BY TUFAN TURENC
HURRIYET- Dengir Mir Mehmet Fyrat showed has again showed that he's an interesting person. His recent statements against the republic are the expression of certain thoughts through a traumatic delirium. Actually Firat's opinions are identical to those of President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, former Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and other AKP supporters and members. As a matter of fact, the greatest harm done by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is turning the country's regime, Ataturk and the republic's revolutions into something debatable on the world stage. Not a single regime in any country in the world has faced a campaign of degradation matching the one against Turkey's regime and values. The ruling AKP is responsible for this, and it also laid the groundwork for this. I think this AKP-created atmosphere both in Turkey and abroad has had more of an impact than what it's done within Turkey. Their target is clear: the republic, its values and accomplishments, and Ataturk, and degrading and slandering them. I'm not angry with Firat. He's defending the AKP mission, that's all.
Sabrina Tavernise is the New York Times correspondent in Turkey, but she works as the AKP's reporter. Almost all the news stories and analyses that she files serve the AKP mission. From what I can tell, Firat got stirred up by this American correspondent. It always happens this way. Unable to help themselves, they pour out their suppressed enmity towards the republic and Ataturk. Firat said, 'Turkish society has been traumatized. Overnight they were told to change their dress, their language. Their religious ways were dismantled.' Here is what he actually meant: 'Our nation was cut off from its religion, faith, past, traditions and customs through sudden, unexpected pressure. Its mosques were shuttered, and people were even forbidden to worship.'
Actually in her story, Tavernise completed Firat's statement by writing: 'Turkey's current struggle is the latest chapter in a remarkable history that began in the 1920s, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, looking toward Europe, destroyed all connections to the East, changing the alphabet into Latin letters, placing mosques under state control and crushing the religious hierarchy.' These words were meant to be applauded by a certain ideology, right?
As I said, Tavernise is the AKP's reporter. She came to Turkey with a certain mission, or to put it better, she was sent to Turkey for this reason. So she's fulfilling this mission completely. She also slanders the republic, the secular order and Ataturk's revolutions in almost all of her news stories. While doing this, she's supported by the AKP and certain circles. Now think: In what other country can a foreign correspondent prepare such reckless news stories or make such analyses? For example, could Turkish journalists in Washington undertake such a mission? In 'America the free,' they can't do this, but they certainly can in Turkey, which isn't free. But Tavernise enjoys greater privileges in Turkey. She can write whatever she wants and make any interpretation she wishes, because she's supported by the ruling AKP.