'You liked the refreshments, didn't you?'

The NATO Summit in Ankara was a productive laboratory for journalism. It could not prevent the growing pressure on the media environment in Turkey from being brought up at the summit.

Just as the summit was beginning, a reporter from the Dutch public agency ANP stepped up; starting by saying to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, "You have praised the host nation a lot," they asked their question:

“… there is pressure on dissidents here. On a journalist, even on a comedian. Is Ankara a suitable place for a summit of liberal democracies? Do you think this summit could be the right opportunity for leaders to discuss these issues with President Erdoğan?”

Rutte brushed off the question by saying, "Democracy is also a free media. You are here, and you can ask the questions you want and write the articles you want."

TRT Haber softened the Dutch journalist's question when reporting it to its viewers. The pro-government media also generally ignored this question. For them, six journalists had not been detained before the summit, and Yıldız Tar, Ali Çağatay, and Fatma Sibel Gürcihan had not been arrested! There were no accreditation bans or access restrictions either!

Rutte was also faced with a question directly concerning himself at the press conference he held on the last day of the summit. The Danish journalist's language was much harsher than the Dutchman's:

"You were by Trump's side when he talked about conquering Greenland and attacking allies like Spain. Doesn't sitting there and saying nothing affect your self-respect?"

I hope those who opposed tough questions being asked to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Sözcü TV by saying, "Is that how you ask a guest a question?" also watched this. The Danish journalist was quite comfortable, aware that they were displaying a natural journalistic reflex while questioning Rutte's self-respect.

The atmosphere at President Erdoğan's press conference, attended mostly by pro-government journalists, was very different. While journalists like Hümeyra Pamuk, Rüya Akkuş, Deniz Tüysüz, Ahmet Örsoğlu, Büşra Mercimek, Bahar Feyzan, and Murat Yetkin asked technical questions for the purpose of obtaining information, some journalists entered into a race of sycophancy and praise.

While Esra Aydoğdu from Sabah Digital described the "steel dome" project as a "visionary step," Nur Özkan Erbay from Yeni Şafak started her remarks by saying, "peace-building that has become synonymous with your person" and "your leader diplomacy," and then could not finish the sentence.

Sinan Burhan, President of the Turkish Press Federation, also happily explained that he was "happy to see the Janissaries and the Mehter band," and then said, "I wonder how the Western leaders received this scene." But the assist from Emine Kaplan of TRT Kürdi was even more impressive than Sinan Burhan's! She said, "Everything went smoothly on the press side; our Directorate of Communications had organized a very good event, everything was available," and then asked about the problems at the summit. Erdoğan immediately took this assist and asked the journalists, "The organization was very successful. I suppose you liked the refreshments, didn't you?"

Sounds of approval, laughter, and applause rose once again from the audience. I couldn't quite tell from the screen whether the bureaucrats in the front were applauding or if the journalists joined in. But this was not the first applause; they had already celebrated Erdoğan by applauding seven times before that.

You would think Erdoğan had organized a chat with friends rather than a press conference; and for the journalists, the most important thing there was the food and drinks served! Well, since the journalists did not ask challenging or critical questions, ignoring his misunderstandings, irrelevant answers to some questions, or leaving them unanswered, it was very natural for Erdoğan to ask about the refreshments.

Any journalist who wants to take a lesson on how to ask questions should watch the questions of the two Danish and Dutch journalists. And those who want to learn how journalism should not be done and hear "questions" unrelated to journalism should watch Erdoğan's press conference...

Where is the Directorate of Communications' apology?

The problem of where French President Emmanuel Macron would run when he came to Ankara for the NATO Summit had started days in advance. Various possibilities had been reported as news, and it had been written and said that Dikmen Valley and the Botanical Park would be closed for Macron.

The Directorate of Communications' Center for Combating Disinformation (DMM) had immediately shared a post denying these claims, stating that "there is no decision or practice to close the mentioned parks to the public due to Macron's run."

However, Macron did run in Ankara, not in Dikmen Valley or the Botanical Park, but in Seğmenler Park; and the park was closed. Even DHA wrote, "Due to Macron's run, Seğmenler Park was temporarily closed to the entry of citizens. Members of the press were also not allowed to enter the park."

Since the park was closed while Macron was running, the statement by the Center for Combating Disinformation turned out to be wrong. If the Directorate of Communications is truly sensitive about combating disinformation and providing accurate information to the public, it should apologize for this statement.

If a sincere apology does not come, we can conclude that they do not have such sensitivity and that the real goal is not to combat disinformation, but to spread disinformation itself.

The shortcoming of the Kurdish media

I had criticized the daily newspaper of the Kurdish media, Yeni Yaşam, which announced the speech of Çetin Arkaş, a member of "Öcalan's Imralı Secretariat," at the Mersin rally with the headline "There is no regret, there is honor!" I had stated that giving the speech of Çetin Arkaş, one of the perpetrators of the arson of the Çetinkaya Store in Istanbul in 1991, which resulted in the death of 12 people, with this headline was far from empathy and feeling the pain of the other side.

Çetin Arkaş read my article and suggested that I listen to his entire rally speech. I found the footage of the 27-minute speech and listened to it. The language was different from what I read in Yeni Yaşam. He had said, "Is there a state of regret in us?" as in the headlines created with confrontational language by Cumhuriyet, Sözcü, and Takvim, but he had also spoken of "mutual reconciliation":

"We know that many people from both sides lost their lives in this conflict process. There were civilians who lost their lives. I bow with respect before the memory of everyone who lost their lives. Let's not race deaths. We know the Turkish side has pain. I bow with respect before their pain. But the Kurdish side also has pain, has sensitivities. We cannot make peace with one-sided sensitivity; we cannot establish the language of peace; we cannot embrace each other. Let's not race our sensitivities either.

If you keep coming back to the repentance law; look at us, look at the tens of thousands in the square. Is there a state of regret in us? We also had mistakes in the past. But all of this happens with mutual reconciliation."

In summary, this is what he says. The adequacy of these words regarding the "language of peace" and feeling the pain of the Turkish side can be debated. However, it is valuable for a PKK member who has been in prison for 34 years to express this.

However, this part of his speech was not in Yeni Yaşam, nor in Cumhuriyet, Sözcü, or Takvim. The main reason for my criticism last week was this approach of Yeni Yaşam. Because journalism that does not see this part of Çetin Arkaş's words cannot be said to use the "language of peace."

Unfortunately, the part of Çetin Arkaş's speech where he says, "We know the Turkish side has pain. I bow with respect before their pain," was not only absent in Yeni Yaşam but also in the Mesopotamia Agency, Jinnews, and Firat News Agency. All three Kurdish media outlets prioritized the emphasis on "Öcalan's freedom" rather than mentioning the pain of both sides, and they brought that topic to the headline.

A sad situation. This approach does not serve peace. Like the Turkish media, the Kurdish media must also understand that the language of this stage, where the PKK has laid down its arms, must be different from the past. For all pain to be left behind and for the two nations to embrace again, the Kurdish media must also review and update itself.

It is not enough to say that you want peace; you must put the language of peace before political interests. The true moral superiority is achieved by serving peace.

Zero waste and textile waste

If you look at the news about "zero waste" and the newly started deposit return system, you might get the impression that the media is very sensitive to environmental protection and recycling issues.

News about the "Zero Waste" campaign and festival, pioneered by President Erdoğan's wife Emine Erdoğan, occupies a large space, especially in the pro-government media. Every initiative regarding "Zero Waste" is reported to the public with praise.

New developments regarding the deposit return system are the same. The great interest shown by citizens and the fact that markets raised prices on bottled drinks before this system are announced with detailed news. Of course, it is positive that these are conveyed to the public and people are informed.

However, we do not see this environmental and nature sensitivity regarding European Union countries sending 503 thousand tons of plastic waste to Turkey. Turkey ranks first among the countries to which Europe sends scrap metal, paper, and plastic waste.

News and research published in the international media are not even quoted here. In fact, news is made by talking to companies and ministries about the benefits of garbage for recycling and its economic contribution. It is not mentioned why European countries do not use this economic value (!) themselves.

European countries have now started sending "textile waste" to Turkey. The news from Euronews, DW, and BBC Turkish about the "shipment of 4,200 tons of illegal textile waste from Italy to Turkey" announced that the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) had uncovered a "smuggling network." OLAF informed the Turkish authorities about the 4,200 tons of textile waste sent to Turkey illegally, and in addition to the first batch, 2,100 tons of textile waste were found in a recycling facility warehouse in Denizli, and 768 tons of textile waste were found at the Port of Mersin.

The fact that Turkey is being turned into a dump for synthetic materials containing acrylic fiber, which can only decompose in nature in 200 years, was briefly reported in media outlets such as Jale Özgentürk in Cumhuriyet, Gazete Oksijen, Evrensel, Numedya, Karar, Haberler, Odatv, and 10Haber, and then forgotten.

A journalist should not look at whose interest or harm the news they write is for. They should not focus on whether news about waste coming from Europe is against the political power.

Everyone living in these lands is harmed by this country turning into Europe's dump. Moreover, critical news could ensure that the government also turns back from its mistake, takes measures on this issue, stops waste imports, and saves these lands from an environmental disaster.

In one sentence:

CNN Türk broadcast live from the hotel room and the toilet used by US President Trump.

•Sabah introduced the policies and "global vision" of the Chinese Communist Party in a "news-like" text titled "Inter-party relations strengthen the foundations of bilateral relations."

•Yeditepe University gave full-page advertisements to Hürriyet, Sabah, Yeni Akit, and Yeni Şafak to announce its statement that "a student holding a banner with verses on it was not prevented at the graduation ceremony, and the controversy for which an investigation was launched was directed at the student."

•Independent Türkçe did not provide the information that Dilara Ergül, whose article "A 48-hour branding lesson to the world in Ankara: NATO Summit" it published, is from the AKP Headquarters Youth Branches.

•Cumhuriyet, Karar, Sözcü, and Milli Gazete quoted the footage in Haber Report's news about the FSM Bridge being illuminated with the colors of the US flag without citing the source.

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