Bahçeli's Nevruz message sparks crisis: Words misreported, editor fired
A major crisis erupted within Bengü Türk TV, a media outlet known for its proximity to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), after the website misquoted MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's reference to the "great Turkish geography" in his Nevruz message as the "great Kurdish geography." The editor responsible for the error has been dismissed.
12punto
Bengü Türk TV, a media channel known for its proximity to the Nationalist Movement Party, has become the center of attention due to a critical error in a report published for the Nevruz holiday. The phrase "great Turkish geography" in Bahçeli's congratulatory message was written as "great Kurdish geography" in the news article. The error, which quickly drew widespread attention on social media, received intense backlash from users.
Following the discovery of the error, the news site quickly published a correction and stated that the phrasing was due to an editorial mistake. The relevant part of the report was updated to read "great Turkish geography."
PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM BENGÜ TÜRK
Following the escalation of the incident, the management of Bengü Türk TV issued a public statement announcing that the incorrectly used word was an editorial error and that the mistake had been rectified shortly after. The statement included the following remarks:
"In the news report regarding the Nevruz holiday celebration on the Bengü Türk TV website, benguturk.com, words not present in the video content were included due to an editorial error. For us, the essential element is the video content itself, and in accordance with journalistic ethics, this is what should be taken into account."
RESPONSIBLE EDITOR DISMISSED
The statement issued by the management also noted that the editor responsible for the error had been dismissed. In the assessment regarding the matter, it was pointed out that "dirty propaganda" was being intentionally conducted on social media over a mistakenly written word. The remainder of the statement read as follows:
"The typographical error was corrected in a short time, but it has been observed that some malicious social media users have ignored the original video and are conducting dirty propaganda over a word written by mistake. Following the error, the responsible editor has been removed from their position. Our hope is that those who have become tools for this dirty propaganda will also include this statement in the same manner."