An ally that jails journalists
This editorial appeared in The Washington Post:
About 150 journalists have been thrown in jail, and about 170 media organizations closed down. Professors are being marched to prison. The government fired more than 3,000 members of the judiciary, and thousands more civil servants have been ejected from their jobs. Smartphone users are being arrested for using an encrypted app. Sound like a purge in China or Russia? Think again. This is Turkey, a NATO member that a decade ago was regarded as a model Muslim democracy. Now, under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it has become one of the most repressive regimes.
Since a July 15 failed coup attempt, Erdogan has launched waves of purges, claiming that the self-exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in Pennsylvania, was behind the overthrow effort, and accusing thousands of people of subversion and belonging to terrorist organizations. The purges are accelerating as Turkey nears an April referendum on whether to give Erdogan new powers.
Recently, the authorities arrested a Turkish-German newspaper correspondent, Deniz Yucel, on charges of “disseminating the propaganda of a terrorist organization” and “inciting people to hatred and enmity.” His real offence may be that he published articles about the hacking of private emails of Turkey’s energy minister, the son-in-law of Erdogan. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the arrest as “bitter and disappointing.” Erdogan would hear none of it, declaring the journalist a “German agent” and a terrorist.
Erdogan’s pursuit of expanded powers has also stirred incendiary arguments between Turkey and both Germany and the Netherlands after Turkish ministers were prevented from addressing expatriate Turks in those nations. When municipalities in Germany cancelled events, Erdogan declared it was “not different from Nazi practices.” Merkel rightly replied that such language “can’t be justified.” Merkel walks a tightrope over Middle Eastern refugees. Turkey is restraining the tide and is a major trading partner. But faced with Erdogan’s repression, Merkel is proving to be a welcome voice of conscience, filling a vacuum left by the United States.