Media closures based on court decisions: Turkish FM

By Esra Kaymak Avci

ANKARA

Turkey's foreign minister has rebuffed claims that media outlets linked to Fetullah Terrroist Organization (FETO) were shut down at the order of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying the closures were based on "independent" judicial decisions.

"In Turkey, no media outlet or press has been shut down or closed by President Erdogan," Mevlut Cavusoglu said last week during a visit to Washington, in an interview posted on news and opinion website Breitbart.com on Tuesday, as well as on YouTube.

"President Erdogan has no power [to shut down media]," he said, adding media closures in the aftermath of last July's coup attempt followed an independent judicial decision.

"Nevertheless, there were some media outlets belonging to FETO terrorist organization, and they were involved in the failed coup in Turkey. And they were also involved in many illegal activities including fabricating false evidences against third persons. So those are the media outlets closed by the independent judiciaries in Turkey, not by President. The president has no authority to do so in Turkey."

Ankara accuses FETO's U.S.-based ringleader Fetullah Gulen of masterminding the July 15 foiled coup which left 249 people martyred and some 2,200 injured. FETO is also accused of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police, and the judiciary.

The segment published last night was the second in a series, with the first part released on Monday.

Cavusoglu also blamed the Western media for "taking sides" and not playing a "very constructive role" by dragging the continent "back to [the] pre-World War II era," calling it a "very dangerous trend".

Cavusoglu added that currently the "leftist" media, "especially in Europe" mainly covered refugee issues and "fueled" the society with anti-refugee and anti-minority sentiment.

- "Turkey's position in Syria very clear"

The foreign minister also commented on the ongoing crisis in Syria, saying that the aim of Turkey's presence in Syria was quite clear since the beginning -- to defeat Daesh and turn Daesh-controlled areas into "terrorist-free" zones.

Since late August, Turkey has been carrying out a military operation in northern Syria. Led by Free Syrian Army fighters, Operation Euphrates Shield aims to improve security, support coalition forces and eliminate the terror threat along the Turkish border.

Cavusoglu said that Ankara's position on Assad had also been very clear, adding that the focus in Syria should be on political solutions, including Astana and Geneva talks, while anti-Daesh operations continued on the ground.

The Astana talks, which focused on the cease-fire that came into effect Dec. 30, have been brokered by Turkey, which backs the opposition, and Russia and Iran, who support the Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Following the Dec. 30 cease-fire, the first round of Astana talks were held on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24. There, Turkey, Russia and Iran established a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the cease-fire in Syria.

The second round was held on Feb.15 and 16 while the third round ended on March 15.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 Syrians have been killed in the conflict and millions more displaced, according to UN figures.