Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan displayed open hostility toward the press at a pre-departure news conference before traveling to Malaysia, publicly rebuking a journalist and labeling the reporter's question an act of betrayal against the country.
Hurriyet columnist Tufan Turenc drew a historical parallel, noting that decades ago the Turkish press collectively agreed to exclude then-Prime Minister Adnan Menderes by name from coverage after he treated journalists similarly. Menderes reportedly moderated his behavior within a month. Turenc called on today's media to adopt a comparable response to Erdoğan.
Separately, Erdoğan filed a damages claim of 25,000 new Turkish lira against a cartoonist from the weekly humor magazine Leman, who had depicted him as a tick. The suit sought compensation for emotional suffering.
Turenc argued that democratic societies regard satirical criticism as a sign of cultural and intellectual sophistication, and that no Western leader has pursued legal action against a cartoonist over a caricature. Leman editor Zafer Aknar responded that humor is inherently oppositional by nature, adding that the magazine applies the same treatment to opposition leader Deniz Baykal.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in August 2006, in its own words.