What if it were Hakan Şükür instead of SBK?

If that person who approached the reporter connecting from New York during a live broadcast and joined the broadcast uninvited had been, say, Hakan Şükür instead of Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, what would CNN Türk have done? 

CNN Türk, which cuts the broadcast even when someone in the background starts chanting slogans, surely would not have allowed the former footballer Hakan Şükür, a fugitive still living in the US, to speak. The reporter would have immediately pulled the microphone away, and the broadcast would have been cut instantly.  

But somehow, CNN Türk Washington Representative Yunus Paksoy did not pull the microphone away when Sezgin Baran Korkmaz approached him; he even extended the microphone to him. The program host Fulya Kalfa also did not hesitate at all for Korkmaz to join the live broadcast. 

All that was missing was for Paksoy and Kalfa to say "Welcome" to Korkmaz; a ticker even appeared at the bottom of the screen saying "CNN Türk found fugitive S. B. Korkmaz." Yet, what was shown to us on the screen was that Korkmaz had found CNN Türk, which is astonishing.

From that moment on, the program focused on Korkmaz; he spoke, explained himself, and answered questions. To summarize, he said, "A second Zarrab will not come out of me," "None of what is said in Turkey regarding the case here is true," "I did not encounter any questions about Erdoğan or the President, or state officials. This was something the opposition made up to attack the government," and "My money laundering trial is ongoing, I will return to my homeland with my head held high." 

During the program, which lasted about half an hour, control was entirely in Korkmaz's hands; he spoke as he pleased. Because neither Yunus Paksoy and Fulya Kalfa, nor the other guests were prepared for such a broadcast; they had come to the program to discuss the topics on the agenda. 

No matter how Korkmaz describes himself, he is a suspect. He is a person still being tried in the US on charges of "money laundering" and "fraud." He was caught in Austria and taken to the US; he was released on August 1, 2023. He is also wanted in Turkey, and the trial in which he is charged with "laundering assets" is ongoing. 

He will remain a suspect until all charges against him and all trials are concluded. This status should have been kept in mind when taking him on a live broadcast on CNN Türk.

Of course, one cannot say that a suspect should never be put on screen. But if a suspect or a criminal is being put on screen, especially in a live broadcast, the program host and other participants should be prepared accordingly, and they should have detailed information about the cases and charges; only then should that suspect be taken onto the program.

Someone like Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, who has many question marks surrounding him from his departure from Turkey to his trial in the US, should not have been taken onto a live broadcast so abruptly. CNN Türk's live broadcast—because no prior preparation was made—turned into a platform where Korkmaz cleared his name and sent messages to certain people. What CNN Türk did was a live broadcast blunder.

BURHANETTİN DURAN'S DEBT OF APOLOGY

Prof. Dr. Burhanettin Duran, a regular on the presidential plane, left his position as SETA General Coordinator and his role as a columnist for Sabah after being appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

I would have expected him to apologize in his farewell column in Sabah. Because just these days, journalist Metin Cihan revealed that SETA also receives funding from the European Union:

"Who is the EU funding in Turkey? I am researching this and I see hypocrisy again. Among those I have been able to identify so far are TRT, TÜGVA, TÜRGEV, SETA Foundation, IHH, Önder Imam Hatip Alumni Association, and the World Ethnosport Confederation (Bilal Erdoğan)."

You may recall that in 2019, SETA prepared a report titled "International Media Outlets' Extensions in Turkey." In this report, journalists working for the Turkish services of international media organizations such as BBC, Sputnik, DW, VOA, CRI, Independent, and Euronews were almost declared "agents"; the organizations they had previously worked for and their journalistic activities were detailed. 

Media organizations such as Bianet, BirGün, Cumhuriyet, Diken, Evrensel, T24, and Medyascope were also accused of cooperating with international organizations described as the "most important components of the opposition media." 

After this report, which was called a "profiling report," opposition media organizations and independent journalists began to be labeled as "funded" by the pro-government media.

It turns out that SETA, which accused the opposition media of receiving funding, was also receiving funding from the EU! Now that the truth has come out, Burhanettin Duran owed an apology. 

But instead of apologizing in his farewell column to Sabah, Duran wrote, "I hope that these articles, in which I shared my experiences and views in the world of academia and think tanks, have contributed to our public." In my opinion, this "hope" is also unrealistic. Because during his time as a columnist, just like his management of SETA, he contributed not to the public but to the AKP government. 

SUPER REPORTER: IN CHINA AND ENGLAND ON THE SAME DAY

How many countries can a journalist write news from in a single day? In my opinion, one country, but there is a reporter in the newspaper Türkiye who can write news from both China and England on the same day!

The signature of Mehmet Emin Arvas appeared on the "Fake panda in China" news on the back page of the May 9 issue of Türkiye and the "King Charles is very angry" news right next to it. Since Arvas could not have gone to two countries at different points in the world on the same day (!), he must have obtained information without going there. However, there is no source or dateline in the news. 

It is clear that he collects news from the internet while sitting at his desk; he translates it into Turkish, corrects it, and makes it into news. Indeed, when I searched the internet, I found that the "Fake Panda" news was published in the New York Post, and the news about King Charles was published on the BBC and many other sites. 

On May 23, Arvas also signed the news titled "They sent their last messages in the air" regarding the turbulence incident on a Singapore Airlines flight. This news was also reported by international agencies and published in almost all media outlets. 

Arvas not citing the source in these news stories, and furthermore putting his signature on them, is not an ethical attitude; it is a form of plagiarism. It is also funny that two news stories about two different countries are published side by side with the same signature.

HOW DID CUMHURİYET FAIL TO SEE IT?

His newspaper Cumhuriyet failed to realize the importance of Barış Terkoğlu's article. That day, like other writers, they were content with announcing Terkoğlu's article on the front page with its headline. 

Yet, under the headline "What else will we see," Terkoğlu was reporting that human smuggling was being carried out with the vehicle of a brigadier general serving in units on the Syrian border. He had also spoken with Ministry of National Defense sources and confirmed this incredible event. 

It was inevitable that this event, which Cumhuriyet did not even announce on the front page, let alone make a headline, would attract the attention of the media. Indeed, as questions increased, the Ministry of National Defense had to make a statement. In the statement, what Terkoğlu wrote was confirmed; information was given that the brigadier general had been retired and that judicial and administrative investigations were ongoing.

Unfortunately, Akşam, DHA, Hürriyet, and Karar did not refer to Cumhuriyet and Barış Terkoğlu in their news regarding the Ministry of National Defense's statement. Cumhuriyet also did not report the Ministry of National Defense's statement at all at first; it realized it a day after everyone else and announced it on the front page as "Smuggling allegation brought retirement." It seems there is a delay in perception. 

BBC TEAM ACTED AS POLICE 

The BBC's news, "How did we find Europe's most wanted human smuggler?" was based on Sue Mitchell and Ben Milne's research that lasted for days in Belgium, Turkey, and Iraq. During this research, they worked with Rob Lawrie, a former soldier.

Barzan Kamal Majeed, who is wanted by the police in many countries including England, was accused of running a "human smuggling gang." He was tried in Belgium in 2022 for human smuggling and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he had escaped.

The BBC team tracked this human smuggler, known as "Scorpion," in Istanbul and Marmaris; they wrote the research on May 10 after meeting with him in Sulaymaniyah. The BBC updated this news on May 13 and changed its headline to "Europe's most wanted human smuggler arrested after BBC investigation." "Scorpion" had been caught! 

However, the arrest of "Scorpion" gives the impression that it was not an operation independent of the BBC's research. Because in the BBC's news, it is stated, "At every stage, we shared our findings with authorities in England and Europe."  

It seems the BBC team passed the information they learned to security or judicial units; frankly, they worked together with security units and authorities for the capture of "Scorpion." 

However, journalists publish the information they obtain; the police or other public authorities learn from there and do what is necessary. Sharing information before publication and tracking a criminal together with the police and authorities is against the spirit of journalism. It not only destroys independence but also means the journalist acts like a police officer or a state agent. It is sad that even an organization that cares about ethical values like the BBC allows its reporters to engage in this cooperation. 

In a single sentence:

• The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against Alican Uludağ from DW, following Asuman Aranca from T24, due to news about the Sinan Ateş murder.
• Sabah did not report that 72 out of 73 defendants were acquitted in the "Swamp operation" case, which it had announced on its front page on July 1, 2020, as "A blow to the FETÖ financing baron."
• Sözcü and Korkusuz reported the news that "Nation's Garden projects were also stopped due to the savings circular," which was reported by BirGün, on their front pages the next day but did not cite the source.
• It was wrong for ANKA, Cumhuriyet, Medyatava, Sözcü, and Odatv to write "camellia" in the news about the YRP Palu Mayor: it should have been "gazebo."  
• Korkusuz's sub-headline "Inflation will be 10 percent next year" was wrong; Minister Mehmet Şimşek was arguing that inflation would "fall to 10 percent levels" next year.
• In Sabah's news "Support for young people with ideas," there was no information about where and when Holding CEO Cenk Alper said the words in the news.  
• Although the armed attack in Karaköy, Istanbul had nothing to do with the operator being a woman, it was wrong for the news on NTV to start as "restaurant owned by a female operator."
• The pro-government media did not report on the "Great tea march" in Fındıklı, Rize.
• The Economy Journalists Association issued a statement condemning the fact that the journalist sent to represent Hakan Güldağ from the Economy newspaper was not allowed into Google's meeting.
• Yeni Şafak Newspaper and the Super Haber site tried to portray the journalist's attempt to ask a question as a crime by describing the Halk TV reporter's attempt to ask Minister of National Education Tekin a question about the new curriculum as "harassment" and "disrespect."
• In the news "New development in the Sinan Ateş murder: Olcay Kılavuz is among the suspects" published in Sözcü on May 24, 2024, no source was cited, but the news "Former MHP MP Olcay Kılavuz is also a suspect" was published on T24 on October 10, 2023.

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