Turkey’s voting for censors

A leading columnist has been frozen out of his newspaper for revealing details of secret government talks with the PKK

• • Peter Preston
  • The Observer,

Hasan Cemal: now persona non grata at one of Turkey’s leading newspapers. Photograph: Cem Turkel/AFP/Getty Images

Meanwhile, in a foreign field: Hasan Cemal, former battling Turkish editor (against military juntas), is now the former star columnist for Milliyet, one of Turkey’s great newspaper names. He’s “stepped down”, in the twisty vernacular. What happened? Milliyet published secret minutes of contacts between government emissaries and Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdish terrorist group the PKK. Turkey’s PM erupted, as he is wont to do, and put the squeeze on Milliyet. Hasan, pictured, wrote a column defending the story. But the PM carried on erupting. “If this is journalism, down with it!” he cried.

Hasan’s column was frozen out for two weeks and then blanket-refused for publication. As he said: “I had underlined a fundamental principle of my profession … I argued that journalism and ruling a country are separate issues, and underscored the dividing line that sets them apart. This was what I was saying in a nutshell: In democracies, politicians rule the country and journalists deal with their work.”

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