TURKEY: DOGAN MEDIA GROUP GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000328 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL OSCE KPAO TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: DOGAN MEDIA GROUP GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE WHILE THE AKP CONTINUES TO WAIL REF: A. ANKARA 298 ¶B. 08 ANKARA 1643 ¶C. 08 ANKARA 1374 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Jeffrey for reasons 1.4(b,d) ¶1. (U) This is a joint Embassy Ankara - Consulate General Istanbul message. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶2. (U) Senior Dogan Media Group members went on a quiet offensive last week against what they see as GOT harassment, talking to our Ambassador and European Ambassadors. They denied any veracity in the tax fraud case against them (ref A) and expressed concern that the AKP government is heading towards autocracy, using the levers of government to get there. Meanwhile, AKP members including Prime Minster Erdogan continued publicly to criticize opposition media, even calling out the US HRR report for inaccurately accusing them of harassment of media. Comments to us by a senior PM advisor indicate that the PM believes he has justification for the vendetta. Other government statements hew to the line that the tax investigation and fine are justified and that no one -- even the wealthy and influential -- is above the law. We are not so sure. End summary. -------------- Media Magnate Alleges GOT Bias -------------- ¶3. (C) Dogan Media Group founder Aydin Dogan told the Ambassador February 27 that tax charges against the Dogan Media Group (Ref A) were intended to silence Turkey's largest media company, which has lately been critical of the ruling AKP. Dogan said that the GOT's annual tax audit of his group this year was "shocking," claiming that auditors who find "dirt" on him climb the bureaucratic ladder more quickly. He asserted that after the July 2007 general elections Prime Minister Erdogan had lost all tolerance for criticism. Dogan media nonetheless continues with its tradition of press freedom: "We don't suppress our journalists." ¶4. (C) Dogan Group is the only independent media voice, Dogan lamented, adding that other outlets are either pro-government or too small to have an impact. He defended the objectively of his reporting, saying that his group exposed wrong-doing and corruption allegations not only against AKP's Saban Disli and Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat but also against opposition CHP's Mehmet Sevigen. Dogan claimed that GOT EU negotiator Egemen Bagis and PM Advisor Omer Celik had visited him on several occasions to discourage him from hiring specific journalists. ¶5. (C) "Milliyet" Editor-in-Chief Sedat Ergin (also from the Dogan Group) told the Ambassador separately that the AKP government is beginning to adopt an autocratic style of government. The party, and particularly the PM, are intolerant of dissent and are using the levers of power to quash it. Secret wiretapping and the public revelation of confidential information are clear indicators that Turkey is moving toward a democratic authoritarianism, he said, citing the posting of a conversation between Dogan's CFO and the head of the Tax Department on the Internet. "Fear and democracy cannot co-exist." Ergin told the Consul General in a separate meeting that he has never in his journalistic career, even under military governments, felt as much under siege as he does from the current regime. The latest GOT actions have profound negative implications for Turkey's political system, democracy, and freedom of the press. Sedat indicated he would be visiting European Ambassadors with the same message. -------------- AKP Response to Dogan Criticism -------------- ¶6. (C) PM Erdogan has responded strongly to Dogan's public criticisms. On a recent trip to Van, the PM said he "never called for a boycott of a certain media group," but only did ANKARA 00000328 002 OF 002 so for "the papers that wrote lies about my party, family, and children." The PM asked at a rally in Aksaray on February 19, "if it would not be more correct for you to act in compliance with the laws rather than slandering the government?" ¶7. (C) This last weekend at a campaign rally in Kayseri, the PM also lashed out at our Human Rights Report and its claim that journalists had been harassed by high-level officials, vowing to take it up with Secretary Clinton when she visits later in the week. Our report did not cover the Dogan Group tax case (since it was launched in 2009),but the PM's statement underscores his extreme sensitivity to media criticism (Ref B). -------------- Without Modernization the Game Will Continue -------------- ¶8. (C) The European Commission's Turkey Political Chief Serap Ocak told us February 27 that she believes the PM's stance toward the media is "unacceptable in a modern democracy." Ocak said that there is not yet evidence to demonstrate that the AKP government is using the tax system to systematically undermine the Dogan group, yet she sees a general problem with the PM's stance vis-a-vis the media. "Over the past several years, Erdogan has repeatedly publicly called on his party members and supporters to boycott newspapers that criticize him or the AKP government." She believes Erdogan's view of media freedom is "fundamentally out of step with European values" and is "severely hurting Turkey's reputation in Europe." -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) A senior advisor to the Prime Minister told the CG that the source of the PM's enmity toward Aydin Dogan was the PM's deep-seated conviction that Dogan was "behind" the AKP closure case (Ref C). Although this does not excuse the PM's behavior toward Dogan Media Group, if true it would go a long way toward explaining the animosity toward Dogan. Ambassador has raised this issue quietly with the PM's National Security Advisor, Ahmet Davutoglu, and EU Minister Bagis. The latter brusquely said that this was a "tax issue" and implied the GOT investigations were not responding to political pressure. With continued structural problems in the media that prevent unbiased reporting, coupled with an AKP that is highly sensitive to criticism, these battles will continue for the foreseeable future. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey Jeffrey