Is Şamil Tayyar a journalist or a politician?

Şamil Tayyar is a figure who transitioned from journalism to politics, served as an AKP member of parliament for three terms, and held positions within the party administration. For some time now, he has been participating as a commentator on the "Medya Kritik" program on TGRT Haber alongside journalists Fatih Atik, Cem Küçük, Tuna Öztunç, and Nazif Okumuş. 

 However, while Şamil Tayyar is introduced as a "journalist-author" on the program, his comments are reported in the news as those of an "AKP member" or "former AKP MP." Most recently, his remarks regarding the hotel that burned down in Kartalkaya not being under the municipality's jurisdiction were published in opposition media with headlines such as "AKP's Şamil Tayyar: Grand Kartal Hotel is not under the municipality's jurisdiction." 

It is not just the opposition media; Şamil Tayyar's comments are also reported on TGRT Haber's website and even in the group's newspaper, Türkiye, not as a "journalist-author," but as an "AK Party member" or "former AK Party MP." 

On Talat Atilla's program on TV100, where he was a guest, the screen displayed "journalist-author" for Şamil Tayyar, yet he mentioned during the discussion that he was "making assessments in his capacity as a former MP." Indeed, his words on the program were reported as those of a "former AKP MP."  

Şamil Tayyar, who takes on the identity of a "journalist-author" on screen and a "former MP" in news reports, describes himself as a "journalist, author, politician" on his social media profile. Furthermore, he emphasizes his "AKP identity" himself from time to time in his posts and speeches.

In this situation, the question inevitably arises: which one is correct? Is Şamil Tayyar a journalist-author or a politician? Or is he both a journalist and a politician? 

What we see regarding Şamil Tayyar—as we have seen with other names before—shows that returning to journalism after crossing over to the political side is not that easy. I am not saying it is impossible, but it is proven by examples that it is very difficult. 

 It is not right for a person to be both a journalist and a politician. Journalism and politics are two different disciplines that create a conflict of interest. A politician inevitably views events and facts through the lens of their party, prioritizes party interests over the public interest, and cannot act objectively.

It is also incorrect for Şamil Tayyar to define himself as both a journalist-writer and a politician. His career as a journalist-writer is in the past; his political identity now carries more weight. Therefore, introducing him on screen as a "journalist-writer" is wrong. It would mean ignoring his political identity, which is very misleading...    

 Ministers waiting in line for live broadcasts

When President Erdoğan took the podium at the AKP Ankara Provincial Congress, the clocks on news channels broadcasting live showed 14:59. When his speech ended, it was 15:11...

When Ministers Ali Yerlikaya, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Kemal Memişoğlu, and Vedat Işıkhan began their press conference in front of the hotel that burned down in Kartalkaya, the time on the screens read 15:14! There were only three minutes between the two live broadcasts...

However, the ministers had arrived there a long time ago; journalists and viewers at home were waiting for detailed information to be provided for the first time—following the written statement from the Bolu Governor's Office. Reporters had learned long before that the ministers would hold a press conference and were waiting there. 

As Interior Minister Yerlikaya finally approached the microphones, the presenter on Sözcü TV said,       

"That long-awaited statement... It has been almost an hour and a half that we have been waiting for them to make a statement... And yes, it has begun, the Interior Minister is speaking." Then, they switched to the live broadcast.

This means that the assessment made by Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan on Halk TV, in response to a question from İsmail Saymaz, that "They waited for the President's broadcast to end to make a statement" was correct; the ministers had arrived at the fire zone hours earlier but had waited for President Erdoğan's speech and the live broadcast where he pinned a badge on Kürşad Zorlu, who joined the AKP, to finish before starting their press conference; realizing they were late, they appeared before the cameras just three minutes later.

Even in an incident where so many people have died and the entire country is waiting for an explanation with curiosity, excitement, and sorrow, the ministers' priority can be Tayyip Erdoğan's speech. They prefer to keep millions of people waiting rather than interrupt Erdoğan's live broadcast. 

Moreover, these ministers, who are so sensitive when it comes to Erdoğan, do not feel obligated to provide the public with timely and sufficient information. That is why they do not hold proper press conferences to answer journalists' questions. 

Minister of Culture and Tourism M. Nuri Ersoy, who has authority over all tourism businesses, also avoided journalists for days after the fire in Kartalkaya; he was only able to appear before Ahmet Hakan on the pro-government channel CNN Türk on the fourth day. Ahmet Hakan, for his part, did not even ask many questions that needed clarification, starting with the fact that Minister Ersoy's statements regarding his tourism company and the two fire escapes turned out to be incorrect...

When there is no transparency, it becomes difficult to reach the truth.  Especially when those in the state apparatus are so closed off...    

They are deceiving those waiting for phased retirement 

I was surprised to see the headline "Don't be sad if you missed the EYT! Phased retirement is coming" on the Sözcü website. Because Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan had closed the door on phased retirement just a few days earlier by saying, "There is no grievance in question." 

I read the news to see if there had been a new development. The article, which explained various formulas for phased retirement at length, concluded with the sentence: "However, it is not yet clear when this regulation will be implemented and how its details will be shaped!"

This means that while there were no new developments, they simply fabricated news to lure those waiting for phased retirement and to generate clicks for their site! Unfortunately, Cumhuriyet and other sites also picked up this inaccurate report with similar headlines.

Moreover, Sözcü had previously published similar reports deceiving those awaiting retirement; the one on January 20 was not the last. On January 23, they used the headline, "Mini EYT on the way for those between 44-55 years old waiting for retirement." This report, which eventually stated that "no definite date has been set," was also designed to lure those waiting for retirement. 

The report published in Sözcü, which was also cited by Dünya, Oksijen, Sputnik, Aydınlık, Memurlar.net, and Ekol TV, claiming that "SGK announced men will be able to receive widower's pension," was also a fabrication. There was no new regulation, nor had any new statement been made.

Following Sözcü, a report titled "Will phased retirement come, when will it be released? What are the conditions for phased retirement?" was published in the Bigpara section of Hürriyet on January 24. This report was also framed as if phased retirement were coming, but the words of Minister Işıkhan at the end rendered the entire report worthless.

A journalist can make mistakes, but lying and deceiving people is not compatible with journalism.

However, the "phased retirement is coming" reports by Sözcü and Hürriyet were created to exploit people's curiosity. People are being lied to knowingly and by design...

 Unfortunately, the practice of exploiting the curiosity of retirees facing economic hardships regarding issues like monthly increases, additional payments, and holiday bonuses, and harvesting circulation and clicks through fake news, is not limited to Sözcü and Hürriyet. This deception, which started with Takvim newspaper, has spread to other newspapers, news sites, and news television channels.

Our colleagues, who entered a race of predictions regarding pension increases before the new year, are continuing the same deceptive efforts these days with holiday bonuses and bank promotions. Once again, most of the predictions will not come true, but they will have deceived the retirees once more. 

A journalist does not deceive people, nor do they exploit people's hopes... 

 In a single sentence:

Pro-government TV channels continued their live broadcasts regarding the inauguration of the new US President, Trump, on the evening that Zafer Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ was taken into custody. Yeni Şafak also supported the "legal" operation with headlines such as "Racist provocateur in custody" and "Turkey's Wilders in prison." 

Although the name of the man who punched a young woman he did not know while walking on the street in Kahramanmaraş became public in the media and on social media as Yunus Emre Yellice, Akşam and Türkiye coded this person's name as Y.E.Y. but used a photo showing his face clearly. 

Anadolu Agency's report that "Further credit rating upgrades are expected from credit rating agencies in 2025" did not turn out to be true; Moody's passed on its credit rating assessment for Turkey.

Now TV did not name the private hospitals where the incidents occurred in its reports on "Violence against a 95-year-old woman" and "The death of baby Hamza." 

Galatasaray footballer Victor Osimhen attacked tabloid reporters who were filming him, punched Tolga Bozduman from Posta, and then offered money to have the footage deleted. 

Yeni Akit, which took on the role of a judge by running the headline "Killer Tanju" for Bolu Mayor Tanju Özcan, also insulted MP Chairman Muharrem İnce by writing "Faded Muharrem." 

While media outlets everywhere reported, 'She beat the young woman thinking she was her husband's lover,' Hürriyet mistakenly turned the 'lover' into a 'spouse' by writing the same story as, 'Sorry, I thought you were my cheating husband.'

In Milliyet's report titled, 'The "Narin" formula caught the killers,' the term 'narrowed base station' was mistakenly written instead of 'narrowed base study.'

Rıdvan Güzel, the owner of a construction company in Antalya, gifted 'Turkish coffee machines' to the journalists attending his press conference; Güzel's remarks regarding his new projects were widely covered in local newspapers.

Sabah has begun publishing coupons again this year, as it has since 2021, to distribute the 'Basic Islamic Encyclopedia' to its readers ahead of the month of Ramadan. 

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