Why did Trump’s critical sentence on Turkey get lost?

On the evening of Oct. 29, an annual Republic Day reception was held at the Turkish Embassy in Washington. At the reception, first President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s message was read and then came a surprise. 

This surprise was a message from U.S. President Donald Trump to mark the occasion, which was read out by Under Secretary of State Thomas Shannon. It was certainly a very interesting message which contained a very interesting sentence.

Trump’s message was immediately reported in Turkey. But it contained one sentence about the July 2016 coup attempt that Turkish media outlets for some reason chose to remove.

“The Unites States reaffirms its support for Turkey’s democratic institutions and reiterates its condemnation of the coup attempt of July 2016,” said Trump in a beautiful sentence that the pro-government media clearly also liked very much.

But look at what came next, right after this sentence. “We commend the bravery of the dedicated Turkish citizens who defended their democracy on that tragic day. Their actions are a reminder that the preservation of democracy requires the press and safeguards for fundamental freedoms,” Trump stated.

This message was published in a report by Washington correspondent Cansu Çambıbel on the daily Hürriyet website on Oct. 28. But when I looked at the pro-government media the following day this sentence was not reported.

In fact, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s message on the evening of Oct. 28 also contained similar sentiments.

“[On the night of the coup attempt] women and men, young and elderly, every individual of our nation protected our sovereignty, values and the Republic’s achievements,” Erdoğan said.

So although they said the same thing in different sentences, why were Trump’s words selected and systematically cut out by so many outlets?

Is it because the statement contained terms like “democracy,” “press freedom” and “basic freedoms”?

Did some in Ankara step in to make sure these terms were removed from reports?

On the night of July 15, 2016, I personally came out against the coup plotters with the feelings mentioned by both Erdoğan and Trump. I said “We are against these coup plotters” on private broadcaster CNN as the coup attempt was unfolding.

But if those people on the night of July 15, 2016 gave their lives to protect the values of the Republic, democracy, press freedom and other freedoms, as our president says, then why are journalists from the Cumhuriyet and Sözcü newspapers, as well many others, still in jail?

The most applauded sentence at the 54th International Antalya Film Festival

Oct. 27 saw the closing ceremony of the 54th International Antalya Film Festival, organized by the metropolitan municipality in the southern province of Antalya.

The program was prepared very well and the stage setting was very good. The movies shown at the festival were also of very good quality.

In his speech at the festival, Antalya Mayor Menderes Türel put a very strong emphasis on Oct. 29, Republic Day, and the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The 8,000 people watching in the room applauded with full enthusiasm for a long time.

At the same event, the legendary music of Yeşilçam, Turkey’s film industry from a bygone era, was played by an orchestra in the room and drew a great response.