Can't Bahçeli even have a single photo taken?

The health status of MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli is apparently "the state's most classified information." That is what our journalist colleague Sedat Bozkurt wrote.

Indeed, there is no one who fully knows or explains the health status of Bahçeli, who was announced to have been hospitalized on February 4, to have undergone "heart valve surgery" on February 6, and to have been discharged on February 14. No one has seen him in public in the more than two months that have passed since the last MHP Group meeting he attended on January 14. Occasionally, news comes that he has spoken to someone by phone, and that is all.

The MHP's parliamentary group meeting used to be held every Tuesday; the group could not meet this Tuesday either, but the MHP did not even issue a statement regarding the meeting. As a result, rumors that "Bahçeli has been intubated" have run rampant on social media.

Journalist Can Ataklı's YouTube broadcast was influential in the spread of these rumors. In this broadcast, Ataklı said the following in summary regarding Bahçeli's health status:

"Bahçeli was discharged after heart surgery, but this time he fell to the ground while getting out of bed to walk and broke his hip bone. Bahçeli was taken to intensive care, but due to the effects of the surgery and other health problems, he entered a vegetative state and was intubated."

The first reaction to Ataklı came from the MHP. MHP social media manager Hüseyin Özkan gave an insult-filled response, saying, "You cannot have an MHP source. Because every MHP member would spit in your face if they saw you. You vile man." MHP Deputy Chairman İsmail Özdemir also stated that they have initiated legal proceedings against Can Ataklı.

Then came a denial from the Directorate of Communications regarding Bahçeli's condition: "Bahçeli is in a planned rest period. He is continuing his work at his home." But when does the "planned rest period" end? That information is missing! And you cannot ask anyone, "How long is this period?"...

It would have been natural for Bahçeli himself to make a statement on such a matter, but no sound or image has emerged from him.

ECEVİT WAS WAITED ON BY AN ARMY OF MEDIA

As far as I know, what was written by Sedat Bozkurt, the only journalist who wondered about and investigated Bahçeli's health before Can Ataklı, had not been denied.

He also wrote that Bahçeli had "a treatment process that required him to lie down constantly or not move," that only his chief of staff could enter his room, and that even party executives only spoke to him by phone. So, there is a situation that is this secret.

I find it hard to understand, honestly. Why would a politician's health status be this secret? How could there be a problem so severe that he cannot even have a single photo taken? Even Pope Francis, the spiritual leader of Catholics, who was discharged last week, had a photo published while he was in the hospital, but there is not even a single photo of Bahçeli.

During the period when Bülent Ecevit was prime minister in 2002, constant statements were being made regarding his health status. An army of journalists was waiting almost constantly, first in front of the hospital and later in front of his home in Oran. It did not stop there; they were constantly talking to doctors and relevant people, and statements and information were being received and reported.

JOURNALISM CANNOT FOLLOW, CANNOT INVESTIGATE

Now, if there is a statement about Bahçeli's illness, there is news; if not, there is none! News that the new term of the MHP's "Politics and Leadership School," which was published a while ago, would start in April with Bahçeli's participation was also not confirmed by the party. April has arrived, and the exact start date of that school has not been clarified either.

I am sure that all journalists, especially those covering the MHP, are curious about Bahçeli's health status. But such an environment has been created, and media organizations have been brought under such control that no television station, newspaper, or news site can send a reporter to Bahçeli's door; they cannot ask or investigate. The fact that Bahçeli fell at home and injured his shoulder, and that there were bruises on his face, could only be learned when he went to vote on election day. Journalism is this disabled...

There is such a tight-lipped party management that curious independent and critical journalists cannot access information either. Think about it, we are in the digital age, but no information has been obtained about the chairman of the ruling coalition party for two months.

Then they come with nonsense about fighting disinformation from those who are not transparent... Without allowing journalists to work freely, obtain information, and ask questions, statements about "fighting disinformation" can have no karşılık (equivalent/validity) in daily life.

If you do not even provide a single photo, rumors will emerge, speculation will occur, and disinformation will follow...