Who is forbidden from insulting, and who is free to do so?

 Who is forbidden from insulting, and who is free to do so? 

    In the pro-government media, not a single writer has come forward to criticize AKP MP Mustafa Varank, who called CHP officials "brain-sucked morons." In fact, they did not even report these remarks made by Varank against CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır and other CHP officials.

   Yet, for days, they have been harping on about how insulting is demeaning and have been stomping all over the words of Dilruba Kayserilioğlu, who spoke during a "street interview" with CHP İzmir MP Tuncay Özkan. They are accusing CHP Chairman Özgür Özel of "honoring an insulter" simply because he sat Dilruba Kayserilioğlu next to him at an event. 

     Undoubtedly, Özkan’s response of "snob" to President Erdoğan—who called CHP members "ostentatious elitists"—is not a becoming expression, even if he claims the word does not constitute an insult. Kayserilioğlu’s use of the phrase "brain-sucked morons" is also crude and derogatory.

     However, the pro-government media, which appears so sensitive to insults, falls silent when those insults come from the ranks of the AKP. There is no need to look far. They did not object when Presidential Advisor Oktay Saral called Tuncay Özkan a "slanderer, dishonorable, unscrupulous person," or when AKP Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala called him "miserable, degenerate," or when AKP İstanbul MP Süleyman Soylu called him "filth," or when AKP İstanbul Provincial Chairman O. Nuri Kabaktepe called him a "pit," or when AKP Elazığ MP M. Rıdvan Nazırlı showered him with insults like "son of a b----, lowlife." In fact, Yeni Şafak made AKP MP Mehmet Demir’s "Sewage Tuncay" remark a headline, and Akşam did the same with AKP Spokesperson Ömer Çelik’s "Fake Wilders" comment. 

     Journalists in the pro-government camp also gave their tacit approval by remaining silent when President Erdoğan said whatever came to his mind about opponents, or when MHP officials insulted journalists. Unfortunately, they have acted with a double standard.  

     A journalist should oppose every insult and criticize them regardless of who they come from. Dragging Dilruba Kayserilioğlu through the mud for saying "brain-sucked morons" and then protecting Mustafa Varank when he says the same thing, simply because "he is one of us," does not befit journalism. 

     Undoubtedly, this criticism of mine also applies to the opposition media. The opposition media must also oppose insults with equal intensity, regardless of who they come from, without making distinctions. The insults of pro-government figures do not give opponents the right to insult, nor do they exonerate the insults made by the opposition. 

   Media hostility disguised as journalism 

   As journalists, the only thing we hadn't seen during this administration was a media organization getting a news site shut down, and now we have seen that too. The Turkuvaz Media Group had the Medyaradar site shut down.

     First, they obtained an access ban for the news report titled 'Turkuvaz Media Group's YouTube channels hacked.' However, this news had been published on many other sites as well. But Turkuvaz Media, headed by President Erdoğan's son-in-law Berat Albayrak, targeted only Medyaradar.

    They obtained a closure order for the site on the grounds that the court decision was not implemented, even though Medyaradar had removed the news from access. After that, the judiciary became a wall; all of Medyaradar's attempts were fruitless, and the site has been officially closed since July 30.

     What is heartening is that Turkuvaz Media, which has the 'king's' judiciary behind it, could not force Medyaradar to take a step back. They issued a statement saying, 'Until people are freed from this plundering order that grinds them to dust, we will continue to do  

    only journalism. 

     We will not use the power of the government to make low blows against other media outlets,' and they are continuing their broadcast by removing the 'www' from their link address.

    What is sad is that even the opposition media did not sufficiently support Medyaradar or make its voice heard. Yet, this is a case of a media group that is an extension of the government trying to destroy a news site simply because of its publications. This is a situation directly related to media freedom.

    Last week, I criticized the Cumhuriyet report claiming that the Turkey Alliance Party, founded by Sinan Oğan, had moved into the former headquarters of the Homeland Party, arguing that it was written without visiting the building to verify the facts. 

     Following journalist Oğuz Uçar's criticism on X that I had been unfair to Cumhuriyet reporter Merve Kılıç, I called and spoke with him. Contrary to what I had written, Merve Kılıç had indeed visited the building and conducted research before writing the report titled 'İnce's office is now Sinan Oğan's'.

     What misled me was the sentence in the report stating, 'It is claimed that he is now sitting in the office where Oğan visited Muharrem İnce before the 2023 elections.' The report lacked any mention that the reporter had visited the building, and the use of the phrase 'it is claimed' gave the impression that information had been gathered from sources other than party officials. There was a lack of clarity in the report...

     Of course, I did not want to be unfair to our young colleague. I am correcting my article by noting that Merve Kılıç wrote her report after researching and visiting the building. 

In a single sentence:

Pro-government newspapers Akşam, Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, and Yeni Şafak announced Egyptian President Sisi's visit with the common headline 'A joint stance for Palestine'; while the reports gave extensive space to Erdoğan's words, they were content with only a few sentences from Sisi.

Due to fear of RTÜK, alcoholic beverages are not mentioned on Netflix, and even 'cherry liqueur' in some films is translated into Turkish as 'fermented cherry juice'.  

In Akşam's report titled 'Özcan Deniz's bodyguards pushed a woman on the road,' the phrase 'one of the bodyguards' was used, but the word 'tane' (a counter for objects) is used for objects, not for people. 

In its report titled "Nepotism by Beşikçioğlu," Sabah newspaper did not include Etimesgut Mayor Erdal Beşikçioğlu's statement that "The former MHP mayor hired 61 of his relatives at the municipality."  

Türkgün newspaper, which initially ran stories such as "We have full confidence in the lieutenants" and "No investigation for the lieutenants," made a sudden maneuver following MHP Chairman Bahçeli's statement, ceasing its defense of the lieutenants by claiming the matter "must be clarified."

Habertürk TV broadcast BirGün's report on "Private schools for sale with their students" as if it were its own, without citing the source.  

Yeni Şafak newspaper, which has called for a "total blockade of Israel" and the "establishment of an Islamic army," put forward the option of Turkey becoming an active party in a war against Israel.