T.C.
MARMARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ
ORTADOĞU ARAŞTIRMALARI ENSTİTÜSÜ
ORTADOĞU SOSYOLOJİSİ VE ANTROPOLOJİSİ ANABİLİM DALI
PERCEPTION OF EUROPE IN THE TURKISH PRESS
Yüksek Lisans Tezi
ALZBETA BORIKOVA
T.C.
MARMARA ÜNİVERSİTESİ
ORTADOĞU ARAŞTIRMALARI ENSTİTÜSÜ
ORTADOĞU SOSYOLOJİSİ VE ANTROPOLOJİSİ ANABİLİM DALI
PERCEPTION OF EUROPE IN THE TURKISH PRESS
Yüksek Lisans Tezi
ALZBETA BORIKOVA
Danışman: PROF.DR. ALİ MURAT YEL Jüri üyesi: DOÇ.DR.NURİ TINAZ Jüri üyesi: DOÇ.DR.AHMET UYSAL
ABSTRACT
PERCEPTION OF EUROPE IN THE TURKISH PRESS
In this thesis we explored the images of Europe that are created in the Turkish press at the present day. During a period of 13 months we studied the coverage of Europe in 8 different Turkish newspapers (Yeni Akit, Yeni Şafak, Sözcü, Vatan, Hürriyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal and
Ortadoğu), and tried to recognise the general tendencies, as well as the main divergences in
the representation of the continent. We decided to focus on the topics that appear the most in the press and at the same time are likely to reveal Turkey´s perception of Europe. In eight sections, we offer a detailed analysis of the coverage of Islamophobic attacks, the discrimination felt by Turks in European countries, the increasing power of European extreme right, the rise of Islam in Europe, the economic crisis, the European Union, the European foreign policy and Europe used as an example. The aim of this thesis was to find out whether Turkey differentiates itself from Europe or rather consider itself as a part of the European continent. We were interested to discover to what extent an European “other” is created in the Turkish press and what are its properties.
ÖZET
TÜRK GAZETELERİNDE AVRUPA ALGISI
Bu tezde günümüzdeki Türk basınında yaratılan Avrupa imajını araştırdık. 13 aylık bir süreç boyunca takip ettiğimiz gazetelerde (Yeni Akit, Yeni Şafak, Sözcü, Vatan, Hürriyet,
Cumhuriyet, Radikal ve Ortadoğu) yayınlanan tüm Avrupa konulu haberleri inceleyip, haber
sunumlarındaki genel eğilimler ve farklılıkları belirlemeye çalıştık. Hem basının en çok ortaya çıkardığı, hem de Türkiye'nin Avrupa algısını anlamakta yardımcı olabilecek konular üzerine yoğunlaşmaya karar verdik. Araştırmamızda Avrupa'daki İslamofobik saldırılar, Türklere karşı ayrımcılık, aşırı sağ'ın yükselişi, İslam'ın Avrupa'ya yayılması, ekonomik kriz, Avrupa Birliği, Avrupa dış siyaseti ve Avrupa'nın örnek olarak kullanılması başlıklı konuları ayrıntılı şekilde analiz ettik. Tezin amacı, Türkiye'nin kendini Avrupa'dan tamamen ayrı mı yoksa Avrupa'nın bir parçası olarak mı görüyor olmasını incelemektir. Türk basını tarafından ne ölçüde Avrupalı 'öteki' yaratıldığı ve bu yaratılan 'ötekinin' özelliklerinin neler olduğuna dair sorulara cevap bulmaya çalıştık.
LIST OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT...iii ÖZET...iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION...1
1.1. Occidentalism and Orientalism...2
1.2. Turkey and the West...6
1.3. Methodology...9
CHAPTER 2 IMAGES OF EUROPE IN THE TURKISH PRESS...15
2.1. Islamophobia and Attacks Against Muslims...15
2.2. Discrimination and the Fate of Immigrants in Europe...23
2.3. Extreme right in Europe...28
2.4. Rise of Islam in Europe...30
2.5. Economic Crisis in Europe...33
2.6. The European Union...38
2.7. Imperialist West? The Europe´s Foreign Policy...44
CHAPTER 3
CONCLUSION...55
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CAR Central African Republic CDA Critical Discourse Analysis EU European Union
FN National Front
NGO Non-governmental Organisation NPD National Democratic Party of Germany UKIP The UK Independence Party
UMP Union for a Popular Movement WW II World War II
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
When we look at the state of the world today, we are unfortunately still confronted with extremism, religious fanaticism or nationalism. The signs of hate and violence toward what is considered as a different culture can be found in every society. It seems that even the progress of technology, that has minimised distances, facilitated the flow of information and in consequence de facto abolished borders between countries, could not yet completely destroy the virtual cultural borders in the people´s minds.
In the West, after the fall of the Berlin wall, The Fukuyama's1 idealistic (and ethnocentric) theory about the end of the history that predicted expansion of a unique civilisation - the Western one, was soon replaced by Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilisations2. The latter argued that the conflicts in the future won´t be caused by ideologies but rather will happen on cultural and religious basis. Huntington divided the world into 8 major civilisations (Western, Confucian, Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slavic-Orthodox, Latin American and possibly African) and at the same time expressed his belief that the biggest conflict will take place on the frontier between the Muslim world and the West. And nowadays, we can hear practically on a daily basis the voices from both sides decrying either “the war of the West on Islam” or “the Islamic threat to the Western liberal democracies”.
In this context of the theory of the clash of civilisations, I think it is of great importance to study how societies represents its outside world, its “other”. By analysing the images of a civilisation/nation/culture we can recognise the major prejudices and stereotypes which are many times attached to it automatically and which may easily push this portrayed part of the world into the role of an enemy, threat or rival. The so-called clash of civilisations is then often created by misrepresentations and not by real facts.
This thesis, in which we will study the image of Europe in the Turkish press, should be 1 Fukuyama, F. (Summer 1989). The End of History? The National Interest. pp.3-18.
considered as a modest contribution to the research fields of Occidentalism and Orientalism, that are in general concerned with the (mis)representations of the West and the East respectively. Before moving on to the core of our thesis itself, I find it helpful to have a brief look at some examples from the existing literature and especially at the most important critique that has been raised to the nature of inter-cultural representations - the Edward Said´s deep analysis of the Western perceptions of the East.
1.1. Occidentalism and Orientalism
When Edward Said´s “Orientalism”3 appeared in 1978, it created a lot of polemics. It was
not the first criticism of this kind of the Orientalist rows (at that time the term Orientalism was widely used in order to designate the academic discipline related to the study of Eastern countries) but undoubtedly the most complex one. On a very large scale of literary texts, political discourses and academic works, Said tried to show that Orientalism is fundamentally a political doctrine imposed over the Orient because the Orient was weaker. This one-way politics of aggression is demonstrated by the huge amount of publications about the Orient in the West and on the other hand the absence of such publications about the West in the East. The subject of Orientalists is however not so much the Orient itself as the domesticated Orient, the East made known and therefore less fearsome to the Western public. The Orientalism is putting limits upon thoughts about the Orient by giving absolute neutrality to the unchallenged ideas about the Orient´s sensuality, its despotism, its aberrant mentality, inaccuracy or backwardness. Every one who is thinking about the Orient carries with himself this background.
The Orientalism according to Said is based on a dualistic vision of reality that promotes the difference between the familiar (Europe, West, “us“) and the strange (the Orient, “they“, the “other”). The starting point of the field is the “truths“ that there are geographical spaces with indigenous radically different inhabitants who can be defined on the basis of some essence proper to that space.4 As a reaction to this kind of truth that seems neutral and evident, 3 Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
4 Samiei, M. (2010). Neo-Orientalism? The relationship between the West and Islam in our globalised world. Third World Quarterly. Vol.31. No.7. p.1146
Edward Said cites Nietzsche´s definition: “truth are just illusions about one has forgotten that this is what they are“.5
Nobody can deny that Edward Said´s book contributed in a considerable way to the discussion of the vision of the Orient in the West and made many academicians re-think their own approaches. However we have to argue that its categorical stances that all Orientalist work is in line with a imperial political program are far from being unproblematic. To say that every European thinks in a certain way is quite the same as to say that the Eastern people are lazy and inaccurate. While accusing Europe for creating its own Orient, Said makes a picture of an European inherently suspicious about the foreign cultures and trying to preserve its own superiority. And by doing that, he is actually creating an essentialist vision of the West.
One of the main Said´s arguments is that “no production of knowledge in human sciences can ever ignore its author´s involvement as a human subject in his own circumstances. A European studying Orient comes up against the Orient as a European first, as an individual second.“6 Even if in theory the knowledge produced in the contemporary West is accepted as non-political, academic and impartial, in practice there is no method to detach the scholar from its individual beliefs or social position. However, by the same token we can reproach to Said writing from a completely Eastern position. Regarding to the Said´s analysis of the origins of the Orientalistic thought in Europe we would join the criticism expressed by Robert Irwing: “The Persians who under Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes built up a mighty empire and sought to add Greece to that empire, were not denounced by Said for imperialism. On the contrary, they were presented as the tragic and innocent victims of misrepresentation by Greek playwrights (Aeschylus´s play The Persians)“7.
Critics of Said´s “Orientalism” were centered also on the methodology of his research. His analysis is limited to British, French and American Orientalist works thus leaving out a rich German Orientalist tradition. Moreover his choice of texts, a wide range going from Aeschylus´s drama, Dante´s Divine Comedy to the imperialist speeches given by Cromer or Balfour, may seem arbitrary or, as some would claim, tendentious in order to support his 5 Said, E. Orientalism. p. 203
6 Said, E. op.cit. p. 11
thesis.
On the other hand, regardless of the possible critics presented above, Edward Said and other critics of Orientalist thought have without any doubt contributed to discover some general and frequent tendencies in Western representation of the East, such as the assumption of an unchanging, static Orient and the portrayal of Islam as a philosophy of resignation, the passive acceptance of one´s fate and absolute obedience to the authorities.8
Following Said´s legacy, John E. Richardson demonstrates in his book “(Mis)representing
Islam“9 how the process of creating the “other” works in the British press. The study analyses the overwhelmingly negative values that are attributed to Muslims and Islam and define this representation as one of the causes of continuing racism in the British society. The majority of articles in the broadsheet newspapers are premised on presupposed differences between Muslims and non-Muslims and a lexical style register of backwardness, barbarity and repression is often used in connection with Islam. “Reactionary mullahs“, “Islamic censorship“ or “Strict Islamic code“ are some of the examples cited by the author. The Muslim community is viewed as a homogeneous entity and the described negative attributes are not restricted to some individuals but generalised to the whole Muslim society.
The selectivity of information distorts the reality and focuses only on some of its aspects. In this logic, we are not surprised to see “a single terrorist incident blamed on “Muslim extremist“, placed within an “endless“ historical continuum of Arab-Muslim violence, terror and extremism, (re)presented as the history of the Arab world.“10 This leads of course to the creation of an atmosphere of fear and mistrust vis-à-vis the Muslims.
The negative image of the Middle East in Western mainstream media is an issue that has been widely discussed among intellectuals and researchers from all over the world and there is a general agreement that the tendency is to represent the region as extremely hostile and violent. The news that reach the Western audience are mostly images of war, destruction or videos of fearsome terrorist leaders that vow death to the whole Western civilisation. These 8 Turner, B.S. (1997). Oryantalizm, Kapitalizm ve İslam. Istanbul: İnsan Yayınları. pp. 17-18
9 Richardson , J.E. (2004). (Mis)Representing Islam: The racism and rhetoric of British broadsheet newspapers. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Co.
images have of course an enormous impact on the society and they create the essence of the Eastern “other” as an enemy or potential threat.
To sum it up, when we say Orient in the Western press, these are the major ideas that come up to our minds almost spontaneously. While thinking about this, I found it interesting to research how it functions the other way round. How do the non-Western media represent the West? Are they able to give a balanced image or is there also a tendency to create a certain essentialist vision of the West? What are the properties of the West in its position of the “other“? I posed these questions to myself before starting the research. As Occidentalism is less studied and less popularised (at least as I feel it from my experience), the answers to these questions do not appear so automatically.
Edward Said saw Orientalism as a result of Western dominance and rejected the existence of an Occidentalist field as its counterpart. In contradiction to this one-way approach, James Carrier11 sees the emergence of Orientalist and Occidentalist essentialisms rather as part of a dialectic process that follows the encounter with the other. He argues that not only we create the image of the other during this encounter, but also the images of ourselves evolve. Carrier elaborate his statement on the example from Anthropologic research of an inland society in Papua New Guinea conducted by Eric Hirsch, which analysed the huge increase in chewing the betel nut among population during the period of colonisation. The reason behind this would be that the betel nut was identified as distinctively Melanesian in contrast to the European tradition of beer drinking.12 The core argument here is that Occidentalisms and Orientalisms are shaped by the political and social relations between the cultures. Carrier further states: “when advocates of the Orientalisms of kastom13 distinguish themselves from a
West that they construe as essentially materialist and disorderly, they implicitly or explicitly claim power in their own society.”14
Generally, according to Carrier, we talk about the “other” when we want to distinguish ourselves. This distinction can be made by showing how awful are things elsewhere in order 11 Carrier, J.G. (ed). (1995). Occidentalism. Images of the West. Oxford: Claredon Press.
12 Carrier, J.G. (ed). op.cit. p.7
13 Kastom is an Anthropological concept which designates the concern to preserve or recreate what people see as their traditional ways. See Carrier, J.G. (ed) op.cit.p.6
to reproduce and solidify the dominant system in our society or on the contrary we can produce an idealised image of the other with the aim of raising criticism to our rings.
In another noteworthy Occidentalist work, Chen Xiaomei similarly rejects as one-sided the claims that misconceptions of the “other” are necessarily imperialistic acts. In her article “Occidentalism as Counterdiscourse”15 she describes two forms of Occidentalism in China.
The “official Occidentalism” which is created by the Chinese imagination in order to discipline and dominate the Chinese self, and the “anti-official Occidentalism” which idealise the West in order to oppose the established “truths” and institutions in China. She stresses the idea that Occidentalisms or Orientalisms are not intrinsically negative by stating that “Certainly the appropriation of the image of the West, when put into critical use against the domestic hegemony of the ruling ideology, (…) can rightly be viewed as positive, liberating and even desirable.”16
1.2. Turkey and the West
As far as the Occidentalist research is concerned, the case of Turkey is undoubtedly special and unique among the countries of the Middle East. Turkey often views itself in political discourse as a bridge between civilisations, connecting the East and the West. The debate whether Turkey belongs more to Europe or the Middle East has not reached the point of consensus. Moreover, after the WWII, Turkey has been passing through different stages of European integration and in 1987 applied for a formal membership into the European Community. Due to this close relations and a long history of integration attempts, I chose to focus my research only on images of Europe, excluding the representation of the USA. I assume that the image of the US is generally more negative (as a results of its so-called wars on terror) and also geographically and historically Turkey has better chances to feel itself integrated within Europe than within an US-led Western world. In the context of a potential EU membership, it is very interesting to see if the images of Europe reflect some kind of Turkey´s integration or if we can perceive a division along traditional lines- “we” and “them”, 15 Chen, X. (1992) Occidentalism as Counterdiscourse: “He-Shang“ in Post-Mao China. Critical Inquiry.
Vol.18. pp.686-712 16 Chen, X. op.cit. p.693
the East and the West. Does Turkey consider itself as a part of Europe or rather stays in opposition to it?
Within the Ottoman empire a wider discussion on the West was launched among intellectuals during the 19th century, especially after major defeats of the empire have pointed out the supremacy of the West in the military as well as in the economic area. The polemics was mainly turning around the following questions: what attitude should be taken towards this Western (non-Muslim) world and what are the keys to reach the same level of technological development. In general we can talk about three main trends in approaching this subject. The first one leads to a conclusion that there is only one civilisation, the Western one, and all its aspects must be adopted in order to join the modernity. The second approach makes a distinction between the materialistic and spiritual civilisation. While Europe is recognised as the uncontested leader in sciences and technology and the only source of the materialistic civilisation, it remains on the lowest level as far as the spiritual civilisation is concerned. Finally, the third theory talks about the existence of many civilisations, each with its own history, and instead of trying to make comparisons between them, we should accept the differences as they are.17
Regarding the period after the foundation of the Turkish Republic, Meltem Ahiska focuses in her book “Occidentalism in Turkey”18 on the Turkey´s ambivalence towards the West. On
the one side, the historical narrative in Turkey takes the National Struggle against the European (Western) invading forces in the 1920s as the first embodiment of the new Turkish nation, and on the other side, the Turkey´s elite discusses the necessity of Westernisation, i.e. the modernization of the country following the European example. According to Ahiska, the elite differentiated itself from the people, which they considered in urgent need to be civilised, and identified with the West. But at the same time, they differentiated themselves from the West and identified with the people by creating an idealised homogeneous people, that should reflect the essence of Turkish culture, against the undesired aspects of Westernness such as liberalism, immorality and class-ethnic conflicts. Studying the example of Turkish national 17 Bülbül, K., Özipek, B.B.and Kalın, İ. (2008). Aşk ile Nefret Arasında Türkiye'de Toplumun Batı Algısı,
Ankara: SETA yayınları, pp. 13-15
18 Ahiska, M. (2010). Occidentalism in Turkey, Questions of Modernity & National Identity in Turkish Radio Broadcasting, London: Tauris Academic Studies
radio broadcast, Ahiska makes the following conclusion:
There were two simultaneous, yet contradictory considerations: one was to produce representations to convince the West that Turkey, too, was Western; the other was to defend the distinct identity of Turkishness against the West.19
Coming to the present day, we can see that the contradictions in the attitude towards Europe or the West in general, have not disappeared from the Turkish society. A survey20 conducted by Hakan Yılmaz from Boğaziçi University on European skepticism in Turkey in 2003 reveals an interesting paradox. While more than 74% of the respondents declare their willingness to vote in favour of the Turkey´s accession to the EU if there was to be a referendum, almost 46% thinks that a crusaders´ soul lies behind the EU´s positions towards Turkey (it is also important to note that only 27% of respondents openly disagreed with the latter statement). That means that even an important part of those who support the EU integration, at the same time believes the EU did not give up their plans to occupy Turkey and thus carries a profound mistrust vis-à-vis Europe.
Another research, this time using the method of depth interviews instead of classical survey with pre-defined answer choices, was published in 2008 under the title “The
perception of the West in the Turkish society“21. According to the results of the study, there is neither a resolute rejection nor acceptance of the West among Turks. The answers to the question “what does the West represent to you“ can be divided into two main groups. The first one contains positive statements such as “civilisation“, “human rights“, “freedoms“, “modern life“, “democracy“ or “comfort“. The negative values such as “double standards“, “imperialist“ or “hypocrisy“ fall into the second group. But the most important point, in my opinion, is that the clear majority of the respondents think that Western societies have negative views on Turkey and Turkish people. This feeling is common also among those who express themselves positively about Europe.
When we look to both researches mentioned above, we get the impression that there is an 19 Ahiska, M. op.cit. p. 124
20 Yılmaz, H. (2004). Türkiye'de Avrupa Şüpheciliği, Türk Halkının AB Konusundakı Şüpheleri, Kaygıları ve Korkuları. Boğaziçi Üniv. Bilimsel Araştırma projeleri komisyonu.
21 Bülbül, K., Özipek, B.B. and Kalın, İ. (2008) Aşk ile Nefret Arasında Türkiye'de Toplumun Batı Algısı, Ankara: SETA yayınları
automatic mistrust towards Europe and its sincerity in its relation to Turkey. On the one hand, it appears that the majority of population wants to join the EU and appreciates its values, but on the other hand, we recognise a strong division line put between “us“ (Turkey) and “them“ (Europe, the West, the ones that do not like us or even are against us).
This situation of mistrust towards Europe is explained by Hakan Yılmaz as a continuation of the so-called “Sèvres syndrome”22. According to the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) only a small part of the Central Anatolia was supposed to stay under the full sovereignty of Turkish government. The rest of the territories was to be divided among the leading Western powers. The Europe´s longing for the partition of Turkey, as Hakan Yılmaz claims, remained ingrained in the collective memory of Turkish people, thus causing the mistrust.
Building on the presented research results and all what was said above, we hope to find out in this thesis whether the images of Europe in the Turkish press correspond to this differentiation of the West, felt in the society, and if they have the potential to create a perception of an Europe hostile to Turkey.
1.3. Methodology
In order to realise our research purposes, we based this thesis on the theory of discourse analysis and made use of its methods. We can briefly define discourse, following the proposition of Marianne Jorgensen and Luise J. Phillips, as “a particular way of talking about and understanding the world (or an aspect of the world)”23. The starting point of most of the discourse theories is that “our ways of talking do not neutrally reflect our world, identities and social relations but, rather, play an active role in creating and changing them”24. Similarly, in our study we are not interested in determining what Europe really is or if the news presented are true or false. We want to recognise how the image of Europe is created and represented in the Turkish society.
22 Yılmaz, H. (2006). Two Pillars of Nationalist Euroskepticism in Turkey: The Tanzimat and Sevres
Syndromes. Turkey, Sweden and the European Union: Experiences and Expectations. I.Karlsson and A.Strom Melin (ed.). Stockholm: SIEPS. pp. 26-40.
23 Jorgens, M. and Phillips M.J. (2002). Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method. London: SAGE Publications.
The discourse analysis sees the great social importance of language and aims to show how its particular use can influence the recipients. But at the same time we have to approach to the discourse as being produced in a specific context, under the dominance of an ideology or shared social knowledge. That brings the question to what extent we can consider the producer of a discourse (for example a journalist writing an article) as behaving “freely” and not as a prisoner limited by the discursive borders. With the “help” of these limitations a certain discourse can be automatically reproduced and a particular ideology maintained within society. Steinar Kvale claimed even a complete denial of individual expression against the hegemony of discourse by stating that “the self no longer uses language to express itself, rather language speaks through the person. The individual self becomes a medium for the culture and its language.”25 As a consequence, this theory rejects all the possibilities of a discourse change.
In contrast to the latter approach, the researchers following critical discourse analysis (CDA) share a common hope of “change through understanding”26. Wodak and Meyer describe CDA as a discipline “[interested] in de-mystifying ideologies and power through the systematic and retroductable investigation of semiotic data (written, spoken or visual)”27. Their critical targets are the power elites, those who have privileged positions in public sphere and those considered as source of authority (for example politicians, academicians or journalists).
According to Van Dijk:
concrete text production and interpretation are based on so-called models, that is mental representations of experiences, events or situations, as well as the opinions we have about them. (…) Here we touch upon the core of the CDA: that is, a detailed description, explanation and critique of the ways dominant discourses (indirectly) influence such socially shared knowledge, attitudes and ideologies, namely through their role in the manufacture of concrete models. 28
25 Jorgens, M. and Phillips M.J. op.cit. p.14
26 Van Dijk, T.A. (1993). Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society. Vol.4. No.2. pp.249-283
27 Wodak, R..and Meyer, M.. (2009) Methods for Critical Discourse Analysis. London: SAGE Publications. p.3 28 Van Dijk, T.A. op.cit. pp. 258-259
For example we can automatically interpret the news of the increase of immigrants as a threat to our society, relying on the models that had been constructed by previous articles we had read about the criminal acts perpetrated by immigrants and their violent nature.
Regarding the topic of the (negative) representation of the “other”, Van Dijk presents a list of sample structures that may be interpreted as managing the processes of understanding in such a way that “preferred models“ are being built by the hearers/readers:
a, Argumentation: the negative evaluation follows from the “facts“
b, Rhetorical figures: hyperbolic enhancement of “their“ negative actions and “our“ positive actions, euphemisms, denials, understatements of “our“ negative actions. c. Lexical style: choice of words that imply negative (or positive) evaluations
d, Story telling: telling about negative events as personally experienced, giving plausible details about negative features of the events
e, Structural emphasis of “their“ negative actions, e.g. in headlines, leads, summaries, or other properties of text schemata, transactivity structures of sentence syntax (e.g.mentioning negative agents in prominent, topical position)
f, Quoting credible witnesses, sources of experts, e.g .in news reports29
Coming to the features of our work, in this thesis we chose to study all the articles related to Europe from the international sections of internet archives of 8 Turkish newspapers. An article, in order to be included to the research, should either contain the term Europe, EU or the West (except when the West is designating only the US) or the name of an European country in the headline or one of those should be the main topic of the news story. Further, we decided to orientate our interest only towards the countries members of the EU or those traditionally considered as part of the so-called “Western” world (as for example Switzerland), excluding other geographically European countries such as Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina or Ukraine. Our intention was to inquire the general perception of Europe as it is felt at the present day, without focusing on particular moments that could be considered important for the Europe-Turkey relations. That is why the period of the research was set randomly between January 2013 and January 2014.
The newspapers have been selected in a way that they would cover the wide range of 29 Van Dijk, T.A. op.cit. p.264
ideological tendencies in Turkey. They fall into the category of daily broadsheet newspapers, or “quality” newspapers, that means that they can be seen as credible source of reference. The centrist mainstream is represented by the daily Hürriyet (daily circulation: 423.39330), which is also the daily with the second highest circulation in Turkey. The conservative and pro-governmental wing has its representative in the dailies Yeni Şafak (128.866) and Yeni Akit (63.526). On the opposite side, social-democratic tendencies and secular Kemalist stances are defended by the dailies Sözcü (372.171), Vatan (110.097) and Cumhuriyet (54.650). From the latter three, especially Sözcü is known for its harsh criticism of the governmental policies.
Radikal (23.857), for its part, is positioning itself as liberal centre-left and despite the fact that
it was using the tabloid format, the daily may be considered as influential in intellectual circles. Finally, from the nationalist rows we studied the daily Ortadoğu (7.961), which is close to the oppositional far-right Nationalist Movement Party.
The newspapers differed significantly in the extent of their news coverage of Europe. While Yeni Şafak followed closely different developments in Europe, this kind of news was rather scarce in Ortadoğu. This of course makes more difficult the understanding of differences between the newspapers and any attempt to draw categorical conclusions about the vision of Europe in a newspaper with low international coverage is impossible. Instead, we tried to recognise some general tendencies common to all the dailies and on the other hand the most flagrant divergences. For this reason, we decided to divide the sections not by different ideologies but by thematic areas. We believe that with this approach we can better detect the perceptions of Europe shared by the majority of Turks regardless of their political affiliation. At the same time, we can directly compare articles about the same event from various newspapers and analyse the variations in their writing styles. This can help us to study if (and how) the presentation of news was manipulated to serve a particular ideology and its dominant discourse. In other words, we aim to reveal the “preferred models” that are supposed to be built by readers during the process of understanding the text.
Moreover, it is necessary to point out that we analysed only the category of news, leaving aside the articles of the columnists. We admit that the columns have undoubtedly a strong 30 All the datas about the newspapers´daily circulations are for the period of the last week of December 2013
tradition in Turkish newspapers and possess a big potential to influence the readers but the reason we did not include them to our research is that they are openly subjective. The news articles, however, pretend to be objective in the presentation of the events. In this “objectivity” may better appear the “truths” that are automatically accepted and taken for granted in the society and that reveal a lot about the image of the “other”. Also, trusting the apparent “objectivity”, the readers are more likely to take the above mentioned “preferred models” and reproduce a particular discourse.
In order to claim the objectivity of his article, the journalist makes use of various strategies that we should be able to recognise and analyse, if we pretend to de-mystify the ideologies that lie behind the text. Gaye Tuchman discusses some of these strategies in her article “Objectivity as Strategic Ritual”31. The journalist can back his claims by presenting supporting evidence, a strategy that consists of citing additional “facts” which are commonly accepted as “truth”. The impression left from the article should be that of “the facts speak for themselves”.32 To give a simple example, the journalist may support his claim that Europeans are racists by enumerating the attacks against mosques in Europe. The logical conclusions from these facts should then automatically confirm his statement. Another strategy is the use of quotation marks and the inclusion of someone else´s opinion. The journalist removes himself from the text and gets other people to say what he thinks.33 Of crucial importance is also the strategy of structuring information as an “inverted pyramid”. The most important information is supposed to be placed in the first paragraph and the least important one at the end of the article.34 The journalist can claim to have touched upon all the facts but by changing their places, he changes also the focus and the whole message of the article.
In the following chapter we will present a detailed analysis of our research results. In eight sections, we will discuss the most important topics that appeared in the newspapers´ coverage of Europe throughout the period of study. Firstly, we will closely look at how the issue of racism in Europe is perceived in the Turkish press. In the first and the second section, we will
31 Tuchman, G.(1972). Objectivity as Strategic Ritual: An Examination of Newsmen´s Notions of Objectivity. American Journal of Sociology. Vol.77. No.4. pp.660-679.
32 Tuchman, G. op.cit. p.667 33 Tuchman, G. op.cit. p.668 34 Tuchman, G. op.cit. pp.669-670
study respectively the coverage of physical or verbal attacks against Muslims perpetrated by extremist individuals/groups in Europe and the discrimination that Turks/Muslims face from European institutions. The third section analyses the news about the extreme right and its rising popularity in the European continent. Related with this issue of discrimination and cultural clash is also the fourth section which, however, contains news about the rise of Islam. A great part of the coverage in the Turkish press is dedicated to these interactions between Europe and Islam. We will pay a special attention to this kind of news because they directly reveal any implicit or explicit opposition created between “us” and the “other”.
In the fifth section we have another very interesting topic- the economic crisis and images of Europe falling into bankruptcy. The sixth part will permit us to better understand what EU represents to Turkey and whether Turkey´s integration efforts are reflected in the press coverage. The news reporting about European foreign policy in the seventh section will show us if the image of Europe is dominated by the accusation of Western imperialism and how it influences the construction of the “other”. Finally, in the last section we will see when and for which purposes Europe can be taken as an example for Turkey. In the chapter three we will then try to draw general conclusions and propose our evaluation of the presented findings.
CHAPTER 2
IMAGES OF EUROPE IN THE TURKISH PRESS
2.1. Islamophobia and attacks against MuslimsAs the news about violence, attacks and religious intolerance are an important part of the European coverage of the Middle East, so it is the European Islamophobia in Turkish newspapers. To better understand Turkey´s relation to Europe it is necessary to closely analyse the news with this topic. One of the main objections to European (or Western) journalism is that it presents the whole Middle East as an homogeneous terrorist entity, hostile to the European civilisation. As a result, a perception of antagonism between the two regions is created in the imagination of the readers. Therefore, it is interesting to discover if the Turkish press can deal with the subject in a more “objective” way or if it also foments the conflict with its “other”.
In fact, depending on the newspaper the impression of a permanent fight between the West and the East is more or less present in the Turkish press. A detailed coverage of increasing Islamophobia in Europe, especially in the dailies like Yeni Akit and Yeni Şafak, portrays Europe as highly racist and unwilling to respect Islam. In this direction goes the article appeared in Yeni Akit under the title “One child for Muslims“35. It pays attention to the opinion expressed by a politician from Sweden Annika Rydh that there should be a one-child restriction imposed on Muslim immigrants in Sweden and Europe. The article is introduced by the sentence “The rising Muslim population has almost driven mad the so-called modern European politicians.“ By the use of the plural form “politicians“ it presents the Rydh´s words not only as opinion of one individual but it creates an impression that her Islamophobic stances are shared by all European politicians. The article does not mention neither the rejection of these views by her own party nor any other reaction provoked by the comments. On the contrary, in order to even more strengthen the Islamophobic picture of Europe, the last paragraph states:
Western media are disturbed by the Turkish population
35 Yeni Akit. (3/2/2013). Müslümana tek çocuk. http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/muslumana-tek-cocuk-374.html (4/4/2015)
European fascist media organs are quite disturbed by the rapid spread of Muslims and Islam. Some media that are permanently broadcasting news against Islam are trying to increase anti-Islamic positions in their countries by stating that Muslims have a high fertility rate and they will become more numerous (than non-Muslims). 36
These last sentences are meant to underline the “war“ waged against Islam in Europe. Instead of offering precise information, the article contains only a vague expression “some media“. It has a pure rhetorical value since no concrete media is mentioned as an example. What is important is the generalisation- Western media against Turkish (Muslim) population and the Europe´s portrayal as an enemy.
Another example of this generalisation appears in the article “Turkish forbidden even during breaks“37. It reports again an individual racist attitude of a primary school director in a small German town, who officially forbade Turkish pupils to speak their mother tongue during breaks. But in the introduction of the news again the plural form is used as if accusing Germans as a whole nation.
The hatred for Turks in Europe does not end. Pro-Nazi Germans, who are organising racist attacks against Turks, have forbidden this time Turkish pupils to speak Turkish during breaks.(...) The racist German executives, disturbed even by the mere presence of Muslims, do everything possible in order to stop the influence of foreigners in the country.38
An important aspect to point out is that wherever an act of racism has happened, it is not only the one specific country, but the whole Europe (or the West) which is being condemned. In an article about the attack on a mosque in Poland we can read: “Europe, which is trying to give lessons of religious freedom to Turkey, does not see the bad treatment reserved to Muslims in its own continent.“39
By following this pattern, it may seem that the enemies of Muslims are not only the perpetrators of the aggression but the whole Western world. The West is here presented as an 36 Müslümana tek çocuk. op.cit.
37 Yeni Akit. (30/1/2013). Teneffüste bile Türkçe yasak. http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/teneffuste-bile-turkce-yasak-250.html (4/4/2014)
38 ibid
39 Yeni Akit. (22/10/2013) Bu defa Polonya'da.... http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/bu-defa-polonyada-6526.html (6/4/2014)
homogeneous entity, united in its anti-Islamic positions. These kinds of expressions are actually suggesting that the West or Europe are constantly taking actions against Muslims and that is why they should be considered as a threat. Similarly, while talking about attacks against mosques in France, we can read: “The West´s hatred of Muslims is growing every day.“40
As we could see, the Islamophobic and racist attacks are mostly presented as being part of a general racist atmosphere in Europe and the stress is put on the increasing tendency of this kind of actions. Out of the total 19 articles reporting acts of violence and racism against European Muslims in Yeni Akit newspaper, 7 were underlying the increase of this phenomenon in Europe, 4 were complaining about the impunity of the perpetrators but only two times non-Muslims had also space to express their condemnation. For example in the article “The racist attacks on the Belgian mosques were condemned“41, all five of the voices denouncing the attacks were Muslims.
Similar tendency is to be seen in Yeni Şafak newspaper. Out of 22 articles explicitly reporting Islamophobia and violence against Muslims in Europe, 9 are warning against a rapid increase in race-motivated attacks. Moreover, we can see a repetition of news carrying the same message throughout the year, so that the readers are reminded continuously about the European threat. An article title from 6th of May 2013 states: “There has been an increase in attacks against Muslims in France“42, another one from 22th of July 2013: “The anti-Islamism is growing in France“43 or the news from 23th of November 2013: “Increase in Islamophobic attacks in France“44.
In the article “The French justice!“45we are informed that a French satirical magazine 40 Yeni Akit. (23/2/2013). Irkçılıkta neonazi modeli.
http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/irkcilikta-neo-nazi-modeli-927.html (3/2/2014)
41 Yeni Akit. (25/11/2013) Belçika'da camilere yapılan ırkçı saldırılar lanetlendi.
http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/belcikada-camilere-yapilan-irkci-saldirilar-lanetlendi-7563.html (2/2/2014) 42 Yeni Şakak. (6/5/2013). Fransa'da Müslümanlara yönelik saldırıla arttı.
http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/fransada-muslumanlara-yonelik-saldirilar-artti-518401 (2/2/2014) 43 Yeni Şafak. (22/7/2013). Fransa'da İslam karşıtlığı artıyor.
http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/fransada-islam-karsitligi-artiyor-544802 (2/2/2014)
44 Yeni Şafak. (23/11/2013). Fransa'da islamafobik saldırılarda artış.
http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/fransada-islamafobik-saldirilarda-artis-585593 (2/2/2014) 45 Yeni Şafak. (14/11/2013). Fransız adaleti! http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/fransiz-adaleti-582398
“Minute“ compared the French (black, non-Muslim) justice minister Christian Taubira to a monkey. However the Yeni Şafak article goes further than just reporting this incident. By adding its own comments it reminds the readers also of the widespread Islamophobic environment in France. Considering that the minister is not a Muslim, mentioning Islamophobia here is clearly for the sole purpose of strengthening the negative image of France: “In France, which experiences an increase in xenophobia and Islamophobia, ugly attacks have reached the cabinet.“ or later in the text we can read again: “In France, where Muslims are together with blacks victims of verbal or physical attacks, xenophobia is growing more and more.“
Moreover, the use of expressions like “racist Englishmen“46 and “racist Germans“47 instead of for example “a racist group in England“, “racists in Germany“ or “German racists“. is also significant. It introduces a very close connection between the term “racist“ and the member of the mentioned nation. By this denomination, the lexical register of xenophobia and racism is directly linked to the European people.
In Yeni Şafak, only in one occasion a non-Muslim is expressing his condemnation of the attacks against Muslims. In the news from July 201348 the French interior minister Manuel Valls and the French president François Hollande confirm their determination to fight against all kind of racist aggressions:
Valls wished that the month of Ramadan would bring peace and fraternity for all Muslims. Also he drew attention to the increase of the acts of aggression against Muslims in France. He underlined that these acts are unacceptable and he stressed the government´s strong determination against vandalism of the worship places.49
Even if the article shows the willingness of the European politicians to fight racism, its headline “France´s confession of Islamophobia“ lets the negative impression prevail. The word “confession“ is far from being neutral. On the contrary, it has a negative connotation of 46 Yeni Şafak. (23/5/2013) Irkçı İngilizler camilere saldırdı.
http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/irkci-ingilizler-camilere-saldirdi-524221 (4/2/2014)
47 Yeni Şafak. (8/8/2013). Irkçı Almanlar seçimlere hazır. http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/irkci-ingilizler-camilere-saldirdi-524221 (4/2/2014)
48 Yeni Şafak (18/7/2013) Fransa'dan İslamofobi itirafi. http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/fransadan-islamofobi-itirafi-543681 (5/2/2014)
a criminal that has been hiding her crimes and it places France, as a nation, in position of a guilty that is admitting its wrong-doings. If the title were for example “France determined to fight Islamophobia“, which would also perfectly correspond to the content of the article, the message of the text would change considerably.
On the other hand, we do not see the same extensive coverage of physical or verbal assaults on Islam in other newspapers. In both Radikal and Hürriyet we can see only few articles on this topic and there is proportionally much more space to show the European response against these attacks. Also mentioning the rise of Islamophobia in its article “France is opening the discussion on the turban issue“50, Hürriyet has a different style of writing. It says: “The French government is preparing the work on the problem of integration. The expressions of racism and Islamophobia, increasing more and more every day, has become a bomb ready to explode in the country.“ The article relates the results of a report prepared by a team of professionals in order to solve the problem of racism. It contains among others the proposition to create special tribunals to decide on crimes of racism, to cancel the turban prohibition at school, to found a museum of colonisation and to rethink the school education concerning ethnicity, other cultures and religions. In relation to the strong polemic that this report may produce in France, the article continues: “The government, prepared to take also this risk, feels the necessity to find a solution to the issue of immigrants.“ Here the article underlines for the second time the determination of the French government to work on the issue. Without any doubt, the government´s efforts are rewarded with a positive appraisal in the text.
Radikal reports on 6 of June about a wave of attacks on mosques in England that followed
the murder of a British soldier, Lee Rigby, committed by two Muslims. The article describes the escalating fear of Muslims going to pray, but (unlike in Yeni Akit or Yeni Şafak) by introducing a quote of a British politician it suggests that the racist attacks are a threat for the whole British society:
The conservative MP of the Chipping Barnet area in London, Theresa Villiers said: “I was shocked to learn that such an attack happened in my electoral area. This is not
50 Çakır Morin, A. (14/12/2013) Fransa turban konusunu tartışmaya açıyor. Hürriyet.
an attack only against the Muslim community, but at the same time, it is an attack against all of us. We can not permit extremism, that will divide us, under any circumstances.”51
A similar article appeared two weeks later in Sözcü. By comparing the style of both articles we can clearly see how the choice of citation can change the message of the text. While introducing quotation marks and citations, the author´s target is to maintain an apparent objectivity and to distance himself from the expressed claims and assumptions. But the choice of the person who is quoted in the text very often reveals the author´s own opinions.52 In
Sözcü's article the only quoted person is a Muslim who puts the stress on the increasing
intolerance in England and the failure of its liberal democracy. The British (European) model is disqualified and associated with racist environment. Also, extremely negative words such as “danger“ and “persecution“ are used in order to describe the situation of Muslims in Britain:
According to the words of the director of the “Friends of Al-Aksa“, an NGO in charge of pro-Palestinian campaigns in England, Ismail Patel: “The murder of the soldier Rigby revealed an issue that is present in England for years. It showed that the British liberal democracy is not able to prevent the persecution of Muslims.“ Patel stated that the murder of the soldier Rigby in the streets of Woolwich is terrifying, but at the same time, the violent behaviours against Muslims after this act reveal the rising
intolerance against the Muslim population in England. Patel argued that the violence and hatred directed to Muslims is not a new thing but it has been ongoing for years in
England. He continued by saying: “The first lesson that we should learn from these incidents is that the future of Muslims in England is in danger, This incident showed the failure of the liberal democracy in England“.53
It is important to point out here that Sözcü, unlike Yeni Şafak or Yeni Akit, is a Kemalist newspaper, holding a strong secular ideology. In the context of Turkish internal politics it has even being accused of Islamophobic stances54 and it can be considered as a mouthpiece of the “Western” secular ideal. But when reporting about the Europe-Islam relation it is adopting the 51 Radikal. (6/6/2013). İngiltere'de 11.cami saldırısı.
http://www.radikal.com.tr/dunya/ingilterede_11_cami_saldirisi-1136473 (10/4/2014) 52 Richarson, J.E. op.cit. p. 251 and Tuchman, G. op.cit
53 Sözcü. (26/6/2013) Müslümanları hedef alan saldırılar artıyor.
http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2013/dunya/muslumanlari-hedef-alan-saldirilar-artiyor-323144/ (3/5/2014) 54 Yel, A.M., Nas, A. (January 2014) Insight Islamophobia: Governing of Public Visibility of Islamic Lifestyle
same techniques of condemning the West as the conservative newspapers do. It presents the racists attack only through the words of one Muslim denouncing the failure of the liberal democracy in England. There is no space in the article dedicated to a reaction from the British society or authorities. The dominating impression is the “threat” that England presents and we can feel the mistrust against Europe - or “the West”.
Both Radikal and Hürriyet published the news about a very ugly move by the German racist party NPD (National Democratic Party of Germany) before the general elections, which consisted in sending condoms to immigrants and some anti-racist German politicians with a message “do not reproduce yourselves“. However, from the articles we can clearly understand that the mentioned party does not represent the mainstream way of thinking in Germany. In
Radikal55, the first information we get is that there are legal initiatives taken against the NPD
party in order to forbid its activities. This is very important, because from the very beginning, we get the impression that the move was undertaken by a marginal group and not by Germans as a nation. Moreover, later in the text, we are informed that the NPD´s action provoked strong reactions from both immigrants and Germans, another sentence that serves to prevent the opposition “Germans against immigrants“. Hürriyet, for its part, dedicates a whole paragraph to the reactions appeared on German anti-racist web pages:
The ugly campaign, that has been rapidly diffused on internet, has become a target of mockery by anti-racist websites. In these sites similar reactions aroused: “I hope that the condoms you sent are at least as defective as your brains and all of them will be torn during their usage“, “These condoms should have been sent 124 years ago to Alois Hitler (the father of Adolf Hitler)“ and “I send you condoms of better quality. You are the only ones that should not reproduce in Germany“.56
On the other hand, Sözcü, that published also this news on its pages, instead of giving space to German reactions, preferred to remind the readers of the NPD´s past racist campaigns. Moreover it is stressed that a complaint is going to be filed by “deputies of Turkish origin“57, which underlines the necessity of a Turkish response and disregard the 55 Radikal. (6/9/2013). Alman ırkçılardan Türkler'e özel prezervatif.
http://www.radikal.com.tr/dunya/alman_irkcilardan_turklere_ozel_prezervatif-1149536 (6/4/2014) 56 Hürriyet. (7/9/2013). Almanya'da ırkçı partiden “kondomlu“ hakaret,
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/planet/24657006.asp (25/3/2014)
http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2013/dunya/almanyadaki-German one. Vatan in relation to this news in a similar way mentions only the protest of “our expatriates and other immigrants”58 and later in the article, under the subheading “Racism at the top” relates the racist behaviour of football fans towards a Turkish team in Germany. Even if lacking the aggressive vocabulary of Yeni Şafak or Yeni Akit, the opposition between Germans and Turks is felt here much more than in the articles appeared in Hürriyet or
Radikal.
The way how the conservative press describes the acts of violence against Muslims in Europe does not only condemn the cases of religious hatred and intolerance but also contributes to the creation of a very negative picture of the whole continent. The individual perpetrators are not important, it is Europe as a whole who carries the guilt. This was proved by many examples of generalisation used in the articles. The whole Europe is blamed for racism even if the mentioned act of aggression concerns only one individual citizen or a small extremist group in a particular country. Many times, these articles do not distinguish between States, they see Europe as one negative entity. An Islamophobic attack in Germany is seen as a results of “European hatred towards Islam”.
Another factor is the high percentage of the news with this content in the newspapers´ coverage. The example of intolerance in Europe are given much more space than the positive ones. Sometimes similar news appear and the same sentences are repeated, concerning the rise of Islamophobia in Europe and the fear among members of Muslim communities. This constant repetition makes the European thread to Islam more visible.
Moreover, there is rarely a mention of an European action against racism. This time not only in the news of Yeni Akit and Yeni Şafak, but also in Vatan or Sözcü, the European response to the violence is not present. By this we can see that not only the conservative press but also the secular press use the Islamophobic acts in Europe to portray negatively the whole continent. Leaving out the reactions of Europeans makes from them silent accomplices and introduces an impression of a conflict between Europe and Islam. We could see how the nature of the article changes according to the presence or not of the non-Muslim protest
turklere-yonelik-irkci-kampanyaturklere-yonelik-cirkin-kampanya-367019/ (9/5/2014)
58 Vatan. (6/9/2013). Skandal kampanya. http://www.gazetevatan.com/skandal-kampanya-567070-dunya/
voices. The presence of an European reaction stresses the unity of all people in the fight against racism, the presence of only Muslim reactions makes feel the division.
2.2. Discrimination and the fate of immigrants in Europe
The Turkish newspapers are concerned not only with the cases of individual aggression against Turks or Muslims, but also try to depict the discrimination at the level of State institutions in different parts of Europe. Now we will look at how the situation of Turkish minority in European countries is presented in the press.
At first, we can mention the story of Adem Karaağaç, published in Radikal and Sözcü almost identically. The Turkish citizen who has lived the most of his life in Switzerland ended up in prison for the crime of threatening one of his relatives. After fulfilment of the punishment (one year prison sentence), it was decided that Adem Karaağaç would be deported. During the decision-making, the numerous traffic offences committed by Karaağaç in the past were also taken in consideration. But in order to stress the unfairness of the decision, motivated, according to the news, by the fact of Adem Karaağaç being a Turk, in some parts of the article the impression is made as if the traffic offences were the only reason for deportation, forgetting about his stay in prison. This tendency is evident already from the title of the article: “Switzerland will deport a Turk who committed lot of traffic offences“59 or “As the traffic offences accumulated he was deported“60. This is followed by an introduction in the same way: “The tribunal in Switzerland decided to deport Adem Karaağaç on the grounds that he had committed many traffic offences.“61 The article contains also the conviction of Adem Karaağaç that the decision was race-motivated and a testimony of a Swiss woman, present in the tribunal, stating that the process was unfair, supporting the thesis of discrimination:
“I was in the tribunal from the beginning until the end. It was an unfair trial. 59 Radikal. (6/1/2014). İsviçre çok fazla trafik suçu işleyen Türk'ü sınır dışı edecek.
http://www.radikal.com.tr/dunya/isvicre_cok_fazla_trafik_sucu_isleyen_turku_sinir_disi_edecek-1169483
(12/4/2014)
60 Sözcü. (6/1/2014). Trafik suçlar birikince sınır dışı edildi. http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2014/dunya/trafik-suclari-birikince-sinirdisi-edildi-436927/ (18/5/2014)
Besides this, even before the start of trial the judges seemed to having already taken the decision to deport Adem.”62
As another example of defence of Turks against the discriminatory State institutions we can mention the article in Yeni Şafak about the police violence in Germany63. It relates the story of Erkan Baş who claims to have been assaulted by the police during a discussion in the house of his ex-girlfriend. While the case is far from being closed, the article gives significant priority to the Erkan Baş's version of the story, reserving only a short paragraph at the very end of the text for the police statement. The article does not inquire on the fact that Erkan Baş himself may have behaved violently, considering the fact that there was need to call the police, nor any other testimonies are present. The accusation of the discriminatory practices of German police is clearly expressed by Baş:
“I was victim of such a treatment because I am Turk. There is not such treatment to Germans. Fear invaded me, I do not trust the police any more. They are doing this always to Turks, to foreigners. This is racism, it has to end.”64
Both articles mentioned earlier make advocacy of Turks against the State institutions in Europe and ignore their own wrong-doings. They support the idea that Europe is always automatically behaving against Turkish residents, who can not expect an equal treatment. The official version of the story is either not present or mentioned at the very end of the article and the selection of quotations contributes to the negative image of Europe.
As another case of injustice reserved to Turks in Europe, Cumhuriyet informs about the story of a Turkish woman who married an English citizen in Istanbul and later moved to England with their two children. As they were coming back to Britain from a trip to Austria, the woman was prevented from entering the country while the officials at the border argued that the Turkish marriage certificate may be false. Starting with its headline “The cruelty of England”65 the article is full of emotional expressions that stress the inhuman character of this British attitude: “(The customs officials) took a decision that no conscience could ever accept 62 ibid
63 Yeni Şafak. (31/10/2013). Almanya'da polis şiddeti. http://www.yenisafak.com.tr/dunya/almanyada-polis-siddeti-577737 (25/2/2014)
64 Almanya'da polis şiddeti. op.cit.
65 Güven, O. (19/12/2013). İngiltere'nin gaddarlığı. Cumhuriyet.
and they sent back the mother Ruth Eva Moore.”, “The customs officials tore the children from her and left them with their father Mark, saying that they can not let her enter.” or “The mother, in a miserable condition, has been now in Istanbul for two months.”.
Moreover, this case is used in order to make a conclusion about the discriminatory European approach to Turkey: “At the time when the talks begin between the EU and Turkey about a visa-free regime, this was an example of Europe not taking seriously Turkish official documents.” The negotiations with the EU and the case of the deported mother have nothing in common but they are mentioned together in order to suggest the European hypocrisy. An individual case is once more generalised to condemn the bad treatment that Turkey receives in Europe. In addition, although the article is very detailed, there is no space for an explanation or a statement from the British side. As a result, more than a news, what we have here is an emotional and one-sided recount of events. A real heart-breaking story that should touch the readers and provoke an emotive reaction against the “European cruelty”.
In one example from Sözcü we can see that sometimes a story appears in such way that its sole aim is to make an impression of the lack of rights for Turks. We read that a Turkish citizen was denied the position of a polling clerk in German elections because as a foreigner she has not the right to vote. The final decision will be given by the Tribunal. In fact the question here is whether a foreign citizen (independently of being Turkish or not) should be employed at the elections or not. But the headline puts it as following: “No polling clerk job for a Turkish girl”66. More important than the story itself is the stress on the denial of something for Turks (as if it was especially for Turks, other foreigners not being included) and the allusion on the discriminatory treatment they receive. Sözcü by this news only strengthens the sentiment of injustice felt by Turks and the opposition between the two nations.
In Yeni Akit´s coverage, one of the most important threat for Muslims in Europe appears to be the threat of assimilation. In this context they put regularly on the agenda the story of Turkish children taken by the youth office from their families and given to (European) foster families. In the article “Europe´s Assimilation to Muslims“67we are informed that three 66 Sözcü. (27/8/2013). Türk kızına seçim sandığı görevi yok.
http://www.sozcu.com.tr/2013/dunya/turk-kizina-secim-sandigi-gorevi-yok-361921/ (24/5/2014)
http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/avrupadan-Turkish children were given to a gay family in Holland. By presenting the fact as “scandal“ the author takes an explicit position on the issue. The article contains the opinion of only one person, the director of the union of Turkish cultural associations in Europe, Erol Yazıcıoğlu, who qualifies the fact of giving Turkish children to Christian or gay families as a policy of assimilation. The word “preoccupation“ is repeated three times in the text, which has an effect of dramatisation and stresses the emergency of the situation. In a later article this emergency is stressed even more by describing the “assimilation” by foster care as the most important issue on the agenda of the Turkish community in Holland.68 As we further read the article, we learn that there was a general increase in the number of children placed into foster care, but the introducing sentence leads to an impression as if the case concerned only Turkish families, strengthening thus the feeling that Europe is acting premeditatedly against Turks: “In Holland, as well as in many other European countries, the number of Turkish children taken from their families for different reasons, has increased.“69 In the article from 6/1/201470 this situation is presented as the European strategy to compensate the loss of its own population:
While the fertility rate is falling and population getting older, the family in Europe is in decomposition. Europe, which has many preoccupations concerning the future, sees the children of immigrant families as its saviour. Only in Germany, the State took 552 000 children, most of them being Turks and Muslims.71
The paragraph above is a perfect example of a misleading information motivated by determination of vilifying Europe. First of all, following the article carefully, we find a statement saying that we actually do not know how many of the children are Turks and there is no any evidence supporting the initial suggestion that most of them are of Turkish and Muslim origin. Moreover, we learn only later, that the big number – 552 000, is the total number of children placed in foster care between 1995-2012. To put this number without precision of the time period has undoubtedly a more shocking effect. Also the information about the number of children who were returned to their biological families is missing.
muslumanlara-asimilasyon-735.html (4/2/2014)
68 Yeni Akit. (18/3/2013). Hollanda'da dram büyüyor. http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/hollandada-dram-buyuyor-1672.html (4/2/2014)
69 Hollanda'da dram büyüyor. op.cit.
70 Yeni Akit. (6/1/2014). Batı'da aile çatırdıyor. http://www.yeniakit.com.tr/haber/batida-aile-catirdiyor-9093.html (8/2/2014).
