ÖZGÜR ÖĞRET
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

The deafening silence in the media in response to a leaked copy of the EU’s annual Progress Report on Turkey is a sign of waning interest in the European Union among the Turkish public. Experts say it is worrying that media outlets did not make more noise regarding the report’s criticisms of the lack of press freedom in the country
‘This star will go very well here,’ says a billboard slogan, showing blended Turkish and EU flags in Ankara in this file photo. Hürriyet photo
The Turkish media’s muted coverage of this year’s EU Progress Report on Turkey suggests people are losing interest, experts said Monday, adding that the failure to highlight the report’s criticisms of the lack of press freedom is very worrying.
“Unfortunately, nobody takes the EU [accession] process seriously anymore,” Ferai Tınç, a columnist for daily Hürriyet, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
The annual EU accession progress reports used to provide headline material for the Turkish press, but most media outlets failed to devote much coverage to the latest report, which was leaked to press this weekend ahead of its official release Tuesday.
EU expert Can Baydarol, a scholar from Istanbul Kültür University, told the Daily News that the public was tired of both the slow pace of progress and the attitude of countries like Germany and France, who have repeatedly stressed their opposition to Turkey’s membership in the bloc.
“A conclusion in the news makes readers happy. Here, there is a years-long process with no end in sight,” Associate Professor Aslı Tunç of Bilgi University’s School of Communications, told the Daily News.
According to a recent survey by the U.S. German Marshall Fund, covered by private TV channel CNNTürk in September, Turkish citizens in favor of EU membership dropped from 48 to 38 percent over the previous year, while the rate of people against it rose from 22 to 31 percent.
The number of people who said EU membership would be “neither good nor bad” was 20 percent while 11 percent of the participants offered no comment.
The same survey reported that only 26 percent of Turks believe the country will ever join the EU. The year before the rate was 32 percent.
Lack of coverage on press freedom issue a cause for concern
While there are logical reasons for the lack of coverage, the experts expressed worry about the lack of attention to the report’s criticisms of press freedom in Turkey.
Press freedom is being perceived very narrowly as limited merely to the YouTube ban, Tunç said.
“The actual problem is much deeper, but contemporary newspapers cannot question it,” she said, adding that the economic nature of the Turkish newspaper business makes them dependent on the government, thus depriving them of their independence.
Other than some Internet sources, there were few institutions that could objectively evaluate the media itself, Tunç said.
Moreover, the press’ failure to highlight the report’s findings and protect their trial-weary staff is little surprise, she said.
“When do [the newspapers] protect [their staff]?” she asked. “They do not protect them in terms of job safety, life quality or life security. They are not protected at all.”
It is regrettable that newspapers have failed to protect their reporters, according to Tunç.
Tınç, meanwhile, said the press merely wanted to refrain from criticizing the government out of “fear of being oppositional.”
Deniz Ergürel, secretary-general of the Media Association, which is currently preparing its own report on journalists who are on trial for their reporting, said it was unfortunate that the Turkish press was failing to take protect its own interests.
“We, as the press, report the problems of everybody but our own. However, they should be voiced loudly,” he said, adding that Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin recently visited their association and responded positively when the group shared its concerns.
Even when they do show interest, Turkish newspapers are also guilty of either displaying all praise and no criticism or vice versa on certain subjects depending on the level of support they have for the government, according to the experts.
As such, different media outlets might cover the same EU report with headlines such as “EU praises developments” and “EU unsatisfied with developments.”
“These reports are not written to pat Turkey on the back and say bravo,” Baydarol said.
Tunç, meanwhile, said it was merely another example of the press’ polarization in Turkey, adding that it was undesirable that readers be offered only one opinion in a news story.
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