Reporters Without Borders, Kurdistan With Borders
Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 3:57 amReporters without Borders recently released its report on media freedom for 2013. In case the Kurds needed a reminder of what kind of neighbourhood they live in, here it is. Kurdistan, of course, is divided by the borders of several states, none of which look very good in the report. The rankings were compiled using several criteria: Pluralism (the variety of opinions represented in the media), media independence (from government authorities), environment and self-censorship (the safety environment journalists work in and how much they themselves must censor what they write or say), the legislative framework (media does not function well without the rule of good laws), transparency (the openness of government and news organizations) and infrastructure (a measure of the quality of the infrastructure that supports the production of news and information).
Of the 179 countries that were ranked, it should come as not much of a surprise that Syria comes in nearly last. At 176th, only Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were considered worse places for journalism. Even before the civil war affected journalists’ safety environment and infrastructure so badly, Syria would still have come in near the bottom of the list because of Ba’athist totalitarianism and everything that a police state does.
At 174th place, Iran looks little better for freedom of the press, and that country is not even in the throes of a civil war. Iran only rose one place in the rankings from last year (when it was 175th), because Somalia got worse and took its spot. The report states that “Its print and broadcast media and news websites are all controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards. The authorities have internationalized their repression by making hostages out of the relatives of Iranian journalists who work abroad or in Iran for foreign news media. The Islamic Republic is one of the world’s five biggest prisons for news and information providers.” For Iranian Kurds especially, this is not news. The situation helps prevent the world from knowing what is actually happening in Iranian Kurdistan, whereas if a Palestinian or Israeli donkey gets run over by someone from the other side, AP and Reuters press feeds instantly start humming.
At 150th place, Iraq did a bit better than Iran and Syria. It even scored better than the highly partisan media environment of Egypt (158th – some Egyptian newscasters brought in balloons and dancers when Morsi was overthrown, while pro-Muslim Brotherhood media outlets held the equivalent of funerals), or the state controlled outlets of Yemen (169th), Sudan (170th), Cuba (171st) and China (173rd). Constant obstructions of Iraqi journalists trying to do their job, lack of transparency and serious threats to journalists’ safety continue to be the principle factors keeping Iraq low on the list.
At this point, one might think I was discussing the states with significant Kurdish minorities in the order in which they were ranked. Turkey, since it is a democracy and aspiring member of the European Union, would come next. Reporters Without Borders actually ranked Turkey lower than Iraq, however: 154th place out of 179 countries. The report states that “Despite a varied and lively media, Turkey lies in an unworthy position as the regional model which it aspires to be. In the name of the fight against terrorism, democratic Turkey is today the world’s biggest prison for journalists. The state’s paranoia about security, which has a tendency to see every criticism as a plot hatched by a variety of illegal organizations, intensified even more during a year marked by rising tension over the Kurdish question.” Besides Iraq, other countries considered to fare better in terms of media freedom include Burma (151st), Russia (148th), Palestine (146th), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (142nd), Jordan (134th), Afghanistan (128th) and Israel (112th – although the report states that Israeli media is very free, it ranked Israel lower because of Israeli state harassment of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank).
Since it enjoys fairly high levels of media pluralism, infrastructure and transparency, Turkey’s ranking should provide a dire warning about the legislative framework, self-censorship, the working environment and media independence there. These things have gotten worse, not better, under the rule of Prime Minister Erdogan. Just last year Turkey was ranked 148th, meaning it fell six places since then. When Erdogan came into office in 2003, Turkey was ranked 116th.
Judging by Mr. Erdogan’s public address to mark Turkey’s “Journalists’ Day” on July 24th, things will continue to get worse. Instead of acknowledging how the media acts as a critical check on government and one of the bulwarks of democracy, Mr. Erdogan seemed to warn journalists to watch themselves: “Our institutions of the press should not ignore the interest of the country, public order, societal dynamism and the moral values that their occupation brings while pursuing a free, objective and responsible way of doing their jobs,” he said. Around the same time, leading pro-government daily newspaper Sabah fired its head ombudsman of the last eight years (an ombudsman’s job is to watch over and critique their employer in order to make sure professional standards are maintained). He had criticized Sabah’s coverage of the recent Gezi Park anti-Erdogan protests in Turkey. Last week the Turkish Journalist Union also announced that “59 media workers had been either fired or forced to quit their jobs since the Gezi Park protests.” Civil servants are also quietly being fired, demoted or transferred for suspicion of supporting the protests, and even schools have been asked to inform the government about which, if any, teachers supported the protests.
We should remember that without freedom of the press, other freedoms cannot thrive either. For this reason alone, Kurds should worry about Turkey’s decline, even if the Erdogan government’s attacks on journalism are quite familiar all across Kurdistan, since a very long time.
Of the 179 countries that were ranked, it should come as not much of a surprise that Syria comes in nearly last. At 176th, only Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were considered worse places for journalism. Even before the civil war affected journalists’ safety environment and infrastructure so badly, Syria would still have come in near the bottom of the list because of Ba’athist totalitarianism and everything that a police state does.
At 174th place, Iran looks little better for freedom of the press, and that country is not even in the throes of a civil war. Iran only rose one place in the rankings from last year (when it was 175th), because Somalia got worse and took its spot. The report states that “Its print and broadcast media and news websites are all controlled by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards. The authorities have internationalized their repression by making hostages out of the relatives of Iranian journalists who work abroad or in Iran for foreign news media. The Islamic Republic is one of the world’s five biggest prisons for news and information providers.” For Iranian Kurds especially, this is not news. The situation helps prevent the world from knowing what is actually happening in Iranian Kurdistan, whereas if a Palestinian or Israeli donkey gets run over by someone from the other side, AP and Reuters press feeds instantly start humming.
At 150th place, Iraq did a bit better than Iran and Syria. It even scored better than the highly partisan media environment of Egypt (158th – some Egyptian newscasters brought in balloons and dancers when Morsi was overthrown, while pro-Muslim Brotherhood media outlets held the equivalent of funerals), or the state controlled outlets of Yemen (169th), Sudan (170th), Cuba (171st) and China (173rd). Constant obstructions of Iraqi journalists trying to do their job, lack of transparency and serious threats to journalists’ safety continue to be the principle factors keeping Iraq low on the list.
At this point, one might think I was discussing the states with significant Kurdish minorities in the order in which they were ranked. Turkey, since it is a democracy and aspiring member of the European Union, would come next. Reporters Without Borders actually ranked Turkey lower than Iraq, however: 154th place out of 179 countries. The report states that “Despite a varied and lively media, Turkey lies in an unworthy position as the regional model which it aspires to be. In the name of the fight against terrorism, democratic Turkey is today the world’s biggest prison for journalists. The state’s paranoia about security, which has a tendency to see every criticism as a plot hatched by a variety of illegal organizations, intensified even more during a year marked by rising tension over the Kurdish question.” Besides Iraq, other countries considered to fare better in terms of media freedom include Burma (151st), Russia (148th), Palestine (146th), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (142nd), Jordan (134th), Afghanistan (128th) and Israel (112th – although the report states that Israeli media is very free, it ranked Israel lower because of Israeli state harassment of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank).
Since it enjoys fairly high levels of media pluralism, infrastructure and transparency, Turkey’s ranking should provide a dire warning about the legislative framework, self-censorship, the working environment and media independence there. These things have gotten worse, not better, under the rule of Prime Minister Erdogan. Just last year Turkey was ranked 148th, meaning it fell six places since then. When Erdogan came into office in 2003, Turkey was ranked 116th.
Judging by Mr. Erdogan’s public address to mark Turkey’s “Journalists’ Day” on July 24th, things will continue to get worse. Instead of acknowledging how the media acts as a critical check on government and one of the bulwarks of democracy, Mr. Erdogan seemed to warn journalists to watch themselves: “Our institutions of the press should not ignore the interest of the country, public order, societal dynamism and the moral values that their occupation brings while pursuing a free, objective and responsible way of doing their jobs,” he said. Around the same time, leading pro-government daily newspaper Sabah fired its head ombudsman of the last eight years (an ombudsman’s job is to watch over and critique their employer in order to make sure professional standards are maintained). He had criticized Sabah’s coverage of the recent Gezi Park anti-Erdogan protests in Turkey. Last week the Turkish Journalist Union also announced that “59 media workers had been either fired or forced to quit their jobs since the Gezi Park protests.” Civil servants are also quietly being fired, demoted or transferred for suspicion of supporting the protests, and even schools have been asked to inform the government about which, if any, teachers supported the protests.
We should remember that without freedom of the press, other freedoms cannot thrive either. For this reason alone, Kurds should worry about Turkey’s decline, even if the Erdogan government’s attacks on journalism are quite familiar all across Kurdistan, since a very long time.
