Erdogan threatens to punish media over ‘harmful content’

Erdogan threatens to punish media over ‘harmful content’

ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Turkish media with legal action over content “incompatible with national and moral values,” in a move seen by critics as an attempt to stifle the dissent. He also sacked his justice minister and the head of the state of the statistics agency after it published official data showing last year’s inflation rate hit a 19-year high. The Turkish leader said in a decree that “it has become requisite to take necessary measures to protect (families, children and the youth) against harmful media content.”

He urged authorities to take “legal action” against the “destructive effects” of some media content-without revealing what that would entail. Critics said it was another bid to crack down on freedom of speech in the run-up to elections next year. Faruk Bildirici, veteran journalist and media ombudsman, on Twitter accused Erdogan of declaring a “state of emergency against the media”. Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey of undermining media freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets, especially since Erdogan survived a failed coup attempt in July 2016.

Inflation anger

In an earlier decree yesterday, Erdogan sacked state statistics agency chief Sait Erdal Dincer. It was just the latest in a series