Author: albat.1

Country Report: Turkey Information Network

Country Report: Information Network

Turkey – Jules Albat

 

 

For my previous searches of sources I mainly used google searches. I also used websites like qora.com and reddit.com and search sources because people recommended them.

 

Hürriyet Daily News is a Turkish newspaper who publishes articles in English. This newspaper is owned by the Doğan Media Group which is the media group of a huge conglomerate created by billionaire Aydın Doğan. This could be a problem because this financial group has political, financial and societal interests which are defended by the media group. Consequently, the newspaper’s view reflects the views of one of the richest man in Turkey.

However, the newspaper reports on extremely different subjects from economy, political opinions to local problems. This daily newspaper’s website is updated constantly with articles.

I will subscribe to their RSS feed (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/rss.aspx) and I will integrate it to my daily news feed which I read every morning.

In my opinion, this newspaper is often categorized by its left and secular views which are nowadays in opposition to the views of Turkey’s main party (https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/hurriyet-daily-news/).

 

 

 

Daily Sabah is the website of a daily Turkish newspaper who also publishes in English. It is a very recent newspaper (founded in 2014) and it was labelled as a propaganda tool of the Turkish government by many observers. This might be strange to follow a newspaper which can’t be appraised for its objectivity. However, let’s not forget that Erdogan’s party is the biggest political force in Turkey and that they got 40.87% of the popular vote[1]. We can’t disregard the opinions of this Party. In my opinion, this is why Daily Sabah is an excellent choice since it is labelled as pro-AKP.

The newspaper is updated daily and reports on approximately the same subjects as the previous source of information. Again, I will subscribe to their RSS feed  and I hope I can see both views of an event (the Pro-government view and the leftist view).

 

aujourd’hui la turquie is a French Turkish-based newspaper. It is the only Turkish newspaper published in the French language (This sort of publications where popular during the Ottoman Empire). I chose this newspaper because it publishes a lot of its article in their website. Moreover, the fact that it is the only French Turkish-based newspaper might provide a point of view which I can’t have with my other sources. I think people writing in this newspaper are French people with an affinity to Turkey or Turkish people with an affinity with France and their point of view is valuable. The newspaper has daily article from culture to politics. They even have a web-tv where they have little reports. However, the website has only 6000 likes on Facebook and doesn’t seem to be popular but I still think that it can provide interesting insights. I will again subsribe to the RSS feed.

 

 

https://www.lorientlejour.com/  is a Lebanese daily newspaper in French language that has a clear focus on the middle east. Even if l’Orient le jour specializes in Lebanese news it also reports on Turkish affairs. The newspaper has a clear bias that is tied to the recent history of Lebanese politics. They defend the ideas of the murdered previous prime minister Rafiq Hariri who befriended western countries and Saudi Arabia. In my opinion, this newspaper gives insights from the point of view of the moderate Muslims of the Middle-east, especially Lebanese moderate, on Turkish news. They often critic Erdogan for his tight control of the press. The importance of the newspaper in Lebanon makes it the spokesperson of our Arab friends.  Moreover, the newspaper takes culture very seriously which for me is something that should be appreciated. They have an rss feed which I will subscribe to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turquie News is a French independent internet-only media about Turkey. It specializes in forum and opinion columns of various members of the civil society. Its written in French and the organization is located in France (which means they have more freedom of the speech than if they were in Turkey). This is why I chose this new “media” because it seems freer than the two previous sources, and it has various opinions from different members of the society. The website isn’t updated daily, but there is a new article at least two to three times per week. It also has many press packs on diverse topics. As always I will add their RSS feed to my daily news consumption (RSS link)

 

My other new media source is “The Centre for Eastern Studies”. It describes itself as “an independent public research institution monitoring the events and analysing the socio-political and economic processes taking place in […] Turkey.” Unfortunately (for me) the center for Easter Studies focuses on a large spectrum of countries and Turkey isn’t in the spotlight often. However, the few analyses I have read were quality insights and thoughtful commentaries on Turkey’s actions. It really helped me understand some specific situations such as the delicate situation in Afrin, Syria where Turkish troops entered Syrian soil. This sole analysis justified its inclusion in my Information Network. The source seems unbiased (or have an polish/European point of view because the Center is in Warsaw).I will again use the RSS link. I found this website thanks to the Global Newspaper Sources in English.

 

 

 

Finding my social media source has been difficult because most social medias in Turkey are under attack. YouTube was banned for a long time and when riots begin social media access is impossible. Moreover, most Turkish people write their Tweets or their social media posts in Turkish which I can’t read. This is why I decided to look at French people who lived in Turkey and who tweet about Turkish matters. Fatih Karakaya is a freelance journalist who specializes on Turkish matter. He posts daily in French and in Turkish (which I am learning so it will also make me practice Turkish).  He is a left leaning ecologist journalist. I will follow him on Tweeter.

I wanted to find another dissident point of view for my social media sources for the following reason. Since Erdogan’s ideology is controlling most of the press and everything that is thought, written or discussed publicly in Turkey is monitored it Is difficult to find an open dissident source with traditional medias. However, twitter allows people to express their views of Turkey (as long as the person is not in Turkey) and some journalist have good insights. I chose this source thanks to this clickbaity article : Erdogan Banned Turkish Reporter From Twitter Because He Doesn’t Care What You Think. This article just says tht twitter was asked by Turkey to ban this journalist account. Mahir Zeynalov is Chief Editor of The Globe Post, he was deported from Turkey for his views. He tweets a lot and he provides insight on Turkey and shares articles from his newspaper.

 

 

 

While looking at my sources, I found that I didn’t have an American source which is I think more than needed because of the importane of the United States in world politics. I chose the New York times for the abundance of articles it produces. I will use this link: https://www.nytimes.com/search/Turkey/newest which will give me the latest news on Turkey from the New York Times. This source produces daily articles on Turkish politics (Often on its foreign policies) and it will gave me the point of view of a democrat American Newspaper. The source will often just report news without giving really new insights (because it is not its focus) but every now and then it will give me a point of view or a comment which would not be possible from the other sources. This is in my opinion my weakest source because the New York Times, as good as the journal is, does not specializes on the Middle-East, and if they have journalist who does, they have to write a lot of article from many Middle-Eastern countries. But I still think it is very important to have an American newspaper.

 

 

 

 

My data source is turkstat, a government-based website which provides statistics on many subjects such as the economy, the demography, etc. Even if the website is from the government, statistics are numbers which can’t be changed.  It compiles data on Turkey. I chose this website as my data source because it seems to have an exhaustive number of statistics. The website only has raw data and is updated when it has new stats to publish.

My new data source is the worldbank which provides international statistics. This website will help me double check some statistics. It is not publicly owned by Turkey like turkstat which is why it is in my opinion more reliable.

 

My last source is the Turkey Radio Television (TRT) which is a radio from the government of Turkey. It has programs in 26 languages including English and French. It has daily news on international and Turkish matters. According to Wikipedia TRT aims to “enhance the understanding of the possibilities Turkey and Turkic republics may possess or take advantage of in various fields through the programs aiming at the Caucasus and central Asia.”[2] It gives the government opinions on it different program. I think I chose this news because after hearing different radio programs this one was the best radio in English language that was based in Turkey. (I think this radio is also aimed at all the Turkish emigrants which I think gives an interesting perspective – How should a Turkish emigrant think about Turkish foreign policies.)

 

I chose a German daily show (news show) for my visual source. Tagesschau is a publicly funded TV program produced by the German public TV channel. Tagesschau often include stories about Turkey because of the many Turkish people living in Germany. The source is pro-eu but the program is highly respected in Germany. I already watch this show every other day, so it won’t be really difficult to catch stories on Turkey. I think it will provide an interesting contrast between TRT, the Turkish-public radio and Tagesschau because they are both public but represent different countries. If I miss a Tagesschau program I can go on their website to see each story on Turkey thanks to this link :https://www.tagesschau.de/thema/t%C3%BCrkei/

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I look at all my sources I feel that Turkey is really becoming an autocracy. Every dissident newspaper in Turkey is closing or is bought by the regime without much opposition and the only way to get information which is not APK-biased is to read exiled journalist or dissident newspapers. This is really sad as I learned in school that Turkey was one of the only long lasting (but not stable) democracy in the Middle-east which didn’t succumb to the extremism of Islam.

 

 

 

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_general_election,_June_2015

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRT_T%C3%BCrk

Global Post News #5 Turkey

Turkey, EU to meet at tough summit in Varna

 

In Bulgaria, Turkey is set to meet EU officials to discuss a range of issues. Turkey has the intentions to ease the acquisition of visas for its nationals. Erdogan also wants to discuss Turkey’s candidacy to the European Union even if his political actions don’t meet the EU’s criteria. Another goal for Erdogan is to “upgrade customs union that were cited as Brussels’ promises in return for Turkey keeping Syrian refugees on its soils in a 2016-dated agreement.”.

However, the demands are quite unachievable. The EU who needs the green light from every 28 members and it seems that not every country wants to upgrade the customs union.  Junker is also disappointed by Turkey’s slowness to implement fundamental freedoms or even respecting them.

The atmosphere of the summit should also be sullen. Turkey’s recent illegal occupation in Cyprus won’t convey a cooperative mood. The article which is center-left is not very optimistic for the summit and is critical towards Turkey.

 

Source :http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-eu-to-meet-at-tough-summit-in-varna-129283

Turkey Information Network

Country Report: Information Network

Turkey – Jules Albat

 

  • Hürriyet Daily News is a Turkish newspaper who publishes articles in English. This newspaper is owned by the Doğan Media Group which is the media group of a huge conglomerate created by the Turkish billionaire Aydın Doğan. This financial group has political, financial and societal interests which are defended by the media group. Consequently, the newspaper’s view reflects the views of one of the richest man in Turkey. However, the newspaper reports on extremely different subjects from economy, political opinions to local issues.  According to this website (and to wikipedia), Hürriyet is often categorized by its left and secular views which are nowadays in opposition to the opinions of Turkey’s main party, the AKP. (https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/hurriyet-daily-news/)                                                                                                          This daily newspaper’s website is updated constantly with articles. I will subscribe to their RSS feed (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/rss.aspx) and I will integrate it to my daily news feed which I read every morning. I chose this source because it offered a liberal perspective to internal Turkish issues.

 

  • Daily Sabah is the website of a daily Turkish newspaper who also publishes in English. It is a very recent newspaper (founded in 2014) and it was labelled as a propaganda tool of the Turkish government by many observers. This might be strange to follow a newspaper which can’t be appraised for its objectivity. However, let’s not forget that Erdogan’s party is the biggest political force in Turkey and that they got 40.87% of the popular vote during the last election.[1]. We can’t disregard the opinions of this Party. Daily Sabah is an excellent choice to follow the opinion of the government itself.

The newspaper is updated daily and reports on approximately the same subjects as the previous source of information. Again, I will subscribe to their RSS feed. I chose this newspaper so I could have the opposite perspective of Hürriyet Daily News.

  • Turquie News is a French independent internet-only media about Turkey. It specializes in forum discussions and opinion columns of various members of the civil society. It is written in French and the organization is located in France (which means they have more freedom of  speech than if they were in Turkey). This is why I chose this new “media” because it seems freer than the two previous sources, and it has various opinions from different members of the society. The website isn’t updated daily, but there is a new article at least two to three times per week. It also has many press packs on diverse topics. As always I will add their RSS feed to my daily news consumption (RSS link). I chose this source because it has opinions who cannot be persecuted because they were published in France. I like that the opinions there are mostly dissident.

 

  • Finding my social media source has been difficult because most social medias in Turkey are under attack. YouTube was banned for a long time and when riots begin social media access is impossible. Moreover, most Turkish people write their Tweets or their social media posts in Turkish which I can’t read. This is why I decided to look at French people who lived in Turkey and who tweet about Turkish matters. Fatih Karakaya is a freelance journalist who specializes on Turkish matter. He posts daily in French and in Turkish (which I am learning so it will also make me practice Turkish).  He is a left leaning ecologist journalist. He retweets interesting stories and opinions on Turkey. I will follow him on Twitter. I don’t really know how to use twitter and I can’t promise that I will go on twitter often. However I check my RSS feed 4 or 5 times a day. Thanks to https://twitrss.me/ I could subscribe to the rss feed of his tweets so that I will never fail to check his tweets.

 

  • My data source is turkstat, a government-based website which provides statistics on many subjects such as the economy, the demography, etc. Even if the website is from the government, statistics are numbers which can’t be changed.  It compiles data on Turkey. I chose this website as my data source because it seems to have an exhaustive number of statistics. The website only has raw data and is updated when it has new stats to publish. Whenever I will be doubtful of the data I will use this website to check the truth.

 

  • My last source is the Turkey Radio Television (TRT) which is a radio from the government of Turkey. It has programs in 26 languages including English and French. It has daily news on international and Turkish matters. According to Wikipedia TRT aims to “enhance the understanding of the possibilities Turkey and Turkic republics may possess or take advantage of in various fields through the programs aiming at the Caucasus and central Asia.”[2] It gives the government’s opinions on its different policy programs.  I chose this source because after hearing different radio programs this one was the best radio in English language that was based in Turkey. (I think this radio is also aimed at all the Turkish emigrants which I think gives an interesting perspective – How should a Turkish emigrant think about Turkish foreign policies.) I will try to listen to the news programs each time I listen to my podcasts feed ( which I do daily before falling asleep).

 

 

Searching sources for my information network has not been an easy task. Journalism has been under attack in Turkey. Many journalists have been sent to prison because of their views. Social Medias are also not safe even if Turkish people use it a lot. It was easy to find pro Turkish sources in English. However, it was difficult to find my social media and new media sources. One is a free and independent website based in France. The other one is a freelance French journalist who lives in Turkey. I learned that someone that is living in Turkey would have difficulties to follow dissident opinions since journalists are being locked up. However, they may have access to Turkish language out of state who share dissident view, however I am not proficient enough in Turkish to find these websites. I will try progress enough so that I could read Turkish news in Turkish in March for the next draft.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_general_election,_June_2015

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRT_T%C3%BCrk

Who Are the #Istanbul10? – Jules Albat Turkey Blog Post #1

Last July, a group of 10 human rights activists were arrested in Turkey while they were having a workshop on digital security and information management in Istanbul. The were accused of “aiding a terrorist organization without being a member.” Some were released but they have been arrested again. These arrests were criticized by the whole human rights community notably with social media posts and drawings of the arrested activists.

After more than 100 days, the 10 human rights activist were released. 8 of them are awaiting trial. Two of them are released but they can’t get out of the country. Of the 10 activists, 8 are Turkish, one is German and One is Swedish. The governments of Germany and Sweden have summoned the Turkish ambassadors  to condemn the arrests. The European Union also released a statement in favor of the release of the arrested.

International support is growing for these activists. Many human rights organizations especially Amnesty International have organized protests.

The sources of the articles are statements of countries and amnesty international, tweets of organizations and journalists. The sources explain why the three articles are showing only the side of the human rights defenders and are critic of the Turkish government.

 

Sources :

Rahman, Zara , and Arzu Geybullayeva. “After 113 Days Behind Bars, #Istanbul10 Human Rights Defenders Are Released Pending Trial · Global Voices.” Global Voices, 12 Dec. 2017, globalvoices.org/2017/10/26/after-113-days-behind-bars-istanbul10-human-rights-defenders-are-released-on-bail/.

Rahman, Zara. “#Istanbul10 Human Rights Defenders Have Been Behind Bars for 100 Days · Global Voices.” Global Voices, 28 Nov. 2017, globalvoices.org/2017/10/12/istanbul10-human-rights-defenders-have-been-behind-bars-for-100-days/.

Geybullayeva, Arzu, and Ellery Roberts Biddle. “Who Are the #Istanbul10? Learn About the Work of Jailed Human Rights Defenders in Turkey · Global Voices.” Global Voices, 26 July 2017, globalvoices.org/2017/07/26/who-are-the-istanbul10-learn-about-the-work-of-jailed-human-rights-defenders-in-turkey/.