Turkish Prime Minister condemned by OSCE for threatening journalist
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has condemned the political leadership of Turkey after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacked a journalist at a campaign event.
The journalist is Amberin Zaman, a correspondent for the English business magazine The Economist. Zaman also writes for the Turkish newspaper Taraf.
Today's Zaman reports that at a recent campaign rally, Erdogan singled our Zaman and called her a "shameless woman" who was "a militant in the disguise of a journalist." There is no relationship between the newspaper Today's Zaman and the journalist.
In a statement the OSCE said it was, "concerned" about the incident because it led to a widespread smear campaign that threatens Zaman's safety.
The OSCE's representative for freedom of the media Dunja Mijatović said, "I am alarmed by the latest example of intimidation of and threats towards journalists in Turkey. Critical ideas are indispensable elements of democratic debates, and they need to be safeguarded and not attacked by the authorities."
The line about being attacked by the authorities is most likely a reference to the fact that Turkey has more journalists in prison than any other country on Earth.
In a defense of their correspondent, The Economist points out that the media watchdog Freedom House recently reclassified Turkey as "not free" from "partially free."
The prime minister's ire has its roots in remarks Zaman made on CNN Turk. They were in response to a statement an opposition politician made about how a segment of the Turkish population accepts things without questioning them.
Zaman then said that such a phenomenon was to be expected in a Muslim society because Islam places the community at the center of the religion rather than the individual.
The condemnation comes just days before Turks are scheduled to go to the polls August 10 to vote in a presidential election that Erdogan is widely expected to win.
