CNN regrets photo caption error in Gezi protests coverage: Report

ISTANBUL

CNN official Khosvari, who requested a meeting with the Turkish authorities, explained to them that the mistake was not deliberate and was instead a 'technical accident.'

Parisa Khosravi, Senior Vice President for CNN Worldwide, expressed regret for labeling a Turkish government rally photo captured in Kazlıçeme on June 15 as an "anti-government protest" in a secret meeting with Turkish authorities on July 2, daily Radikal has reported on its website.

Khosvari held talks for an hour and a half with Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s chief advisor İbrahim Kalın, according to the report, while the location of the meeting was not specified.

Khosvari, who requested a meeting with the Turkish authorities, explained to them that the mistake was not made deliberately and that it was a “technical accident.”

Arınç and Kalın expressed the Turkish government’s discontent with CNN’s coverage of the Gezi Park protests, accusing the American news channel of not covering the events objectively and of exaggerating them. The Turkish authorities said they sided with freedom of press but that CNN’s reporting did not "reflect the truth."

CNN broadcasted a photo captured at the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Kazlıçeşme rally on June 15 with the subtitle “Anti-government protests in Turkey.”