Daily Evrensel challenged Akif Beki, Prime Minister’s Press Consultant, to prove his claims that those newspapers whose accreditation were not renewed “publish lies.”

 

Asking which one of their news is a lie, the representatives of the newspaper said that they could not replace their reporter Sultan Özer who has been working since former Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit.

Beki had said, “We had to cancel the accreditation cards of these colleagues of ours, since they did not do objective journalism.”

The reactions against Prime Ministry’s decision not to renew the accreditation cards of the seven journalists are continuing.

BES: They are punishing the journalists they cannot bring to their side

Office Workers Union (BES) condemned the decision by declaring that “The Prime Minister is preventing public’s right to reach the correct information by punishing the journalists they cannot bring to their side.”

Daily Akşam published the accreditation ban against their report Ali Ekber Ertürk to the front page. The report emphasized that while the accreditation cards of the seven journalists were not renewed on the grounds that they did not follow the professional principles of journalism, the press card of Mehmet Gürhan, who was convicted in the Lighthouse case in Germany, was renewed.

Daily Hürriyet’s Ahmet Hakan called for an uprising against this implementation. Oktay Ekşi of the same newspaper reminded the journalists that they could have this decision cancelled by taking it to the courts.

Umur Talu of daily Sabah criticized both the Prime Ministry and the General Staff for this practice they share.

On the other hand, daily Taraf pointed out to daily Hurriyet’s having already assigned new reporters to cover the Prime Ministry and thus supporting the act at least indirectly. (EÖ/TK/TB)