Erdogan slams EU reaction to media raids

Supporters of the Hizmet movement shout slogans and hold copies of the Zaman newspaper as they take part in a demonstration in Istanbul a day after Turkish police began an operation targeting the media close to the Hizmet movement. The words on the placard in front reads ‘Black day for democracy’.

DPA/Reuters/IstanbulTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at the European Union, after the bloc criticised police raids on media houses that led to the arrest of 24 people, including journalists.“We don’t care if the EU takes us in or not. Right now we are concentrating on protecting our national safety,” Erdogan said, referencing his country’s EU candidacy.Police arrests on Sunday focused on the Zaman newspaper and the Samanyolu TV channel.Both media houses have links to the Hizmet movement of US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, against whom Erdogan has a running rivalry.Police officials, including a local chief, were also detained.EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn described the raids as “not really an invitation to move further forward” with Turkey.German Chancellor Angel Merkel’s spokesman said it was “in Turkey’s own interest to clear up any possible doubt over its commitment to basic democratic principles” following the raids.Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign policy chief, said that the arrest operation “goes against the European values and standards Turkey aspires to be part of”.Turkey has been recognised as a candidate for full membership in the bloc since 1999, but has struggled to advance towards accession.“They say it is about freedom of the press, but it has nothing to do with it,” Erdogan said, accusing those arrested of being part of a sophisticated criminal network plotting against him.Erdogan has been locked in a fierce battle with the Gulenists, his one-time allies, since last year.Erdogan accuses the Gulenists of running a shadowy “parallel state” and seeking to overthrow the government.He claims they used illegal wiretaps on government offices and orchestrated corruption allegations against top officials in December last year.The corruption scandal led to four ministers resigning, though the legal case against top officials has since largely collapsed, with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) walking away more or less unscathed.The party won local elections in March and Erdogan was elected president in August, after serving as prime minister for over a decade.The European Union, human rights groups and media freedom organisations have all condemned the arrests.“Yesterday’s arrests of senior journalists in a section of the media that has played a leading role in covering allegations of corruption by government officials, raise serious questions about the authorities’ motivation for their detention,” Amnesty International said.Prosecutors ordered the detention of 31 suspects on Sunday.The charges against them include forgery, fabricating evidence and forming a criminal network seeking to work against the state, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.Initially, 27 people were arrested, but three have since been released.The exact charges against each individual remain unclear.Ekrem Dumanli, the editor-in-chief of the Zaman daily, who was among those arrested said on Sunday that the government’s allegations are unfounded.Since last December, when the corruption allegations emerged during a series of police raids, the authorities have moved to purge thousands of alleged Gulenist loyalists from the police service and prosecutors’ offices.The latest arrests are being described as the next step against the so-called “parallel state”.Zaman described the raids as a “black day” for Turkey’s democracy and other papers have also voiced concern that the press is being silenced.Pro-government media outlets have largely echoed the accusations that those arrested were fabricating evidence and plotting a coup.The Gulen movement denies trying to overthrow Turkey’s government.Kemal Kilicdaroglu, head of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the largest opposition party, was critical of the arrests.“These operations are not what we were taught in the eyes of the law. This is done as a method of revenge. You cannot administer a government through revenge,” he said.Mogherini and other top EU officials visited Turkey only last week, trying to shore up relations.The bloc is due to discuss accession issues today and Turkey is likely to feature prominently in the talks following the arrests. Erdogan, whose AK Party was elected in 2002, introduced many democratic reforms in his first years in power and curbed army involvement in politics.Nato allies often cited Turkey as an example of a successful Muslim democracy, but more recently critics have accused Erdogan of intolerance of dissent and, increasingly, a divisive reversion to Islamist roots.The president has cast the battle against Gulen’s “Hizmet” (service) network as a continuation of Turkey’s “normalisation”, a struggle to root out anti-democratic forces, and insisted yesterday that Turkey’s democratic standards were improving.“This process is the planting of the seeds of the new Turkey,” he said. “Those who try to get involved in dirty business and dirty relations with the hope of returning Turkey to its old days are getting the necessary response, and will continue to get it.”Asked whether he expected “sabotage” from Gulen allies ahead of a parliamentary election next June, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the pro-government Sabah newspaper yesterday that the state had to “take precautions”.“This is not an investigation into journalistic activities,” he was quoted as saying, and more details would emerge as the legal process took its course.