World Association of Newspapers rügt Erdogan

Die Vorsitzenden der "World Association of Newspapers" (WAN) und des "World Editors Forum" (WEF) haben den türkischen Ministerpräsidenten Erdogan in einem offenen Brief dazu aufgefordert, keinen Druck mehr auf die Doğan-Holding auszuüben.

Die Vereinigung WAN, der 18.000 Zeitungen in 102 Ländern und 12 Nachrichtenagenturen angehören, und die bei der UN, der UNESCO und dem Europarat über einen Beobachterstatus verfügt, betrachtet die Aufforderung Erdogans an die Doğan-Holding, ihre Nachrichten über Verstrickungen AKP-naher Kreise in die Spendenaffäre um den Verein "Deniz Feneri e.V." einzustellen, als schweren Angriff auf die Pressefreiheit.

Derweil berichtet der Spiegel in seiner Online-Ausgabe, dass nun auch gegen Zahid Akman, den Vorsitzenden des Hohen Fernseh- und Rundfunkrates, ermittelt seitens der Frankfurter Staatsanwaltschaft wegen des Verdachts auf Betrug und Insolvenzverschleppung werde. Akmans Name tauchte im Zusammenhang mit der Spendenaffäre immer wieder auf, in dem Gerichtsverfahren galt er jedoch, anders als in dem Verfahren um "Offenbacher & Frankfurter Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft eG" nicht als Beschuldigter.

Hier der Brief der WAN in voller Länge:

The Right Honourable Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Prime Minister of Turkey
Ankara, Turkey

16 September 2008

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at threats you have made against the Dogan Media Group and your attempts to deter it from publishing articles concerning a matter of clear public interest.

On 7 September on live television you reportedly warned the Dogan Group not to publish articles on the Deniz Feneri e.V. corruption scandal. You have also threatened the group to reveal some harmful information about the company’s affairs.

The articles published by Dogan Group newspapers concern an investigation by German prosecutors into alleged illegal payments by the Deniz Feneri e.V. charity, which has collected almost €50 million in humanitarian aid, mainly from Turks living in Germany. Alleged recipients include a TV channel that is close to the government and even the Office of the Prime Minister.

We are alarmed that you, as the Prime Minister of Turkey, should seek to stifle legitimate reporting and threaten the Dogan Group, which has a right - and indeed a duty - to report on issues such as the Deniz Feneri e.V. scandal.

We respectfully remind you that it is the duty of the state to provide an environment in which media are able to carry out their professional duties without fear of intimidation, not to seek to silence critical reporting. Such assaults on the media foster a climate of fear that inhibits journalistic investigation and can promote self-censorship.

We respectfully urge you to immediately withdraw the threats you made against the Dogan Group and to publicly reaffirm your commitment to freedom of the press.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly
President
World Association of Newspapers

Xavier Vidal-Folch
President
World Editors Forum