CNN Int’l and CNN Türk: How they differ

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was on CNN International.

Christiane Amanpour did not chew her words; she kept asking and asking.

For instance, she forwarded this question:

“[President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan and the [Justice and Development Party] AKP inside and outside of Turkey... is being defined as autocratic, tyrant, polarizing, conflictual, paranoiac… What say you?”

If such a question were asked in the Turkish branch of CNN…
 
Abdurrahim Boynukalın, who had attacked daily Hürriyet’s premises, would have taken a big stone, went to the front of the CNN Türk building and would not have left a single window unbroken.

But when the question comes from CNN International no one, including Abdurrahim Boynukalın, said a single word.

Had such a question been forwarded by an anchorwoman at CNN Türk...

Pro-government media would have asked for her to be fired, exiled from Turkey or even stoned to death.

But when it came from Christiane Amanpour of CNN International, pro-government media went silent.

Had Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu come across such a question at CNN Türk....

He would have thrown a look that said, “You have probably misunderstood the issue here. You are not to ask me questions; you will formulate questions to my answers.” Yet when the question came from CNN International, he reacted as if such a question was the most normal question and answered by saying “Everybody can criticize us. Press freedom is a red line for us.”

That’s how unfortunate we are. Unfortunately in our CNN there is “Turk” attached to it.

Newspapers waging a campaign against the AKP 

In his interview on CNN International Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said that four out of the five newspapers with the biggest circulation were waging an open campaign against the government.

The four newspapers with the biggest circulation are Hürriyet, Posta, Zaman and Sözcü.

Of these newspapers, one can say for Sözcü that “it wages an open campaign against the government.”

It is possible perhaps to use such a definition for Zaman as well after the alliance (between the government and the Gülen movement) was broken. But either you have to have some feeling of mercy or knowledge of waging a campaign to say that Hürriyet and Posta are “waging an open campaign against the government.”

The prime minister as a guarantor

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said this in his interview on CNN International:

“If there is an attack on a journalist, a columnist or an intellectual, I will be the one to defend them. I guarantee that.”

I want to remind our guarantor two things:

1 - In addition to the fact that there is no progress in the legal case about the attack against Hürriyet, Abdurrahim Boynukalın continues to be spoiled within the party.

2 - One of the suspects that played a role in the attacks against me did not receive any punishment. In addition, the picture about this incident is still in the dark.

The rights of police officers

Since the day I was attacked I have been protected by two police officers. Most of my days pass conversing with them. I can say in confidence that I have become one of the most knowledgeable people about the problems of police officers.

They have huge problems but one of them is their salaries, which are very small. No one is taking this problem too seriously, despite a promise given by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2007 when he was prime minister.

It is imperative to end treating police officers like step children.