Friday, September 11, 2009
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Criticizing the leader of Turkey has cost the media group, Doğan Yayin, dearly. The government’s Tax Ministry fined Doğan—a conglomerate of newspapers and television stations that includes CNN-Turk, a Turkish-language version of CNN jointly owned with Time Warner—$2.5 billion.
The media group is owned partly by Aydin Doğan, an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has accused the Turkish leader of corruption and authoritarianism. The fine is nearly as much as the value of the Doğan holding company, leading observers to speculate that the government is trying to put Doğan out of business. Erdoğan has already advocated for a boycott of Doğan media publications.
The only thing that may save Doğan is the Turkish government’s desire to join the European Union, which may not accept Turkey into the economic body if its attacks on the media are considered unacceptable.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Turkish Media Group Is Fined $2.5 Billion (by Sebnem Arsu and Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times)
Erdoğan-Doğan War Escalates (by Fatma Dişli Zibak, Today’s Zaman)
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