Press Freedoms in Turkey Crumble, Germany Adds Fuel to the Fire

Newswise — Turkish tactics to limit freedom of speech and press have reached new heights. Not only has President Recep Tayyip Erdogan intimidated and jailed journalists in his own country, but his efforts have gone international. He has initiated a lawsuit against a German comedian for reading a satirical poem with rather explicit and tasteless language.

Before the incident in Germany, Erdogan had other confrontations aimed at curbing free speech and press abroad. During recent trips to Ecuador and Washington, D.C., his heavy-handed security staff beat up and physically removed protestors, along with some members of the press, from venues where Erdogan spoke.

An army of Turkish legal consultants scour both domestic and international media for “offensive statements” about Erdogan. His legal team was crafty enough to locate a long dormant article in the German Criminal Code that prohibits German citizens from “offending the foreign heads of state”. In short, they are suing the German comedian, in Germany and under German law.

Unfortunately, Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to have given a green light to the proceedings in Germany—before heading to Istanbul to discuss the details of a refugee deal between Turkey and the European Union.

Caught up in the urgency of the Syrian refugee crisis, the EU, in general, and Germany, in particular, have resorted to short-term, band-aid solutions. They struck a deal, which offered monetary compensation to Turkey in exchange for tightening border controls, accepting the rejected refugees from the EU and keeping them inside Turkey.

In fact, the EU postponed releasing a progress report on Turkey’s democratic record as part of its effort to join the EU, so as not to muddy the waters before a deal was reached.

As the EU turns a blind eye on the abuses in Turkey, international journalists and EU parliamentarians are deported, Turkish press and academia suffer under harsh gag rules and Turkey’s vulnerable minorities get further victimized under months-long curfews and military campaigns.

In the long run, an undemocratic Turkey cannot be a viable home for the millions of Syrian refugees. Nor could it happily contain its own diverse population, including the dynamic, urban youth, the conservatives of the heartland, the staunch seculars, Turkish nationalists, the Kurds and people from many other walks of life.

The EU had served as a democratic anchor for Turkey for a long time. However, the case of German comedian gives the impression that Chancellor Merkel is turning a blind eye on Turkey’s blatant rights abuses. All of this is in exchange for having a temporary “holding pen” for refugees in Turkey.

Neglecting the democratic criterion that established the basis of Turkish-European Union relations for decades may have significant ramifications.

Evren Celik Wiltse, an Ankara, Turkey, native, is an assistant political science professor at South Dakota State University, specializing in comparative politics and international relations. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Bogazici University in Istanbul, and her doctorate degree from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Her latest book, “Democratic Reform and Consolidation: the cases of Mexico and Turkey,” was released in 2015 by Colchester: ECPR Press. Contact Celik Wiltse at 605-688-4311 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @EvrenWiltse.