Turkish President Erdoğan blasts foreign media outlets at TRT World opening
ISTANBUL
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again slammed foreign media outlets over what he described as “unprincipled behavior,” in a speech delivered at the opening of TRT World, a new Turkish state-run TV channel broadcasting in English.“We have experienced a lot of tragic events over the last three years. We know very well how some media outlets were biased during the Gezi Park protests [in Turkey in 2013]. Foreign media outlets glorified dishonest behavior and vandals looting in Istanbul and Ankara, attacking our police and murdering our district governor in Derik,” Erdoğan said.
TRT World will aim to counter this injustice and let Turkey shape its own destiny, he claimed.
“[Foreign media] made the people who occupied the streets look like smart guys. They did not broadcast the event objectively. They also disappeared while democracy was being slaughtered in Egypt. So nobody has the right to wag their finger,” Erdoğan added.
He also denounced foreign media outlets for sympathizing with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Fetulllahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.
“Some columnists saw the coup as the last chance for Turkey. Sympathy for the PKK and FETÖ has also increased. We saw some so-called journalists describing the people who sacrificed their lives while trying to protect their future and independence as ‘sheep.’ If the coup had been successful, foreign media outlets would have sacrificed their pen to legitimize the coup. They did that before,” Erdoğan stated.
TRT World will aim to counter this injustice and let Turkey shape its own destiny, he claimed.
“[Foreign media] made the people who occupied the streets look like smart guys. They did not broadcast the event objectively. They also disappeared while democracy was being slaughtered in Egypt. So nobody has the right to wag their finger,” Erdoğan added.
He also denounced foreign media outlets for sympathizing with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Fetulllahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen.
“Some columnists saw the coup as the last chance for Turkey. Sympathy for the PKK and FETÖ has also increased. We saw some so-called journalists describing the people who sacrificed their lives while trying to protect their future and independence as ‘sheep.’ If the coup had been successful, foreign media outlets would have sacrificed their pen to legitimize the coup. They did that before,” Erdoğan stated.
