The European Union's progress report on Turkey for 2015, the final version of which will be released on Oct. 14, will express deep concern over growing violations of the rule of law and restrictions on press freedom, according to sources who spoke to Today's Zaman in Brussels.
The EU sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the report will include extensive coverage of these violations. The Kurdish question, issues in public administration, and anti-corruption measures will also be included in the report.
The tone of the critical language in this year's report is expected to be harsher than last year, but will fall short of offering any radical proposal or interpretation.
The sources said the report won't make specific mention of attacks on the Hürriyet daily's headquarters, police raids on the Koza İpek Media Group, judicial investigations launched against Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Can Dündar, and jailed journalist and Samanyolu TV CEO Hidayet Karaca. But it will refer to them within the general guidelines on press freedom. EU diplomats emphasized that Brussels is closely following developments on each of these cases.
The fact that the attacks on the Hürriyet daily earlier this month were led by supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, including Justice and Development Party (AK Party) İstanbul deputy Abdurrahim Boynukalın, has pushed EU officials to take a more critical stand on press freedoms. The Hürriyet attacks came days after companies belonging to Koza İpek Holding, which owns the critical dailies Bugün and Millet, were raided by police seeking financial documents.
The EU sources also say that Brussels has come to the conclusion that the AK Party wants to muzzle each and every critical and independent voice in the media rather than merely targeting media outlets affiliated with the Hizmet movement, against which Erdoğan launched a battle in late 2013 following the eruption of a corruption scandal in which then-Prime Minister Erdoğan's inner circle was implicated. The Hizmet movement is also known as the Gülen movement and is inspired by the teachings of prominent Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Government whistleblower Fuat Avni revealed that the seizure of critical media would be implemented step by step. The first target is media outlets linked to the Hizmet movement. The next target will be İpek Media Holding, which in addition to Bugün and Millet also owns Bugün TV and Kanaltürk. Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet and Sözcü will follow, he also added.
Late last year police detained dozens of people in raids on media outlets with ties to Hizmet. Samanyolu TV Group General Manager Karaca was detained, along with Zaman Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanlı, in a previous AK Party government-backed media operation targeting mostly media outlets that are close to the Gülen movement. Karaca was then arrested on Dec. 19 of last year on suspicion of heading a terrorist group based on a TV series that was broadcast years ago on his television station and he has been in pre-trial detention ever since. Dumanlı was released.
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu briefed EU officials during a tour last week about strong pressure on Hürriyet and media outlets close to the Gülen movement.
The harsher tone on judicial independence in Turkey stemmed from lingering concerns over the government's undue influence on the judiciary, using the judicial council the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) as a political tool, and a growing number of lawsuits against journalists based on flimsy evidence.
One of the new features in upcoming EU progress reports is a comparison between candidate countries and to what extent they satisfy the accession criteria. The report will offer concrete recommendations.
The change in methodology is partially influenced by Turkey's complaints that the progress report has lost its appeal in domestic public opinion and is read less than in the past. Ankara asked Brussels to come up with a new way of making the report easy to read and to offer concrete recommendations.
