OK, vilify the government, but think first

Pop thinker of the global opposition Noam Chomsky spoke to the T24 website the other day. “Whenever Turkey does not obey the U.S., the American media launches ‘massive attacks’ against Turkey,” he said.

In other words, the moment you are not serving their interests, the wheels start turning against you.
So, stop for a moment and think. Curb the incurable Justice and Development Party (AK Party) hatred within you.

Yes, criticizing is your right, but do not do it blindfolded. Think before attacking your own country, before siding with the U.S. and Europe.

Are they fueling that the media is under pressure in Turkey? Just think about the situation that their media and governments are in. President Barack Obama, either from Air Force 1 or from the podium, fine tunes the media. He complains that it is always disseminating negativity, always criticizing and never seeing the good sides of things.

This is a style that we are used to from Tayyip Erdoğan. Obama has been complaining about the abundance of negative stories, of unjust and ruthless denunciations of his foreign policy, of excessive criticism of his leadership performance.

So the situation is not unique to us. If this amounts to pressure, then Obama is an oppressor. There is no difference in essence.

However, while complaining, the U.S. media does not belittle its own country, saying it has been left behind China, Yemen, North Korea and Uganda.

The media is angry at Obama. They say that transparency has declined in his term, that it has been the most closed administration ever, that Obama hates the media.

So, when you encounter pressure from the government, resist it, but do not label it a “dictatorship” to the favor of other countries.

If the foreign media is mercilessly squeezing your government, do not hold one end of the clamp of the psychological operation and help them squeeze even more.

Two years ago the talk was about how we were on top of the global list, competing with China and Uganda, in the number of jailed journalists. However, since then, international journalism organizations have changed our democracy and freedom ratings from negative to positive. But because this is good news, because it is in favor of the government, this story is not regarded as newsworthy.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has updated its data. According to the new calculation, the number of jailed journalists in Turkey has fallen from 70 to seven. Question why this figure has changed so dramatically, and also question the attritional campaign conducted against Turkey during this time.

Now, an interior security reform package is on our news agenda. The government is tired of repeating that there will be no decline from EU standards and guaranteeing that only the powers that the police have in Germany or the U.K. will also be given to the Turkish police.

At the same time, British Prime Minister Cameron has said the U.K. should be governed in Westminster, not by orders from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. He said judges in Strasbourg cannot decide which anti-terror laws and which human rights standards the U.K. will implement.

He opposes a joint European standard on human rights, arguing that the U.K. has unique circumstances. He wants a common market as at the beginning of the EU project, not a European army, European court, or European state.

Do not forget, Turkey has not given up on its bid to EU membership.

So, when you are about to vilify your own country, stop and remember Chomsky’s words that - whatever it does - Turkey will not be accepted into the EU. “They have always claimed human rights violations. Because they do not want to see Turkey as a member,” Chomsky said.

Now, think again…