Hurriyet Daily News published an article by Mustafa Akyol devoted to the media freedom in Turkey. "Last week, I wrote in this column that under the “Islamist” AKP, Turkey is “moving in the right direction” with regards to religious freedom. Notably, it was not me who made that observation, but the Commission on International Religious Freedom established by the United States Congress," the article begins.
"However, it is impossible to be similarly positive when it comes to press freedom in Turkey. This particular issue, in fact, has created lots of concern in the past few years, with various international bodies warning about state or government pressure on Turkish newspapers and television channels," the author writes.
The author also writes about governmental pressure on the media. "Political pressure on media bosses, using the economic leverage of the government, to make their newspapers or news channels more government-friendly. I think all criticisms here are very factual and accurate, and the AKP people should really listen to them without self-righteously dismissing it all as "anti-AKP propaganda," he writes.
