about issues related to Turkey and establish a dialogue between the
Turkish-American community and Fox News to prevent future incidents
which do not benefit anyone."