Erdogan no champion of free press in seeking justice for Khashoggi
As freedom-loving people around the world demand answers in the brutal slaying of Jamal Khashoggi, they can take some comfort in knowing the Turkish government is spearheading the fight for justice.
The journalist’s murder took place in that country at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul in early October, and since the crime became known, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has prodded the Saudi government to come clean about its role in the atrocity, while constantly styling himself as a staunch defender of a free press.
In many ways, the president’s intervention is welcome. Everyone who wants to see Khashoggi’s executioners identified and held accountable will value Erdogan as an ally.
But as a self-proclaimed knight standing up for persecuted journalists like Khashoggi, the Turkish president has no credibility. His armour is hopelessly tarnished. Indeed, thanks to him, the phrase “Turkish free press” is an oxymoron.
To make such a charge is not to be unfairly critical of a leader who is understandably outraged that foreign operatives entered his country and committed what the Saudis now agree was a premeditated killing.
However, it’s important to know that Erdogan’s response to Khashoggi’s death has much to do with the regional power struggle between Turkey and Saudi Arabia and virtually nothing to do with protecting journalistic freedom. Turkey, under Erdogan’s authoritarian regime, is widely considered to be the world’s largest jailer of journalists.
If anything, the situation has deteriorated since the failed military coup of 2016. After that, the Turkish government shut down more than 100 media outlets, while some 2,500 journalists lost their jobs. Journalists critical of the government were arrested and many handed lengthy prison sentences. Of the more than 100 journalists still in jail, many are being detained without having faced any charge. It’s no wonder that in this year’s World Press Freedom Index, Turkey’s ranking was appalling. It fell to 157th place out of 180 countries.
Nor was it surprising that after Erdogan’s bullying and battering of the Turkish media they would become his mouthpiece in the ongoing dispute with Saudi Arabia. After all, the Turkish government today controls nearly 90 per cent of media outlets.
“The media that is left now is totally obedient to Erdogan,” said Ozgur Ogret, Turkey’s representative on the international Committee to Protect Journalists. “Outlets that used to be mainstream have been bought up by pro-government businessmen.”
Whatever restraints Turkey’s president has placed on its media and whatever their failings, they do appear to be doing a credible job reporting on Khashoggi’s death and its troubling, puzzling, aftermath.
Countries such as Canada, which hope the Saudis will face stiff consequences for what happened to Khashoggi, can be grateful for the information they’re getting.
But we should always remember the information flow is being controlled by Erdogan. Each daily instalment of the drama is stage-managed by him. His own record proves that not only press freedom, but free speech and expression remain foreign concepts to him.
What matters most to Turkey’s president is gaining power and leverage over Saudi Arabia in the volatile Middle East. And, for him, using the slain Khashoggi as a pawn is fair game.
Canadians are right to be angered and disgusted by the way the Saudis have silenced a critic. We, too, should not close our eyes to the nasty reality of Erdogan’s Turkey.
The Saudis might use a knife. Erdogan holds a jailer’s keys.