Cablegate: Government Vs. Dogan Grudge Match Chills Turkish Journalism

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SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO IIP AND EUR/PPD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2019
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KPAO TU
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT VS. DOGAN GRUDGE MATCH CHILLS TURKISH JOURNALISM

REF: ANKARA 1327

Classified By: Charge Douglas A. Silliman for E.O. 12958 Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).

1. (U) This cable is a joint Embassy Ankara/Consulate General
Istanbul product.

2. (C) SUMMARY: Despite international signals about the
press freedom implications of record tax fines levied against
the Dogan Media Group, the GOT has upped the ante in its
battle with the beleaguered media giant by demanding USD 3.2
million in collateral against the penalty, apparently
pressuring a reshuffle of top editors at Dogan's flagship
newspapers, and preparing a rumored additional USD nine
billion in fines against four of Dogan's non-media holding
companies. The latest round in the grudge match between PM
Erdogan and media mogul Aydin Dogan is having a chilling
effect on Turkish journalists. END SUMMARY

3. (SBU) The latest GOT moves against the Dogan Media Group
(DMG), Turkey's largest non-governmental media conglomerate
with 40 percent of the media market, have sent chills across
Turkey's media industry. On September 28, Turkish newspapers
were awash in stories about a reshuffling of top editors at
tax-beleaguered DMG's flagship "Hurriyet" and "Milliyet"
newspapers. Sources have confirmed that media mogul Aydin
Dogan will transfer staunch AKP opponent Sedat Ergin from the
chief editor slot at "Milliyet" over to "Hurriyet" as a chief
columnist, and move other anti-AKP editors to less prominent
positions or media outlets

4. (SBU) On September 25th, Turkey's tax authorities ordered
DMG to pay a record $3.2 billion as collateral against an
already record fine for back taxes of $2.4 billion. The new
demand, which the company has said it will challenge in
court, calls for DMG to provide the requested collateral
within 15 days. The same day, DMG formally waived mediation
with the government offered by the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

5. (C) Reacting to these sudden developments, several media
leaders told us the latest onslaught was a challenge to the
entire media industry. "It's definitely a warning," said NTV
General Manager Omer Ozguner (protect), noting that leading
NTV channels are recommitting to their policy of "keeping a
distance from the government." Respected "Hurriyet"
columnist Sami Cohen agreed, seeing no hope in compromise.
Cohen, who had vacationed with Dogan over the recent Ramadan
Bayram Holiday, said the media mogul told him that "if a thaw
was possible, it would have already happened." In sharp
contrast to his colleagues, "Sabah" political columnist
Cengiz Candar said it would be a mistake to view the
government's pursuit of Dogan as an attack against freedom of
the press in Turkey. It's an attack against Dogan alone,
Candar said, though it may ruin his media empire.

INDUSTRY INSIDERS PREDICT MORE FINES ON THE WAY

6. (C) While the escalation in punitive measures sent shivers
across the industry, several pro-government media insiders
predicted further actions were on the way that would seal
Dogan's fate. Government-leaning Star Newspaper/Channel 24
Chief Editor Mustafa Karaalioglu was adamant that the initial
fines were the result of an ambitious tax official who
wrongly interpreted the PM's election campaign condemnations
against "Hurriyet" as a way to curry favor with the AKP
government. Karaalioglu, a longtime AKP confident who helped
launch the Islamist-oriented "Yeni Safak" newspaper, talked
openly about his concern that the moves are damaging press
freedoms in Turkey but predicted that up to USD nine billion
in additional fines would be levied against four of Dogan's
non-media holding companies. His words echoed true when the
GOT tax authorities later in the day proceeded with an
additional USD 39 million demand in back taxes and fines from
two DMG companies involved in foreign trade.

7. (C) Meanwhile, "HaberTurk" TV and Newspaper executives
told us September 24 that the Dogan Group and its stable of
newspapers would not be missed. "No one will cry for Aydin
Dogan in Turkey," said Editor in Chief Fatih Altayli, a
former 17-year veteran with "Hurriyet." "There's a
discrepancy in Dogan's public and private face," he noted,
and wondered how the company pulled off a "rags to riches"
ascent from "nothing" to USD 8 billion in just 10 years. "The
Dogan Group steals," he commented, but worried that "if the
government can do this to Dogan, it can happen to anyone. No
one is free in Turkey, no one is clear. They can seize your
paper and do anything."

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8. (C) Akif Beki, the PM's former spokesman who oddly now
holds jobs as a columnist at DMG's liberal "Radikal"
newspaper (a recent appointment) as well as a new appointment
as Channel 24's Executive Editor, adamantly maintained that
the PM was not involved in any way and that rumors
circulating of a GOT-directed "hit list" against DMG's top
journalists were false. Such activities, he said "are just
not the PM's style and not the way things are done in
Turkey."

JOURNALISTS' MORALE WAIVERS

9. (C) Some young Dogan Media Group journalists are using
blogs, Facebook entries and other new media devices to bump
up morale and speculate on the future. Several young
e-journalists told us that Dogan will most likely sell off
Turkey's historic -- but profit-starved -- "Milliyet"
newspaper, soften editorial lines, and make more personnel
changes. "Hurriyet On Line" editor Zeynep Gurcanli said an
alleged government "hit list" was the most discussed
development in new media and blogs in Turkey. She described
those on it as "dinosaurs," and accused the AKP of keeping
tally of the number of negative statements these columnists
had made against the government. Hilal Koylu, a popular
blogger and "Radikal" diplomatic correspondent, predicted
that the ill-matched Beki is "here to stay" as a columnist at
"Radikal," saying that she is convinced Beki specifically
chose his job as a columnist at "Radikal" in order to "keep
an eye on people for his friends in the government."

10. (C) Liberal Milliyet columnist Kadri Gursel told us that
there was an urgent need for continued international pressure
to help stem the anti-press freedom tide. "These murderous
policies say much about the government's orientation. If
they are allowed to proceed without a signal, it will be a
shame." Gursel argued that without continued pressure,
Turkey's democracy will shift radically and newspapers will
pursue self-censorship as a way to survive. Noting that all
media groups are owned by "charging capitalists," he
nevertheless stressed that Dogan Media "still represents the
only independent voice with power in the country."

COMMENT

11. (C) The government's actions against the Dogan Media
Group, which is Prime Minister Erdogan's leading Turkish
media critic, look increasingly like a concerted campaign to
de-fang the most powerful anti-AKP press outlets and has
already engendered concerns about media freedom among EU
officials. Noting the NTV leadership's pledge to remain at a
distance from the AKP and Erdogan government, we fear that
the sheer size of the potential fines and collateral could
ruin the Dogan Group and convince other media outlets to
exercise greater self-censorship in criticizing the
government.

SILLIMAN

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