Turkey′s Erdogan clamps down further on media amid corononavirus crises

The Turkish president seems to be using the coronavirus crisis as a pretext to get rid of the few critical media outlets left in his country. Opposition politicians and journalists fear a new spate of censorship.

Read more at;
https://www.dw.com/en/turkeys-erdogan-clamps-down-further-on-media-amid-coronavirus-crisis/a-53192898

Turkey -Turkish Presidential Elections: Mega Rally in Istanbul of opposition's democratic and charismatic Muharrem Ince attracts 5 million supporters - EU-Digest Editorial

Muharrem Ince fresh approach attracting manyTurkish voters

Mr Muharrem Ince drew a massive crowd to an Istanbul rally on Saturday June 23, one day before the election.

Even Istanbul Police estimated that over 5 million attended this rally, despite undemocratic obstructional measures  taken by the Erdogan Governmenmt, including, halting ferry boats, which were bringing Ince supporters to the rally, censoring publications which wanted to report the event. 

People who clicked on web pages which reported on Ince speeches and events found  the following appearing on their screen. . 

THE PAGE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR

COULD NOT BE FOUND

The page you are looking for has been moved or does not exist. 

Turkish voters are calling for end to corrupt Erdogan regime

Mr Ince, a former teacher and the presidential candidate of the main opposition party, the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), has proved highly effective on the campaign trail, drawing huge crowds, especially in the big cities.

Mr Muharrem Ince repeated an accusation made by other opposition politicians of political bias by Turkey's state media, which has given Mr Erdogan and the AK Party heavy coverage, while often completely neglecting to broadcast opposition rallies.

Massive turnout for Ince in Istanbul on Saturday June 23

"There are 5 million people in Maltepe right no,. but none of the TV channels can show it," Ince said in Istanbul this Saturday, June 23.

It is also remarkable and strange, that very few US and EU media outlets have provided hardly any coverage to the rallies of Muharrem Ince. 

Instead the international Press provides a lot of coverage to "President" Erdogan, who has locked up more journalists than the Peoples Republic of China.

Extra security forces and more than half a million ballot monitors and volunteers will be deployed across Turkey during Sundays election. 

Unfortunately large numbers of these security forces, monitors and volunteers, have been placed there by the Erdogan government, which, just like during the last referendum vote, makes fraud a major threat again during this Presidential election..

The winner of Sunday's June 24 presidential contest will acquire sweeping new executive powers under a constitutional overhaul backed by Mr Erdogan and endorsed last year by a narrow majority of Turks in a referendum.

EU-Digest-

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Censorship USA: White House bans certain news media from briefing including BBC

The White House has barred several major broadcasters and newspapers from attending an informal press briefing.

The BBC, CNN, the New York Times and others were excluded from an audience with Press Secretary Sean Spicer, with no reason given.

It came hours after President Donald Trump delivered another attack on the media in a speech, saying that "fake news" was the "enemy of the people".

He has previously singled out CNN and the New York Times for criticism.

Recent reports claiming his campaign aides had contact with Russian intelligence officials have particularly irked the president.

Shortly after Mr Trump's speech on Friday, a number of selected media organisations were invited into Mr Spicer's office for an informal briefing, or "gaggle".

Those allowed into the room included ABC, Fox News, Breitbart News, Reuters and the Washington Times.

When asked why some were excluded, Mr Spicer said it was his decision to "expand the pool" of reporters.

He also warned the White House was going to "aggressively push back" at "false narratives" in the news.

Read more: White House bans certain news media from briefing - BBC News

Propaganda: ′Divide Europe′: European lawmakers warn of Russian propaganda - what about propaganda from other sources?

The Russian government channels propaganda aimed at disrupting democratic values across Europe, targeting "specific journalists, politicians and individuals in the bloc," lawmakers of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said in a resolution passed on Monday.

"The Russian government is aggressively employing a wide-range of tools and instruments, such as think tanks […], multilingual TV stations (i.e. Russia Today), pseudo-news agencies […], social media and internet trolls, to challenge democratic values, divide Europe, gather domestic support and create the perception of failed states in the EU's eastern neighborhood," the resolution said.

European lawmakers called on media representatives in the EU to compile facts on the "consumption of propaganda," worrying that "with the limited awareness amongst some of its member states, that they are audiences and arenas of propaganda and disinformation."

The resolution urged European authorities to turn the EU's Strategic Communication Task Force, an initiative mandated by the European Council aimed at dispelling propaganda, into a "fully-fledged unit" within the bloc's diplomatic office, "with proper staffing and adequate budgetary resources."

MEP Anna Fotyga, the chief rapporteur for the resolution, told DW that more needs to be done to expose the "mechanism of propaganda" directed at the bloc's member states, and more broadly the EU and the West.

However, Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT (formerly Russia Today), told DW that the resolution, in effect, targets free speech in the 28-nation bloc.

"This a rather interesting interpretation of the much-touted western values, particularly that of the freedom of speech - which in action apparently means attacking a rare voice of dissent amongst literally thousands of European media outlets," Simonyan said in an emailed statement.

"If anything is eroding public confidence in European institutions, it's that," she added.

Note EU-Digest: Good move by EU lawmakers, but propaganda is coming to the EU citizens and politicians from a variety of sources and directions - countries and industry, and the question should not only be focused on one potential culprit, but other sources as well, including, the US, China, multi- nationals, etc. If the EU lawmakers don't approach the issue in a far more broader and objective way, it unfortunately does start to smell like censorship, and that, one can only hope is not the purpose of this exercise ?

Read more: ′Divide Europe′: European lawmakers warn of Russian propaganda | Europe | DW.COM | 11.10.2016

Turkey: Dutch journalist detained in Turkey for 'insulting' Erdoğan

Ebru Umar, Dutch journalist of Turkish descent detained

A Dutch journalist was detained on April 23 in the Kuşadası district of the Aegean province of Aydın for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan via her Twitter account.

Police detained journalist Ebru Umar after she tweeted an extract from a recent piece she wrote for Dutch daily Metro critical of Erdoğan.

“Police at the door. No joke,” tweeted Umar, who also holds Turkish citizenship.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry announced it was in “close contact with” Umar following her detainment.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte tweeted he had contacted the journalist on April 23, as well as mentioning the embassy’s assistance on the issue.

The Dutch consular agent in İzmir appointed main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kuşadası district head lawyer Nail Özazman to defend Umar.

Umar was transferred to court with an arrest demand on April 24 following her proceedings in the security directorate.

A local court later ruled for the release of Umar on probation along with a travel ban.

Also on April 23, a German newspaper says a Greek photographer who was working for it has been turned back by Turkish authorities at Istanbul's main airport.
    
The Bild daily reported that Giorgos Moutafis was prevented from continuing to Libya on the evening of April 23. He had to take the next plane back to the Greek capital, Athens, on the morning of April 24.
    
It quoted the photographer as saying he had been told at passport control that his name was on a list of people who weren't allowed to enter Turkey, but wasn't given a reason why.
    
The reported incident comes days after a journalist with a German public broadcaster was prevented from entering Turkey. Chancellor Angela Merkel says she discussed that case during a visit to Turkey on April 23.

Meanwhile, a Turkish journalist was released on early April 24 in İzmir following his detainment for remarks about a prison head in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır during the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup period.

Police detained journalist and writer Ümit Zileli at his hotel after an arrest warrant was issued for him.

Zileli’s lawyer, Murat Ergün, said the journalist was detained for calling the Diyarbakır prison head a “torturer” during the Sept. 12, 1980, coup period.

Zileli was in the city to attend the 21st İzmir book fair. Ergün said that Zileli would attend the fair on April 24.

"Unconfirmed reports are indicating Dutch citizens of Turkish descent, together with other Dutch citizens will demonstrate in front of the Turkish embassy in the Hague sometime this week - to protest against the arrest of a journalist by the Erdogan Government , who is a Dutch Citizen of Turkish descent, and also against the blatant disrespect and abuse of basic human rights in Turkey, including freedom of expression".

Almere-Digest

Press: Alternative Resources: Browsers - Search Engines - E-Mail Servers - News: Print, Radio and TV Services - by RM

There are other alternatives if you are you concerned about getting one-sided or doctored news from corporate owned or state controlled censored publications, radio and TV stations  ---- or that you are using search engines and e-mail services where you  really don't know what happens to your private and personal information.

Following below is a listing of alternative on-line services which provide you with more freedom of choice and where your personal data and privacy rights are presently not compromised.   

E-Mail Services
NEOMAILBOX
ECLIPSO

Search Engines 
Ixquick 

Browsers
Open source Tor Project

Alternative (unadulterated) News - Print, Radio, and TV

Aljazeera  (also in languages other than English)
BBC         (also in languages  other than English)
Deutsche Welle
EuroNews (also in languages other than English)
France24   (also in languages other than English)
LinkTV

Most of the above mentioned resources can also be downloaded as an APP for your smart-phone or computer.

In some countries where there is censorship some of these services won't work. In that case it is recommended to try using the Tor Browser to connect with them.

EU-Digest

Turkey: AKP faces tough test in Turkey's local polls - by Osman Kaytazoglu

Turkey is going to the polls in local elections on March 30. The vote comes amid allegations of government corruption and bribery, debates about a so-called "parallel state", and with government moves to block Twitter and YouTube heavily criticized.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP] have come out of each general election since the party was first elected to power in 2002 with more votes than before, securing nearly 50 percent of the vote in 2011 general elections.

But this election may represent the AKP’s biggest challenge to date, and is being described as a litmus test for upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. The main parties fielding candidates are Erdogan’s AKP, the main opposition party Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Justice and Development Party (BDP).

The local elections first garnered attention with anti-government Gezi Park protests in June 2013, when thousands of people descended on a park in central Istanbul against the municipality’s gentrification plans.

The elections have been dominated by a new scandal that began on December 17 last year, when three AKP cabinet ministers’ children were arrested on corruption charges, and several government figures were implicated in graft probes.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republic People’s Party (CHP), has tried to make sure the graft probe remains at the centre of the election process. "The state’s conscience woke up on December 17," CHP leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, said, referring to when the first arrests were made.

Erdogan blamed rival Fethullah Gulen, the US-based head of the Gulen movement, for the recent controversies, and their feud has dominated the headlines. Erdogan described the Gulen movement as "a threat to national security" and called the Gulen movement "a terrorist organisation".

Recent opinion polls show that people are confused about the public AKP-Gulen feud. While 60 percent of Turkish people believe the corruption allegations are true, 57 percent also think that the graft probe is a coup attempt targeting Erdogan.

Ahead of the polls, various audio recordings have also leaked, with the latest reportedly showing top government and security officials discussing launching military operations into Syria. The Turkish government banned Twitter and YouTube over these leaks.

Read more: AKP faces tough test in Turkey's local polls - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Turkey: Move to block YouTube ahead of elections points to growing censorship

The Turkish authorities’ move today to block access to YouTube on the eve of Sunday’s elections, and not long after they restricted access to Twitter, smacks of a wider pre-meditated crackdown on freedom of expression, Amnesty International said.

According to media reports, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited national security concerns when it sought an administrative order to block the video-sharing platform – allegedly to prevent further circulation of a taped recording of discussions between senior Turkish officials on Syria.

“The Turkish government appears to be itching for pretexts to close down websites because of their capacity to mobilize dissenting opinion and broadcast embarrassing material,” said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's researcher on Turkey.

“Coming just days before Turkey goes to the polls and in the wake of Prime Minister Erdoðan’s strident criticism of YouTube, this is clearly nothing more than a crude attempt at government censorship that will only generate deeper distrust and frustration.

“Even if the Turkish authorities have legitimate concerns about some of the content that might appear, it is completely disproportionate to enforce a blanket YouTube ban in the entire country. Access to YouTube must be restored immediately and the authorities must stop blocking sites that expose abuses and provide a platform for dissenting views.”

Read more: Turkey: Move to block YouTube ahead of elections points to growing censorship | Amnesty International