When the son-in-law of the President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan, Berat Albayrakabruptly resigned as finance minister at the end of 2020, the directive to journalists from their managers was not to report the news until the government said so.

International media and independent Turkish media reported the news, the Turkish lira rose in hopes of a change in economic policy, but for 24 hours the Turkish pro-government media, which dominates the country’s landscape, remained silent about the most dramatic break in Erdogan’s twenty-year rule.

This episode shows how strict he has become Turkish media control. Reuters interviews with dozens of Turkish media sources describe a system of state pressure and self-censorship.

The “line” is often dictated by the Directorate of Information, a government arm created by Erdogan that employs 1,500 people.

Compliance with the directives is ensured by the fact that the largest media groups are controlled by Erdogan’s political friends and the AKP.

State advertising

State advertising is distributed mainly in pro-government media, while government-appointed regulators impose fines almost exclusively on independent and opposition media.

“The role of the mainstream media in Turkey is to cover up rather than report the news,” he said. Faruk Bildirichiwho was a journalist and newspaper ethics commissioner Hurriet for 27 years, until 2019. In 2018, the country’s largest newspaper, Hurriyet, changed ownership and also became pro-government.

“The ruling party gives instructions and sets the agenda. He mainly communicates with newspaper executives, government editors and program directors of TV stations,” he added.

If he is going to win re-election and enter office in his 30s, Erdogan will need maximum help from the media.

The “line” is dictated by the Office of Information, a government arm that employs 1,500 people.

Fines and retribution

In May, the Turkish government introduced a bill against “disinformation” in general and is vague.

Anyone who spreads false information about security or public order faces three years in prison. The bill will be discussed in the Turkish National Assembly in October.

Even without this law, opposition newspapers Evrensel, Sozcu, Korkusuz, Cumhuriyet as well as Birgun are the only recipients of government fines for depriving advertising.

The newspapers appealed to the courts, and on August 10, the Turkish Constitutional Court granted their appeals.

In February 2020, Erdogan faced another crisis and media managers received another directive from the Information Directorate.

More than 30 Turkish soldiers have died in airstrikes in Russian-controlled northwest Syria.

It was the deadliest attack on the Turkish armed forces in three decades.

And yet, the next morning on TV, the first thing was something related to the dispute between Turkey and the European Union over Syrian refugees. Journalistic coverage of the attack was limited to relaying government statements.

When the author Orhan Pamuk was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Turkey’s first Nobel Prize, Turkish newspapers had to wait for official congratulations from President Erdogan to report it.

Municipal elections

The municipal elections in March 2019, the Erdogan administration’s biggest defeat, could be a benchmark for the future.

The night after the announcement of the results, Anadolu Agency’s broadcast was abruptly cut off at the integration level of 98.8%, as it became clear that the opposition candidate Ekrem Imamoglu it was one step away from winning the Istanbul municipality.

The agency, the sole broadcaster of the election results, did not explain why the broadcast had stopped, but Tayyip Erdogan disputed Imamoglu’s victory. He called a new election, in which Imamoglu again won.