Turkish Media Concerned Over Erdogan's Attitude

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who is a frontrunner in the Presidential race, faces new questions over his manner in dealing with the media.

The editor of a leading newspaper in Turkey has resigned in the wake of Sunday's Presidential election after Erdogan had criticized the news coverage of the Dogan media group, Reuters reports. Apart from this, he labeled a prominent female journalist as a "shameless woman" and asked her "to know your place", as reported by the AFP Friday.

Ahead of Sunday's poll, in which his victory seems highly probable, Erdogan launched a massive attack on Amberin Zaman, a female journalist who writes for the Economist as well as the Turkish daily Taraf, for her comments in a television debate.

Erdogan, at an election rally in the eastern city of Malatya Thursday, said: "A militant in the guise of a journalist, a shameless woman... Know your place! They gave you a pen and you are writing a column in a newspaper... and you insult a society that is 99 percent Muslim."

Rights groups have brought to the fore the issue of widespread firing of editors and reporters in the Turkish media due to government pressure. This has become a major cause of concern as it not only restricts freedom of the press but also limits the ability of civilians to get uninfluenced information.

Media reports linked the departure of Enis Berberoglu Friday from the mainstream Hurriyet daily to such pressure from the Turkish government. However, the paper rubbished the allegations calling them "political scenarios" and said Berberoglu acted upon his own will and hence, left of his own accord.

"Enis Berberoglu deliberately decided to announce his decision before the presidential election so that no political meaning was attributed to it," statement by the paper read. However, the outgoing editor refrained from commenting on the issue.