Don't do it, Vahap...

As a journalist marking my forty-second year in the profession this year, I have never been a member of any association, club, or foundation throughout my life; I have never served on their boards.

Except for one association…

The Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC), which is Turkey's largest professional organization for journalists.

I have been a member of this association since 1984.

In the early 2000s, I also served for three years as a member of the TGC Board of Directors and as General Treasurer.

Afterward, I did not run for office again by my own choice. Because I believe in the necessity of rotation and a change of blood in such positions.

*

The Journalists Association of Turkey, of which I was very proud to be a member in those days, published a declaration on November 18, 1998, under the title Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists in Turkey.

Prepared by a committee led by the journalist Umur Talu, who was a member of the TGC Board of Directors at the time, this declaration listed one by one the duties, rights, and things a journalist should never do.

Especially after this date, as a journalist, I took care to bring every line of this declaration to life and to remain faithful to it.

While I made a great effort not to let anyone infringe on my rights, I did not attempt to infringe on the rights of others just because I was a journalist.

For example, I did not use the “Press Traffic Card” given to me by the state to use while going on duty, to get into the front row of the car ferry while going on vacation!

I did not accept any gifts of monetary value from anyone, and I rejected the offers to become a member of parliament multiple times, even though I received them.

I did not use my pen to promote anyone or to seek personal revenge.

*

But over time, like everything else in the country, the “Association” also deteriorated.

The friends who started serving on the board of directors with me, and even before me, dug their heels into the seats they occupied.

They thought they were fulfilling their duties by making one-paragraph statements for their colleagues whose news was censored, who were thrown into prison, or who were fired. They used all their energy to fight for their seats.

*

And most importantly…

They were the ones who acted most contrary to the Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities of Journalists in Turkey that they themselves published.

When that happened, there was neither a Declaration left, nor an Association!

Only an aging building in the heart of Cağaloğlu and administrators inside it who have been drifting away from journalism for years…

*

Changing only one or two administrators in every election, the Association has reached today with almost the same “executive board” staff for nearly 30 years.

It reached this point, but it did so by “eroding, losing blood, losing credibility, and becoming weak.”

These days, there is an excitement of “change” in this distinguished institution:

It is no joke; Vahap Munyar, who is as old a board member as he is and has served as “deputy chairman” for over twenty years, is replacing Turgay Olcayto, who has served as a board member, secretary general, and chairman in TGC administrations for exactly 29 years since 1994…

So, what is the reason for this change?

It is clear that 86-year-old Turgay Olcayto must have finally concluded that he is “getting old,” so he decided to move to Antalya…

If he hadn't moved to Antalya, he could have continued this duty for a lifetime…

*

So, who is Vahap Munyar, who is replacing him?

First of all, I must state that he is a friend of mine from both school and the profession.

One of the best people I have ever known…

I don't think there is a single person in the world who doesn't like him…

I also love him very much “as a person.”

Since he knows me very well, he also knows my habit of saying “the king is naked,” and I hope he doesn't get angry with me for writing such an article.

But the quality of being “the best person in the world” should not be enough for Vahap to sit in a very important seat like the Chairmanship of the Journalists Association of Turkey…

Why, you ask?

Because although Vahap is a very good person, he is a journalist who does not comply with the Declaration of Rights and Responsibilities published by the Association, which he has been on the board of for years…

The section under the heading “corporate interests and conditions” of this declaration is exactly as follows:

“Publications containing product and brand promotion in return for participating in trips whose expenses are covered by commercial organizations should not be made. In cases where trips taken under exceptional circumstances and whose expenses are covered are reported, it should be clearly stated that the trip was an invitation.”

*

Vahap Munyar worked as the economy editor at Hürriyet, the flagship of the Turkish press, for a very long time.

In the words of the then-Editor-in-Chief of Hürriyet, Ertuğrul Özkök, “he spent his working life more on company trips he attended as a guest than at his newspaper.”

If you ask, “Who is the person who travels abroad the most with company invitations in Turkey?”, this person is undoubtedly Vahap Munyar by a wide margin…

I don't think even he remembers the number of passports he has changed because there was no room left to stamp them!

Yes, there have been times when he wrote that he “went upon invitation” in the news and articles he wrote after the business trips he attended; and there have been times when he didn't…

Also, due to the news unit he managed, it might be very natural that he could not avoid these invitations.

But then; my dear friends who are administrators of the Journalists Association of Turkey, you should have either changed Vahap or the Declaration…

You did neither…

On top of that, you brought this “record holder of trips and invitations,” our brother who is the best in the world, to the “chairmanship” today…

*

What can I say; may this decision be beneficial to your administration…

However, I do not think that Vahap, who has already been in the administration for nearly 30 years, has anything new to add to the TGC, the journalism profession, and press freedom, other than finding new sponsors.