Deputy PM Arınç dismisses claims of censorship against critical media outlets

ANKARA

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç. Daily News photo

The prime minister’s office’s decision not to invite critical media outlets to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “democracy package” press conference was not an attempt to censor them, but rather an implementation of the accreditation process, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç has said. 

Newspapers Sözcü, Aydınlık, Birgün, Sol, Yeni Çağ, Evrensel and Özgür Gündem and television channels Halk TV, Hayat TV and IMC TV were not present at the press conference on Sept. 30 as they were not accredited by the prime ministry’s office, Arınç said in his response to a parliamentary question posed by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy head Umut Oran. 

“The said media institutions are not accredited by the prime ministry. The accreditation system is implemented in every part of the world, but is counted here as censorship,” he said. 

Oran had asked on what grounds the media groups in question were not invited to the conference.