The Can Atalay gossip that turned out to be empty

Lobbying reports containing political predictions are quickly forgotten. Even if they don't turn out to be true, no one dwells on them or learns a lesson; new lobbying reports continue to be written in the same vein.

    Let us recall what was written and reported before Can Atalay's parliamentary membership was revoked in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM). In the first days of January, there was curiosity about the path to be followed after the Court of Cassation refused to implement the Constitutional Court's decision -contrary to the Constitution-.

    It was precisely in those days that a report appeared in the Türkiye newspaper titled "The path to Parliament for Can Atalay, this is how he will become an MP!" The report began by stating that "The AK Party and the Ministry of Justice are looking for a middle-ground formula"; it was stated that after Atalay's parliamentary membership was revoked in the TBMM, the Constitutional Court (AYM) could lift this decision, and the TBMM could restore Atalay's parliamentary membership based on the AYM decision. It was said, "This formula is being voiced in AK Party lobbies and by the Ministry of Justice. Party staff and ministry lawyers express the view that 'If this path is followed, the crisis between both high judicial bodies will also come to an end'."

   This report was cited on January 12 in Gazete Duvar under the headline "Can Atalay claim in the AK Party", in Yeniçağ as "The formula that will open the path to Parliament for Can Atalay"; and in Evrensel as "Middle ground claim regarding Can Atalay"; news channels also broadcast similar reports.

    In a report published the same day in Gazete Pencere titled "Will Parliament solve the crisis?", it was not presented as a formula of the AKP and the Ministry of Justice as in Türkiye, but as "lobbying by some figures from the AKP"; it was also emphasized that the opposition did not believe in this formula.

    As expected, Can Atalay's parliamentary membership was revoked in the TBMM on January 30. After that, the Türkiye newspaper repeated its previous report on February 16 with the headline "The process for the former TİP MP could start from scratch".

     But developments did not proceed in accordance with the predictions in these reports. Instead of ignoring the process of revoking Can Atalay's parliamentary membership, the Constitutional Court decided that "there is no room for a decision regarding the application"! Thus, the revocation decision became final.

    Yet, in those lobbying reports, an impression was created as if such a possibility hardly existed, with phrases like "Formula found", "This is how he will become an MP", "The old formula will solve it", "The judicial crisis will also end". Moreover, that formula was attributed to "AKP staff and ministry lawyers".

    Who were those staff members and lawyers? We do not know their names. But by presenting a formula that had an extremely low probability of being implemented even if the AYM had sent back the parliamentary decision as if it were a solution, false information was provided and unrealistic expectations were created.

    I have written before; one must be careful with reports based on secret sources. The name of a source who expresses an opinion rather than providing information should not be hidden. If the names of the people who said a "formula was found" for Can Atalay had been written, readers would have had the opportunity to evaluate those words according to the positions of the individuals. Furthermore, if their words turned out to be wrong today, they could have been held accountable.

    At the very least, while these reports were being written, balance could have been provided in the report by interviewing Can Atalay's lawyers or the lawyers of opposition parties. The fate of this report reminds us that it is beneficial for lobbying reporters to be skeptical instead of reporting everything they are told.

   Those who did not see Akşener's "Oh, come on"

     İYİ Party Chair Meral Akşener scolded a voter who criticized her during a visit to Mamak, saying, "Don't vote for us, brother, go support the CHP, get them elected. You thank the DEM, you curse at us. Oh, come on."

    While this speech was broadcast in detail in the opposition media, some omitted this scolding section. The report in Karar carried the headline "Citizen's reproach to Akşener: 'Why did you leave İmamoğlu?'". According to the report, Akşener's conversation with that citizen did not end with a scolding like "Oh, come on", but with "That's it". In Hürriyet's report "We were not founded for the CHP", Akşener's final words in the argument were also reported as "Were we founded to bring the CHP into existence?"

In Sözcü's report "Walk with İmamoğlu", Akşener's argument with the citizen is not mentioned at all; on the contrary, the information "Akşener listened carefully to the complaints of a female citizen from Ankara" was given over the photograph. It was also noteworthy that Sözcü remedied the deficiency in this report the next day with the report "Akşener got angry at the İmamoğlu and Yavaş question".

   On the Yeni Şafak website, Akşener's words were given in full, but there was no report in the printed newspaper. In Sabah, the report regarding Akşener's argument with the citizen was not used at all.

   The fact that political concerns come to the fore in journalism and that developments are viewed through the lens of a partisan leads, unfortunately, to the production of distorted reports. Hürriyet and Karar, which could not write Akşener's "Oh, come on", misled their readers with incomplete information.

       "Rüya, get a grip" – and what happened?

    President Erdoğan usually answered questions from accredited journalists at the exit of the mosque. And that was mostly in Istanbul. On his 70th birthday, he made a change and spoke to journalists in front of the AKP headquarters in Ankara. The conversation began with a journalist's words, "Sir, we are always jealous of Istanbul."

     The first question was about his birthday, and the second was about the YRP. After Erdoğan's response regarding the YRP, A Haber reporter Rüya Akkuş began her question by saying, "You used the expression 'circus clown' on the podium." Erdoğan interrupted her, snapping, "I did not mention their names. Rüya... get a grip." She must have been surprised, as no sound came from the reporter. The TV 24 reporter changed the subject by moving on to the Ukraine-Russia war.

    In fact, although Erdoğan did not name names, it was clear that he meant the YRP with "circus clown". But Erdoğan is not used to journalists going outside the line he has set. That is why he scolded her.

    The list of journalists scolded by the opposition and critical media is quite long... The only novelty in this case is that one of the pro-government media has entered Erdoğan's list of scolded journalists. I wonder what would have happened if Rüya Akkuş had not "got a grip" that day and had tried to repeat her question?

    "How did you get out of the grave?"

     Websites loved the IHA report, "He died once again on February 20, 2024". It was published on dozens of sites, including Milliyet, Haber Global, Gerçek Gündem, Yeni Akit, Yeni Şafak, and Yeniçağ, with headlines similar to "He died exactly 2 times! He was resurrected 3 years later and died again on the same date".

    According to the report, a corpse was found in a wooded area near the village of Adalı in Balıkesir on February 20, 1979. The village guard and foresters identified the corpse as belonging to Mustafa Yılmaz, who lived alone in the village. Mustafa Yılmaz, who was laid to rest that day, returned to the village about 3 years later and died on February 20, 2024, after living for another 44 years!

 It seems there is no case here of dying twice or dying and being resurrected. He was probably misidentified that day, and someone else was buried thinking it was Mustafa Yılmaz! But the report not only conveys the irrational legend among the villagers like "resurrection", but also records that some in the village called this person a "madman", while others called him an "ancient plane tree" and a "saint".

    As can be understood from old footage, Mustafa Yılmaz was a person who had difficulty speaking, could not express his intentions, could not sustain his life on his own, and had nothing to do with dervishhood. Turning what is said in the village into a report without investigating it shows the level of journalism.

   Moreover, the story of this person has been reported in many places before. The same story is told in the report "The living dead: Mustafa Yılmaz", which IHA put into service in 2017; it is stated that an identity card was issued for this person. But the most interesting part is the sentence in the report: "Mustafa Yılmaz, who had difficulty speaking, answered the question 'How did you get out of the grave?' by saying 'I fasted'". It seems the reporter was determined to write a story about a resurrected dead person; he was able to ask how he got out of the grave after being buried!

    The fact that a journalist can ask such a question, write it as a report, and that it can be published leaves no need for further words about the level of journalism in Turkey.

    In a single sentence:

• Milat, Sabah, Takvim, Türkgün, and Yeni Şafak published President Erdoğan's words explaining that the budget was insufficient for an increase in pensions by distorting them with headlines such as "We will increase pensions", "We will give retirees what they deserve".

• Akşam (Konya), Sabah (Balıkesir, Bursa, and Konya), Türkgün (Kayseri, Konya, and Eyüpsultan), Türkiye (Konya), Yeni Akit (Konya and Sultanbeyli), and Yeni Şafak (Konya and Sultanbeyli) published advertisements for AKP municipalities as full pages under the guise of news footage.

• Hürriyet came out with the headline "Historic warning from İlber Hoca: Atatürk is salvation" to appease the reactions that started after İlber Ortaylı remained silent at a wedding regarding Şevki Yılmaz's insult to Atatürk, but there was no explanation in the article about why he remained silent at that wedding.

• Cumhuriyet newspaper writer and Kadıköy Municipal Council member Arif Kızılyalın became a candidate for CHP municipal council membership from Kadıköy again, and Sözcü TV programmer and economist Oğuz Demir from Şişli.

• In the report "Elephant decision from the court: Ban on entertainment purposes" regarding the court decision in Bangladesh, Cumhuriyet used a photo of an undomesticated African elephant instead of an Asian elephant.

• Özgür Feyiz from Haber Global, Funda Karayel from Sabah, Fatih Selek from Türkiye, and Ergün Diler from Takvim attended the "Media Meetings" event organized by the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) in Mexico and Venezuela as guests.

• Sözcü published a promotional bulletin for a bank and an e-shopping platform in the guise of news with the headline "Budget-friendly cooperation in online shopping".

• While the pro-government media were reporting that exports hit a record in February, only Karar completed the missing information by writing that exports to Israel also increased by 20 percent during this period.

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