Press Council Deems "Punch" Article in the Limits of Press Freedom

The Press Council High Commission deemed the controversial column written by Yılmaz Özdil after the attack on Ahmet Türk, former co-chair of the closed pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), to remain within the limits of "press freedom". Hürriyet newspaper journalist Özdil had approved the punch that had broken Türk's nose in Samsun in April this year.

Star newspaper writer Ahmet Kekeç and lawyer Tugay Bek had complained about Özdil and the nationwide Hürriyet daily to the Press Council. On 15 June, the Press Council announced their decision regarding the article on subject entitled "Punch" published on 14 April, two days after the attack.

The council reached the conclusion that Özdil's column did not violate article 13 of the Professional Press Principles, saying that the publication "did not encourage violence and tyranny and did not offend values of humanity".

Council considers column as "press freedom"

In the section on "Results and Evaluation", the council indicated, "Özdil commented on concrete incidents. In his writing he conveyed his idea of criticism of the government's policies".

The council referred to the following passage of the column: "The punch was put in the place of the 'hammer of justice'. The person who punched Ahmet Türk on his nose became the interpreter of the feelings of many people in this country. [...] Because the nonsense of the 'opening' process that legitimated terrorism is not a one-sided issue. On the other hand it initiated the creation of 'bandid heroes'".

The council assessed the passage as follows, "Taking the column into consideration as a whole, it is understood that this paragraph was not aimed at exalting violence. It has to be evaluated within the borders of freedom of communication (press). Thus, article 13 of the Professional Press Principles was not violated".

The council unanimously decided to dismiss the complaint against Özdil and the Hürriyet newspaper as "unreasonable".

The Press Council

The Press Council consists of the following members: Kenan Akın, publication director of the Bab-ı Ali magazine; Orhan Birgit, Cumhuriyet newspaper writer and former Minister of Tourism and Publicity; Prof. Dr Atilla Girgin, faculty member of Marmara University; Doğan Heper, Milliyet newspaper writer; Mehmet Emin Güzbey, president of the Afyon Journalists Association; Prof. Dr Haluk Şahin, Radikal newspaper journalist and faculty member of Bilgi Universtiy and İhsan Tunçoğlu, president of the Kütahya Journalists Association.

The readers are represented by Dr Tamer Atabur, Director of the Yaşamboyu Education Center at Bosporus University; Nevzat Ayaz, former governor of Istanbul and former Minister of Defence and of Education; business men Ayhan Bermek and Nihat Boytüzün; Sibel Elekdağ, POAŞ Performance Planning Manager; business man Dr Oktay Duran, UEFA vice-president Şenez Erzik, Gencay Gürün, former MP and arts director; Prof. Dr Nüket Güz, faculty member of Culture University and Turgut Kazan, former head of the Istanbul Bar Association.

The council is furthermore joined by İsmail Kaplan, board member of İhlas Journalism; Metin Yıkar, Smanyolu TV general co-ordinator; H. Fehmi Ketenci, representative of the Magazine Journalists Association; Mehmet Sosyal, TGRT Haber TV general publication director, İbrahim Şahin, TRT General Manager; Kemal Şentürk, former Istanbul Governor and former MP; Tufan Türenç, Hürriyet newspaper editor-in-chief; Ahmet Yeşiltepe, Yeni Medya publication director; Prof. Dr Süheyl Batum, professor of Constitutional law and CHP deputy; Dr Hilmi Bengi, general manager of Anadolu Agency; Rüştü Bozkurt, Secretary General of the Newspaper Owners Associtiaon and Dursun Güleryüz, Power FM general manager: (SP/EÖ/VK)