[ad_1]
ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan kept the case of Jamal Khashoggi alive thanks to a continuous leak of leaks, forcing the Saudis to admit that the columnist and dissident was murdered more than a month ago in their consulate in Istanbul.
But for Erdogan, the case has always been broader than press freedom or human rights violations. And, in fact, the use of the case by Mr. Erdogan in the name of justice has left many conflicts deep in Turkey, a country where tens of thousands of citizens are caught in a crackdown by the government since the coup attempt of 2016.
The tactics used by Erdogan against the Saudis are much the same as those he has perfected against domestic political enemies: leaks created by government sources and reported by friendly media, which he then cites to destroy his opponents .
This approach has become an essential part of the president's arsenal for spreading intimidation and suppressing dissent. He has been able to use it so effectively, especially against the Saudis, in part thanks to a compliant medium that he has fashioned for 16 years in power.
But the same pro-government media that have been a useful tool in the Khashoggi case have also published virulent content against many people detained under the state of emergency. Among them, a well-known philanthropist and civil society activist, Osman Kavala, whom Erdogan described as "the Soros of Turkey". the scandalous billionaire George Soros.
Recently, finally despairing of the Turkish judicial process, Mr. Kavala made a public statement through his lawyers for the first time since his detention last October. He spent a year in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison without trial.
"I only hope that my situation will contribute to an understanding of the harm done to the citizens and the judiciary of the Republic of Turkey by this unfortunate detention regime," he wrote.
Like Mr Kavala, more than 100,000 people have been imprisoned during the state 's two – year emergency, including academics, lawyers, journalists and opposition politicians who have no access to justice. Had no obvious connection with the attempted coup d'etat.
About 50,000 people are still imprisoned two and a half years after the coup, according to figures released by Amnesty International. Another 100,000 were removed from their jobs in the public sector.
The human rights landscape in Turkey is "sorry," Amnesty recently said, "characterized by mass detentions, prosecution, intimidation, and silencing of independent civil society. ".
This is especially true for journalists. Amnesty reported that 180 media outlets have been closed since 2016 and that 120 journalists have been arrested.
"Turkey remains the worst jailer in the world for the second consecutive year, with 73 journalists behind bars, compared to 81 last year," the Committee for the Protection of Journalists writes. annual report in December. "Dozens of other people are still on trial and new arrests are taking place regularly."
International press freedom organizations used the Khashoggi case to raise their concerns. "The horrific nature of #Khashoggi's murder should not detract attention from Turkey's own persecution of journalists," said the International Press Institute (Vienna) posted on Twitter.
But in Turkey, many are still afraid to publicly criticize Erdogan, especially the journalists, for whom the sound of the Khashoggi case has created a particular dilemma.
None of the Turkish journalists' unions issued statements of support following the disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi. They are notably absent from vigils held in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"There was no political agenda to not make a statement," said Mustafa Kuleli, secretary general of the Union of Journalists of Turkey. "Journalists' organizations in Turkey are trying to solve huge problems with very few professionals: thousands of lawsuits against members, closed press agencies, unemployment, poor working conditions."
"We attend court every day to help journalists," he added. "I understand why time could not be spent on the Khashoggi case."
Many journalists are of Kurdish origin and left accused of supporting illegal organizations or the movement of an Islamist preacher. Fethullah Gulen, suspected of having been behind the coup attempt.
Erdogan described them as terrorists, including a German-Turkish correspondent for Die Welt and members of the board of Cumhurriyet, one of the oldest and most prestigious newspapers in Turkey.
Yasin Aktay, Erdogan's adviser and close friend of Mr. Khashoggi, separated the imprisonment of Turkish journalists from the murder of the Saudi dissident commentator, author of The Washington Post. A large number of journalists in Turkish prisons are ideologically linked or have been used by terrorist groups, especially pro-Kurdish journalists, he said.
"These radical ideas are sponsored," he said. "It's not because they believe, but because they are tools."
The case of Mr. Kavala is one of the most emblematic illustrations of the growing authoritarianism of Mr. Erdogan's government. He was arrested for having links with the instigators of the coup attempt and for using force to overthrow the government by backing the government. Taksim Square protests from 2013 – accusations that he denies. One year after his detention, he has still not been charged.
A successful businessman who ran artistic and cultural initiatives for minorities in Turkey, often in partnership with European organizations, Mr Kavala decided to defend himself through the judicial process.
"Every day that passes, people who accuse me of attempting to abolish the constitutional order and the government come to realize more and more that I do not want to see it. have nothing to do with these accusations, "wrote Kavala.
His lawyers said that after a year of attempts to defend his case within the confines of the law, they had been forced to make known what they called the unfairness of the process and the gross violations of the laws. constitutional rights of Mr. Kavala.
His arrest for overthrowing the state and the constitutional order by force was totally devoid of evidence, said one of his lawyers, Ilkan Koyuncu.
"Above all, it's a man of dialogue, reconciliation, consensus," said the lawyer. "At any point in his life, he was not a man to be associated with coercion and violence."
Three lawyers described a litany of violations of the law, including the coercion used during the interrogations and the fact that Mr. Kavala was not brought before the competent criminal court. They said they filed 20 petitions in complaint.
Mr. Kavala's detention without trial amounts to arbitrary detention, Koyuncu said.
For many, detention seemed to be a warning to other members of civil society. In his race to almost sultans powers in a new presidential system formed this summer, Erdogan has frequently criticized liberals, leftists and anyone with ties to the West.
Erdogan treated the detainees as personal enemies. When Mr. Kavala was arrested, the president denounced him in a speech to his parliamentary group – the same speech he had recently pronounced on the Khashoggi case.
There, he credited the newspapers that Kavala had financed the demonstrations in Taksim Square and had other harmful links against Turkey.
"Some say that he is a civil society. he's a kind person, a good citizen, "said Erdogan about Mr. Kavala. "When you look, the same person is behind the events of Taksim. You see them in the allocation of considerable funds in some places. All connections are revealed one by one. "
He concluded with his nationalist signature: "As a nation, we will not bow down and we will ask them to pay for it."
[ad_2]Source link
