{"id":33983,"date":"2021-02-08T01:04:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T23:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/norkhosq.net\/?p=33983"},"modified":"2021-02-08T01:09:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-07T23:09:00","slug":"is-turkeys-opposition-not-as-sexy-as-navalny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/?p=33983","title":{"rendered":"Is Turkey\u2019s opposition not as sexy as Navalny?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why is the Western media ignoring thousands of cases filed against Turkish opposition voices? Why doesn\u2019t Selahattin Demirta\u015f – who has been imprisoned for more than 4 years against ECHR decisions – get half as much attention as Navalny does?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thursday February 04 2021 10:55 am<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I listen to various podcasts and read news about Europe and the United States. These days, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the recent protests in Russia \u2013 which are very exciting and deserve in-depth coverage \u2013 have dominated \u201cforeign news\u201d.
 
Yet I cannot hear what\u2019s going in Turkey. Even the resistance staged at Bo\u011fazi\u00e7i University against the unlawful appointment of a new rector and the hundreds of students being detained and targeted over and over again by Turkey\u2019s president and his coalition partner Bah\u00e7eli do not get much attention.
 
Which makes me wonder:
 
Why is the Western media ignoring thousands of cases filed against Turkish opposition voices?
 
Why doesn\u2019t Selahattin Demirta\u015f – who has been imprisoned for more than 4 years against ECHR decisions – get half as much attention as Navalny does?
 
Although the European Union has called for the release of Osman Kavala once again, why is the European media not eager to cover this story? Is is too boring? Is it the \u201csame story\u201d all over again?
 
While journalists, lawyers, students, academics, artists and ordinary people, as well as 14 year old kids are detained, harassed, tried or called \u201cterrorists\u201d, why isn\u2019t anyone paying attention to them? 
 
I don\u2019t think that the \u201cTurkey subject\u201d has worn out. Whenever President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan makes a harsh comment or critical move, he gets all the attention. But the people of Turkey do not.
 
Definetely not the Kurds, unless it has to do with the YPG or PKK. Definetely not women, who get killed every day and get their fundamental rights restricted.
 
I\u2019m sure correspondents covering Turkey are trying to do their best, while they are oppressed like their Turkish colleagues. In order to work in Turkey, one needs to get the approval from the Directorate of Presidential Communications, get their press card, plus accreditation for special events. So if a journalist is a tad critical, he\/she might get deported, as so many have.
 
Still, there are a handful of journalists and critical media in Turkey that remain and try to do their best, reaching out to people and tell their stories. They are left alone.
 
Turkey as the overseas \u201caggressor\u201d overseas largely dominates the news, but no one seems to be interested as to how the regime has been changed step by step throughout these past 2.5  years. How the ultranationalist-Islamist alliance has taken hostage of the entire country as the rule of law, democracy and pluralism have been drained.
 
Which again, leaves me thinking: People are probably fed up with the continous oppression and violation of rights. It\u2019s not \u201cnews\u201d anymore.
 
This is exactly what the regime wants and how it functions:
 
Let\u2019s not take care about ECHR decisions \u2013 what power do they have?
 
Let\u2019s harass more critical voices, since nobody really cares.
 
Let\u2019s not reach a decision in courts and curb the quest for justice. Critical cases related to the authorities, like Hrant Dink\u2019s murder in 2007, the enforced disappearances, the Berkin Elvan case and even torture cases dating back to the 1990s which will all be forgotten in time. 
 
The endless trials on free speech and press freedom eventually wane. Every week, more than 10 trials are held against journalists. That\u2019s just the new normal.
 
Cases like the \u00c7orlu train accident, the Soma mine disaster are also to end with impunity, so no one dares to hold the authorities accountable.
I feel desperate and angry. I don\u2019t believe things will change with a new election, I don\u2019t have faith in the electoral system and don\u2019t see any effective oppositional policy or leader. Opposition leaders cannot challenge the Presidential Regime\u2019s orders. In fact, some act in line with the authoritarian discourse, especially when it comes to the Kurdish issue, military interventions and \u201creligious values.\u201d
 
Authoritarian leaders and policies in the world do not only cause harm to their own countries. They have widespread effects across the world.
 
As political scientist Din\u00e7er Demirkent puts it, \u201cThey borrow strategies from each other. The widespread targeting of people on the grounds that they are \u2018terrorists\u2019 is crucial to their policies. What\u2019s new now in Turkey is that the targeting is more ambigious. People cannot rely on the judiciary or institutions.\u201d
 
I hope some will pay attention before it is too late. Or perhaps it already is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.duvarenglish.com\/is-turkeys-opposition-not-as-sexy-as-navalny-article-56124<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEHVE\u015e EV\u0130N<\/a>, Gazeteci- Yazar<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mehve\u015f Evin, 26 Haziran 1970 \u0130stanbul do\u011fumlu. \u0130stanbul Lisesi 1987 mezunu Evin, Bo\u011fazi\u00e7i \u00dcniversitesi Psikolojik Dan\u0131\u015fmanl\u0131k b\u00f6l\u00fcm\u00fcn\u00fc 1993\u2019te tamamlad\u0131, \u00e7al\u0131\u015f\u0131rken Bilgi \u00dcniversitesi\u2019nde MBA yapt\u0131 (2007). Gazetecili\u011fe 1993\u2019te Sa\u00acbah gazetesinde ba\u015flayan Evin, Akt\u00fcel, Yeni Y\u00fczy\u0131l, Liberal Bak\u0131\u015f, NTV dergi grubunda muhabirlik ve edit\u00f6rl\u00fck; Sabah, Ak\u015fam, Vatan gazeteleri ve Akt\u00fcel dergisinde y\u00f6neticilik yapt\u0131. Milliyet\u2019te alt\u0131 y\u0131l k\u00f6\u015fe yazarl\u0131\u011f\u0131n\u0131n ard\u0131ndan merkez medya maceras\u0131 bitti ve diken.com.tr, Kara Karga, journo, tazgazete\u2019de yazarl\u0131\u011fa, muhabirli\u011fe devam etti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ba\u011f\u0131ms\u0131z yay\u0131nlar i\u00e7in \u00e7al\u0131\u015fmay\u0131 s\u00fcrd\u00fcren Evin, artigercek.com\u2019da yaz\u0131yor, A\u00e7\u0131k Radyo\u2019da \u201cEkonomi & Ekoloji\u201d program\u0131n\u0131n sunucula-r\u0131ndan ve artitv.tv\u2019de \u201cS\u00f6z Bizim\u201d adl\u0131 tart\u0131\u015fma program\u0131n\u0131 haz\u0131rl\u0131yor. \u201cBabalar ve K\u0131zlar\u0131\u201d ve \u201cHaber Okumalar\u0131\u201d kitaplar\u0131na katk\u0131da bulunan Evin, 2018 y\u0131l\u0131nda T\u00fcrkiye’nin son 15 y\u0131l\u0131na ayna tutan „A’dan Z’ye Buraya Nas\u0131l Geldik?“ adl\u0131 ilk kitab\u0131n\u0131 yay\u0131nlad\u0131.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mehve\u015f Evin, \u0130stanbul\u2019da ya\u015f\u0131yor ve Levend ad\u0131nda bir o\u011flu var.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why is the Western media ignoring thousands of cases filed against Turkish opposition voices? Why doesn\u2019t Selahattin Demirta\u015f – who has been imprisoned for more than 4 years against ECHR…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33983"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33992,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33983\/revisions\/33992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/norkhosq.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}