Whitewashing abuse from Yeni Şafak

Yeni Şafak columnist Hayrettin Karaman republished his article from 25 years ago yesterday, titled “Islamic service, Yeni Şafak and Ensar Foundation.” The main idea of the article was summarized in this sentence: “Yeni Şafak is a newspaper that set out for Islamic service and has made this its purpose.”

Karaman was expressing the line of the newspaper he writes for quite successfully. But when the goal is not journalism but “Political Islam,” bending and twisting the truth can be seen as permissible. Even cases of sexual abuse occurring in religious orders and Quran courses are perceived as “propaganda against the Islamic community” and can be covered up. The ignoring of the case where 45 children living in Ensar Foundation and KAİMDER dormitories/houses in Karaman were sexually abused about two years ago was one such example.

Yeni Şafak is now attempting to clear the defendants in the sexual abuse case regarding the forced marriage of the daughter of Hiranur Foundation founder Yusuf Ziya Gümüşel to a 6-year-old member of the religious order.

Regarding the trial, they published reports titled “This file should be handled from scratch” on September 25 and “The trial cannot end before these questions find answers” on October 6. Interestingly, the full-page report published three days before the trial hearing did not have a reporter's byline. It was based on “9 demands submitted to the court by the family's lawyers”; the woman who was sexually abused is being blamed; and there was no mention of concrete evidence against the defendants.

Clearly, the goal was not journalism, but rather to pressure the court to whitewash the defendants before the hearing to be held today.

Journalists are silenced with care

Following the terrorist attack on the Ministry of Interior, the usual statements came again. First, Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya, instead of informing the public, expressed his discomfort with the emergence of footage regarding the moment of the attack:

“I am warning those who share these images... Please delete these images, share our pain, and show that you stand by our unity, our togetherness, and our brotherhood.”

Yerlikaya's statement was followed by the announcement from the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office that an access ban and publication ban had been imposed on the attack by the Duty Magistrate Judge.

This political power has always followed the same path in previous terrorist attacks and major disasters. Immediately after the event is heard of, a publication ban and access ban are imposed; the media is asked to rely only on official statements.

However, the authority that is so hasty in imposing bans does not show the same diligence in informing the public. It happened again. In the statement made by the Ministry of Interior, there was not enough information about when the vehicle of the murdered veterinary technician Mikail Bozlağan was hijacked and entered into the license plate recognition system, or how the terrorists were able to reach the center of the capital.

Even though days have passed, there are still no detailed explanations. Neither Yerlikaya nor the police chiefs have appeared before the media to answer questions. Fortunately, the media generally did not comply with Minister Yerlikaya's call; they both published the images and some information, however fragmented, about the incident is being brought to light through journalists.

Even if the political power does not want society to be informed, it is the duty of journalists to pursue question marks. This is actually what Ayşenur Arslan did in her program on Halk TV. She was voicing the questions on her mind regarding the attack, much of which remains in the dark. Her way of expressing herself may be problematic; she may have constructed sentences that could lead to misunderstandings. But during the program, she stated many times that she is against terrorism and condemned the attack.

The response to those sentences of Ayşenur Arslan was to subject her to a lynching on social media, then to detain her, and under police escort...