IN
TURKEY under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the tweet has been turned
into a crime, and a troubled democracy is being turned into a
dictatorship. Gradually but inexorably, a nation that once aspired to be
an exemplar of enlightened moderation is being transformed by Mr.
Erdogan into a dreary totalitarian prison. In the latest setback, last
week, 23 journalists were sentenced to prison for between two and seven years on patently ridiculous charges that they were members of a terrorist organization and had tweeted about it. Two others were convicted on lesser charges of supporting a terrorist organization.
Mr.
Erdogan, the target of a failed coup attempt in July 2016, has embarked
on a campaign of repression against perceived enemies in the press,
government, academia and law enforcement, among other pillars of Turkish
society. More than 60,000 people have been arrested
and 150,000 forced from their jobs. Mr. Erdogan’s prime targets are the
perceived followers of the opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, who now
lives in Pennsylvania. Mr. Erdogan claims Mr. Gulen — once his ally in
Turkish politics — had incited the coup attempt, hence the charge of a
“terrorist organization.” Mr. Gulen denies it.
Turkey once had a
robust, independent press, but Mr. Erdogan has waged a multifront
campaign: closing media outlets, forcing others into new ownership, and
using friendly judges and prosecutors. In the latest cases, some
reporters and editors were convicted for what they said on Twitter. A
lawyer representing two journalists, Baris Topuk, said
at an earlier hearing: “In our opinion, the name of the organization in
which the defendants are accused of being members should be TTO:
Tweetist Terrorist Organization. There are no weapons or bombs in the
case, only news articles and tweets.” Ali Akkus, who was news editor of
the now-defunct Zaman daily, had said on Twitter, “No dictator can silence the press.” The use of the word “dictator” was singled out by a prosecutor in the charges against him. Mr. Akkus received a sentence of seven years and six months in prison.
Cuma Ulus, the editor of the daily Millet, got the same sentence and declared
earlier during the proceedings: “I have been a journalist for 21 years.
I stood against terrorism and violence, [and] defended expression of
freedom during all my life.” In the indictment, prosecutors cited three tweets and 22 retweets, accusing him of stirring up frenzy against the government.
Separately, 17 current and former writers, cartoonists and executives from the Cumhuriyet newspaper are also on trial. Mr. Erdogan is reportedly planning an assault on Internet broadcasting and free expression online, as well.
The
show trials underscore how far Turkey has fallen from Western norms of
democracy, human rights and rule of law. Mr. Erdogan is happily marching
alongside Russia, China, Egypt, Cuba and others where legitimacy to
rule rests on coercion and thought control. Mr. Erdogan’s dictatorship
must be called out for what it is. Even if he covers his ears, the
United States and other nations must protest, and loudly.
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