The Turkish army, the government, and the Turkish media expressed anger over the insult.
For the World Press Freedom Day, on the May 3, RSF set up a display on the floor of the Paris St. Lazarre railway station. The display showed a 200 meter square world map, superimposed with pictures of political and military leaders of 38 countries accused by the group for blocking press freedom.
On the map, were the pictures of political and military leaders of Angola, Saudi Arabia, the security forces of the Phalestinian Administration, Belarus, Myanmar, Burkina Faso, China, Colombia, North Korea, Cuba, Eritrea, ETA (Spain), Ethiopia, Equator Guinea, Haiti, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Kalmuki, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Uzbekistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Syria, Chechenya, Togo, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe, whom the Reporters Without Borders portray as "the predators of press freedom."
RSF displayed the picture of General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Turkey's military chief, on the map of Turkey.
According to the reports in the Turkish media, here are the reactions against this act.
Ntvmsnbc: Garcia met by Ziyal
Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned French Ambassador Bernard Garcia. According to the Turkish news portal, Ntvmsnbc, Garcia, was met by the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and told of Ankara's anger over RSF's attitude against General Huseyin Kivrikoglu.
After a half-hour meeting with Ziyal, Garcia left the Foreign Ministry without answering journalists' questions.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Dirioz, speaking at a regular weekly press briefing Wednesday, answered questions about the issue. Dirioz stated that the Foreign Ministry was working in cooperation with the General Staff all the way from the beginning, placing necessary importance on the issue, and taking the necessary steps.
turk.net: Turkey's General Staff warned the French military to take action
Turkey's General Staff asked the French military to take the "necessary steps" concerning RSF's actions. The General Staff warned the French military attache in Ankara "Turkey will review its military ties with France, if the French military did not take action soon."
RSF set up a display on the floor of a Paris railway station showing a world map with countries that blocked press freedom. The RSF included a picture of Huseyin Kivrikoglu, the commander of Turkey's armed forces, along with the pictures of some dictators. Turkey expressed anger over the insult to the commander.
The Turkish Armed Forces have met a French lawyer after the incident and talked about what could be done legally, according to the French legislation. The General Staff will approach the incident judicially after the talks with the French lawyer are over.
The Turkish military attaché in Paris paid a visit to the French General Staff and expressed Turkey's strong disapproval over the incident. The Turkish military attaché stated that he strongly believes that the French General Staff will be sensitive over this issue.
Turkey's General Staff summoned the French military attaché in Ankara and warned him "Turkey will review its military ties with France, if the French military did not take action soon."
The Turkish Armed Forces are also said to have met with authorities from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and talked about what could be done about the incident.
French Ambassador was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry
Bernard Garcia, the French ambassador to Ankara, was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry Wednesday. Ugur Ziyal, the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary expressed to Garcia Turkey's disapproval and anger over the insult to Huseyin Kivrikoglu by the RSF.
Huseyin Dirioz, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that the Foreign Ministry was working in cooperation with the General Staff, taking the necessary steps, and placing the necessary importance to the incident.
Dirioz, stated that the attempts in Paris and in Ankara to express Turkey's disapproval and anger over the incident were continuing.
Prime Ministry Press Center expressed disapproval to France
The Prime Ministry Press Center stated that Turkey protested the fact that Huseyin Kivrikoglu's picture was placed among the pictures of political and military leaders accused of blocking press freedom, along with some dictators.
The Prime Ministry Press Center said that the French Authorities were expected to take all the necessary steps to remove General Kivrikoglu's picture from the map superimposed with pictures of "predators of press freedom."
The Prime Ministry Press Center said in a written statement, that Reporters Without Borders, the non-governmental organization based in Paris, falsely accused Turkey for limiting the freedom of the press, in its 2002 report released on the World Press Freedom Day.
In the same statement, the Prime Ministry Press Center reminded that General Kivrikoglu's picture was included on the floor of the Paris Lazere railway station, on a map of countries that allegedly limit the freedom of press.Action is being taken
The statement that explained that the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Armed Forces were taking action against the attitude of the RSF both in Ankara and in Paris, read:
"This wrongful and disrespectful act is being protested. It has been stated that we expect the French Authorities to take all the necessary steps to remove General Kivrikoglu's picture from the map and that we are watching closely the developments over the incident.
France is expected to take the necessary steps immediately to stop the deeply-rooted relations between Turkey and France form being affected by these inappropriate and baseless claims."
Mesut Yilmaz: "I am not taking this incident as seriously as the General Staff did."
According to a report on Ntvmsnbc, Yilmaz said, "Europe is a continent of freedom of expression. Some non-governmental organizations may do stupid things. I don't take these acts very seriously."
Deputy Prime Minister answered journalists' questions after his visit to the TOBB board of directors. The journalists asked Yilmaz about his thoughts about the RSF's insult to General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, and the Turkish Armed Forces' reaction to this.
Stating the Europe is a continent of freedom of expression, Yilmaz said, "Some non-governmental organizations may do stupid things. I do not take this as seriously as the General Staff did."
Yilmaz was reminded of the sentence, "There are people who are trying to halt the efforts towards joining the European Union." The ANAP head said, "We are running out of time. We have to do the necessary things. If the legal regulations are not completed by the end of June or by the time the Turkish National Assembly goes on holiday, the things we do afterwards will not benefit us the way we would want them to."
Sezer : "We condemn them with hatred"
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, said he condemned with hatred the incident where General Kivrikoglu was portrayed as a "dictator" in France.
President Sezer made these explanations about General Kivrikoglu being portrayed as a "dictator" in France:
* We are condemning with hatred the RSF's insult to our commander. Action have been taken in both the Turkish Embassy in Paris and the French Embassy in Ankara over this issue. The French Ambassador has been warned to take necessary steps to end this act and punish the ones responsible.
* I am condemning this act. The other 37 countries Turkey was displayed among, are not in the same position with Turkey. Turkey is a democratic country. The laws are formed by the parliament. It is not right to try to make it seem like a person is responsible for some limitations on the freedom of the press. I believe that this organization does not really know anything about Turkey. (EA/NM)
