’Pressure’ report divides media

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

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Debate sparked by recent research that revealed the extent of pressure conservatives place on secularists and minority groups in Anatolia is ongoing in the media, as columns and newspapers either strongly criticize or support the findings.

Some newspapers and columnists have defended the research team, which included prominent academics and was supported by well-known Boğaziçi University and the Open Society Institute. Others criticized the credibility of the research, "Being Different in Turkey: Those who are made to be like others based on religion and conservatism." A team of academics, led by Binnaz Toprak, conducted the study. The research revealed neighborhood pressure was a dominant force outside Turkey’s large cities, and Kurds, Alevis, secularists and those considered "others" faced serious pressure to conform to social norms.

Those who had previously congratulated Professor Binnaz Toprak, now heavily criticize the academic, wrote daily Hürriyet yesterday. Toprak was congratulated two years ago for initiating research into the decrease in the number of women who wore headscarves. Daily Zaman, known for its Islamist views, wrote yesterday that even those who participated in the research had reacted negatively toward the findings.

Recep Kapucu, the Erzurum representative of daily Cumhuriyet, the newspaper known for being radically secular, also criticized the research. When participating in the study, Kapucu told daily Zaman the research team had asked him if it was true Alevis in Erzincan could not freely express themselves. "I said it is not true. There is nothing like that in this city," he said. Ali Aydın, the head of the bar in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri, said the research did not reflect the reality of Anatolian people.

Daily Hürriyet, however, reported a similar response had been given to many researchers in the past, such as Tarhan Erdem, who was subjected to heavy criticism after he predicted the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, would receive 47 percent of votes in the 2007 general elections. Professor Şerif Mardin had also previously been criticized, the daily wrote. People who write about the issues Toprak undertook research on have long been subject to criticism in Turkey or excommunicated from liberal, intellectual circles, wrote Ece Temelkuran, a columnist for daily Milliyet. "Welcome Mrs. BinnazÉ You have joined the group declared to be anti-democratic," she wrote.