President Erdoğan's harsh reaction to journalists! 'Those who provoke the nation...'

President and AKP Chairman Erdoğan is speaking at the 10th Anatolian Media Awards program held at the Presidential Complex.

Highlights from Erdoğan's speech are as follows:

"Welcome to the Presidential Complex. I am experiencing the joy of being with you at the tenth Anatolian Media Awards. I heartfully thank the Turkish Press Federation. Since our last ceremony, many media workers have lost their lives in different corners of our heartland, especially in Gaza, simply for doing their jobs. 212 journalists have been martyred in Israel's brutal attacks on Gaza. Palestinian journalists continue to be brutally murdered before the eyes of foreign media organizations, which the whole world views as the complaint mechanism for the opposition in our country. I remember these brothers and sisters, each of whom was a defender of the truth, with mercy, and I extend my condolences to their colleagues and families.

A free, responsible, and national press is one of the most important supporters of the national will, as well as ensuring our people are informed accurately. We do not see these meetings, which we are organizing for the 10th time this year and which have now become traditional, merely as an awards ceremony where we reward those with merit. We see it as a symbol of our solidarity with our media members who have dedicated themselves to the struggle for rights and truth in a period when lies and disinformation surround us. Through these meetings, we also reinforce our determination to struggle and take our partnership further. I have traveled to all 81 of our provinces, many of them almost inch by inch. I have come together with all segments of society and chatted. As a politician who comes from the people, I know this very well. Not only in Ankara and Istanbul, but all over our country, we have media worker friends who work in various channels by putting their lives on the line. I am the closest witness to the difficult conditions under which these brothers and sisters, whom I see as soldiers of rights, truth, and justice, work. Not only with economic impossibilities, but our local media often has to struggle with local feudal lords as well. The existence and survival of the Anatolian media is a subject we attach great importance to.

Through our program, we see that those who chase the truth do not just report news. Those who act with this consciousness leave a mark on history and become the voice of the silent masses. They exhibit a free and original stance. The Anatolian Broadcasters Association fills an important gap in the press sector. If there is Anatolian media, there is the voice of the nation. I wish each of you great success from God.

I am not saying all these things as someone far from these issues. On the contrary, I am voicing this as a brother of yours who has been wronged by the media many times in his political life, has been subjected to character assassinations, and has felt the troubles of the tutelary and single-voice media order to his bones. We have come this far by clashing with headlines. When I say this, I do not say it for the sake of rhetoric, but because it is the truth itself. When you take a look at the headlines of 25-30 years ago, you will see very clearly where Turkey has come from and where it is now. None of us even want to remember the terrible media atmosphere during the February 28 period. We are pleased to have left behind those dark, shameful days when the government was directly adjusted through headlines, children of high school and middle school age were shown as monsters, so-called journalists kept watch in front of Imam Hatip schools, politicians were recklessly harassed every day on behalf of the tutelary powers, and columnists proudly described acting as informants.

Those who have lost their old privileged status will object again. But no matter what anyone says, Turkey today has a freer, richer, and undoubtedly much more open media ecosystem than it did before 2002. In fact, to be frank, this environment of freedom often goes to the level of irresponsibility and lawlessness. Especially on issues concerning national security, media organizations in our country write more freely than their colleagues in the West. We experienced this from the stopping of the MİT trucks to Gezi Park. Turkey was portrayed as a country that supports terrorism.

We live in a country where anyone who picks up a microphone and a camera sees themselves as a journalist and reporter. As we witnessed in recent days, these individuals are practically terrorizing the streets under the guise of street interviews. So much so that whoever grabs the microphone finds the audacity to insult the nation. We have already left the principles of responsible journalism aside. The number of those who observe and apply these does not exceed the fingers of one hand. Instead of measuring the pulse of the people and being the interpreter of their feelings, our nation is being openly provoked with both provocative questions and problematic styles. When the judiciary takes action against character assassinations and insults, a hue and cry is raised in the name of press freedom. There is no acceptable side to this. Just as someone who wears a robe does not become a judge, prosecutor, or lawyer, just as someone who wears a uniform is not accepted as a police officer or soldier, and just as we do not call everyone who wears a stethoscope a doctor, not everyone who takes a microphone and camera to the street is a journalist or a member of the press.

We are, of course, aware that the increasing diversity and color in the Turkish media disturbs those who supposedly do journalism by taking refuge in the shadow of the tutelary powers. What has happened in the last 40-50 days has once again shown what kind of fascist wind they will blow when they get the chance. I would like to remind them of our proverb today: "If there were demand for the old, light would rain on the flea market." No one should take offense. In the new Turkey, there is no longer any demand for the old. The days of saluting the tutelary powers in the headlines are over."

News Source: 12punto