Chief of staff lashes out at army’s media critics

Reporters Without Borders is concerned about the virulence of army chief of staff Ilker Basbug’s reaction to media criticism of his strategy for combating the separatist rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who have killed several soldiers in ambushes in recent days. The daily newspaper Taraf and other media accused Gen. Basbug of failing to mount an adequate response to the latest PKK offensive and, in particular, sending insufficient reinforcements to the eastern regions where the PKK rebels are operating. During a visit to the mausoleum of the Turkish republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara on 2 May, Gen. Basbug accused his media critics of treachery. “Not even the newspapers at the time of the armistice were as treacherous,” he said, referring to papers that criticised the Turkish resistance at the time of the Armistice of Moudros in October 1918. The head of the Contemporary Journalists Association, Ahmet Abakay, described the general’s comments as “irresponsible” and “very dangerous.” Reporters Without Borders agrees with him that they constitute incitement to violence, inasmuch as they could encourage acts of reprisals against the media by Turkish nationalists. Reporters Without Borders urges the Turkish authorities to act with caution and refrain from ill-judged statements. Taraf often criticises the army and manages to get hold of classified documents that reflect badly on it. While not a pro-government newspaper, it shares one of the goals of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which is to weaken the army’s influence in Turkish society.