EU treads carefully over Turkey’s media crackdown

Started by MikeWB, March 07, 2016, 10:43:30 PM

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MikeWB

EU leaders tiptoed around Turkey's clampdown on media groups on Monday, mindful that strong public objections could jeopardise a summit deal with Ankara over migration.   

Several leaders raised concerns in public and private about Turkey's seizure on Friday of the country's biggest opposition media group and bestselling newspaper Zaman, which has been under investigation over its ties to Fethullah Gulen, an outlawed cleric and former ally of the government.


However the criticisms were carefully calibrated so as not to endanger any pact over migration, a big priority for the bloc.

Belgium, France and Luxembourg made critical remarks in public on the issue, while the UK and Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, were among those who mentioned the Zaman clampdown over lunch with Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister.

But in a sign of EU leaders' eagerness to secure a migration deal, the UK and European Commission are nevertheless content for talks covering justice and the rule of law to begin as part of Turkey's application to join the EU.

Selahattin Demirtas, the Kurdish leader of the HDP, or People's Democratic Party, said on Sunday that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan's leverage over the EU on the refugee issue had given him a free hand to use the military against Kurdish militants in the south-east of Turkey.

Since December, Turkey has deployed the army in three major Kurdish-majority cities to disarm a youth militia that had entrenched itself inside them. Hundreds of young fighters and civilians have been killed, while HDP mayors and leaders have been arrested and prosecuted.
In depth

Europe's migration crisis
A migrant family walk toward the border after arriving at the railway station of Botovo, near the Croatian-Hungarian border, on September 21, 2015. Hungary has emerged this year as a "frontline" state in Europe's migrant crisis, with 225,000 travelling up from Greece through the western Balkans and entering the country from Serbia and most recently Croatia. Last week Hungary sealed its southern border with Serbia, forcing tens of thousands of migrants to enter Croatia, from where many then again crossed into Hungary and headed for Austria and beyond. AFP PHOTO / STRINGER

The EU is struggling to respond to a surge of desperate migrants that has resulted in thousands of deaths

"Right now, they need Erdogan," said Mr Demirtas. "He uses the refugee crisis to blackmail the EU," he added. "This crisis should not become a business deal."

Some leaders offered mild criticism before the summit began. François Hollande, the French president, said: "The press must be free everywhere, including everywhere in Turkey."

Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, described freedom of the press as "untouchable".

"It can't be that just because of the migration crisis we throw other values out of the window, like freedom of the press," said Xavier Bettel, prime minister of Luxembourg.

Mr Hollande added that co-operation with Turkey "doesn't mean we accept whatever Turkey does".

The German government said that the issue had been raised in Chancellor Angela Merkel's talks with Mr Davutoglu. But in public, Ms Merkel remained quiet.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f2d81f60-e484-11e5-ac45-5c039e797d1c.html
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