29 July 2013

My sacking is an attack not just on journalism, but on Turkish democracy

.... Turkey's media has always suffered from not having enough qualified journalists; this is now more of a problem than ever. But there is more at stake here than just the future of individuals.

Turkey's democratic development is being observed with high hopes by the world. Its success or failure will have defining consequences for the region and beyond.

The country needs freedom of expression and an independent media more than ever. But Erdogan is moving the country in the opposite direction: instead of enhancing media freedom, he and his media mogul allies are trying to suffocate it. A media under a political yoke will bring Turkey's transformation to a dead end.

[A COMMENT] Erdogan is being careful, patient and methodical in replacing democracy with oppressive Islamist theocracy -- quite the opposite of Morsi in Egypt. Ataturk was no saint, but he understood the incompatibility of fundamental Islamic ideology and democracy very well. RIP Turkish secularism. [Guardian Cif] Read more