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The Washington Post's awful coverage of autocratic, anti-Western and belligerent Turkey [1]
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Date: 2022-07-12
There are shocking omissions in the supposedly liberal (?) Washington Post's coverage of Turkey. “Liberal” in the question mark because genuine liberals don't cherry-pick.
Real liberals defend democracy, justice, and the rule of law everywhere and respect different opinions and perspectives. They don't justify aggressors and human rights violators nor conceal their transgressions, as the Washington Post does regarding Turkey.
Liberals don't remain silent or neutral in the face of injustice or wrongdoing. To quote Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you've chosen the side of the oppressors.”
One of The Washington Post's most recent articles by Josh Rogin (June 30) argues that if the United States sucks up to Turkey, the latter could help Ukraine “win the war.” Groveling to Turkey is preposterous and demeaning for a superpower, and it will not achieve any results because Ankara does not want Russia to be defeated or weekend. A bleeding Russia would diminish Turkey's strategic importance to the West and undermine Turkish trade and economic interests, and it doesn't serve Ankara's interests. Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was fervently critical of “some” NATO countries for seeking to prolong the conflict to weaken Russia.
It would be hard to believe that Turkey, which bought S-400s from Russia, evades Western sanctions, calls Moscow a “friend,” and seeks to remain independent from the West will help to defeat Russia.
Cynics may even argue that Mr. Rogin’s article may be a ploy by The Washington Post and the State Department to persuade members of Congress to approve the sale of F-16 air fighters to Turkey. President Biden backed the deal after Turkey lifted its objections and allowed the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO. But many lawmakers, led by Bob Menendez, the influential Chair of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, and Carol Maloney, Gus Bilirakis, and Frank Pallone, Jr. in the House, oppose it. They are unwilling to ignore Turkey's human rights violations, hostility towards its neighbors, and blackmail. Many lawmakers are also troubled because Turkey continues to possess its Russian-built S-400 missile system despite American objections. They prepare for a fight. Congressman Pallone’s letter to President Biden is self-explanatory.
Others may claim that our military industries are also behind Mr. Rogin’s scheme. The Washington Post's independence and self-proclaimed role as a champion of free press, speech, and democracy are at stake here.
Even from a realpolitik perspective, it makes little sense. Suppose we bow to and hand over to Erdoğan F16s, as Mr. Rogin suggested. In this case, we will give the Turkish autocrat a significant victory that he will take home to help win the elections and prolong his grab on power and despotic and anti-Western rule.
Inflating Turkey's strategic value and ignoring its aggression and human rights violations has been a trademark of our foreign policy elite for decades. A meticulous observer of Turkey's foreign policy, however, would agree that appeasing and pampering the Turks do not work and only make them more arrogant and aggressive.
The Turks will not use these air fighters to defend themselves as American laws require or fight Russia but to harass Greece, a staunch NATO ally, and maintain their occupation of north Cyprus, an EU member state. They will kill Kurds, Armenians, and Greeks as they did in the past and drop bombs on innocent Yazidi children and women. However, these issues did not concern Mr. Rogin.
The Washington Post's mournful analysis of the declining status of democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong and other parts of the world while remaining silent or supporting anti-democratic and belligerent Turkey undermines its credibility.
The Washington Post and our government must clean the skeletons from their closets first if they want others to believe they are serious about democracy and the rule of law.
In May, The Washington Post published an article on Turkish women “wearing headscarves.” There is no point in publishing an article about headscarves when the Turkish regime is trampling on women's rights, and Turks are murdering Turkish women in epidemic proportions.
Dying to Divorce (2021) , a British documentary film directed by Chloe Fairweather portrays the brutal treatment of women in Turkey. President Erdoğan tells his audiences, “You cannot put women and men on an equal footing,” and “that’s against nature.”
If The Washington Post was genuinely liberal, independent and a vanguard of democracy and the rule of law as it professes to be, it would have been at the forefront of the fight against arming the Turkish regime.
Erdoğan has been shredding Turkey’s democratic norms, laws, and institutions. In addition, he imprisons and mistreats his political opponents and journalists. As a result, Turkey is among the worst jailers of journalists in the world. Additionally, the Turkish ruler has significantly curtailed the rights of women. Recently, Ankara withdrew from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty combating violence against women. Under the AKP, the number of women murdered by men rose rapidly. Turkish femicide rates are among the worst. The regime has also been notoriously brutal toward LGBTQ communities.
Even worse is the way the Turks treat their ethnic and religious minorities. There have been killings, abuse, and discrimination against Kurds, Alevis, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews.
Sadly, other sources, including many conservative publications and websites, are much more accurate in depicting Turkey. Following are links to some of their articles:
Erdoğan Must Be Opposed, not Appeased
Letter: NATO should be ready to suspend Turkey's membership | Financial Times
Does Erdoğan’s Turkey Belong in NATO?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/does-erdogans-turkey-belong-in-nato-sweden-finland-join-veto-weapons-peace-broker-11652882743?mc_cid=7cf18a6d3f&mc_eid=d8b6dbb6f7
Upgrading Turkey's F-16s is strategic malpractice | Washington Examiner
Why Turkey Won't Abandon Russia | The National Interest
Does Free Speech Exist in Turkey?
Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey
Murder in Turkey sparks outrage over rising violence against women | Turkey | The Guardian
Turkey Is Now the Most Dangerous Player in the Middle East
Turkey's Jihad against Cyprus
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