POLITICS > Turkish prime minister slams WSJ, claims jet reports biased

Hurriyet.com.tr

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed his party supporters in the Anatolian province of Kayseri. AA photo

The Wall Street Journal is engaged in biased journalism and is taking sides ahead of the coming U.S. elections, the Turkish prime minister has said after the daily contradicted Ankara’s version of the events surrounding the June 22 downing of Turkish jet by Syria.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan rejected WSJ's recent claims which said the plane was shot in Syrian airspace, citing senior U.S. defense officials as a source.

"Who are these sources?" Erdoğan asked during an event in the Central Anatolia province of Kayseri, calling on the WSJ to reveal its sources and accusing the paper of "cowardice” by concealing the origin of their stories. "They have published lies earlier as well.”

Erdoğan also criticized the local media for accepting the WSJ story as truth and rejecting the reports from Turkish authorities, such as the military and the Foreign Ministry. Erdoğan connected the WSJ's reports to the coming elections in the United States, saying the stories stemmed from the anti-Barack Obama attitude in the country.

An unarmed Turkish military jet was shot down June 22 by Syria. Turkey claims the plane was shot in international airspace with a heat- or laser-guided missile, but Syria rejects the claims, saying the Turkish jet was shot by anti-aircraft gunners as it flew at an altitude of 100 meters within Syrian airspace.

July/01/2012

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TheAnatolian

7/2/2012 1:53:40 PM

@ Blue Dotterel: The problem with people like you is that their partisan emotions block their judgements. This is not about what Erdogan says, the is about what the prime minister of the Republic of Turkey says. Turkey is not a banana republic that is in the habit of blatantly lying to the international community. Turkey is a democratic country and is more credible before my eyes than a bloodthirsty tyrant. You choose your sources, I choose mine.

Rimon Tree

7/1/2012 11:02:28 PM

Naturally! Everyone who does not comply with His Holiness, is mistaken or biased or lies or is a rogue! We had this already at the Mavi Marmara incident. Havin sent a ship full of provocatuers from a organisation everyone else considers as terrorists, he refused to acknowledge the Palmer report. But as I have said already on a different place: Leaders lie, soldiers die, what a senseless sacrifice of Turkish lives!

Selim Bisevac

7/1/2012 10:33:51 PM

American media , that is very funny . Israeli Zionist control the WSJ and all media in the USA. It is Israeli controlled and you would better to just believe the opposite of what is reported. America you are owned and controlled by the Zionists. Wake up and smell the roses.

Morse Fan

7/1/2012 10:06:58 PM

Maybe the PM does not understand: most Americans informed on the issue think Turkey is justified to go to war in Syria. We do not care where Turkey's plane was shot down. It IS useful to know, because it tells us about Syria, but we expect Turkey to tell the story most favorably to it if the truth is not known. We also know more info comes in, and assessments change. Most of us think you shouldn't do more than now, but your interests are not for us to assess.

Blue Dotterel

7/1/2012 9:29:52 PM

I do not see why anyone believes what Erdogan says. How do you know that the details are true when both Syria and the WSJ, as well initial statements by the gov't and eyewitnesses contradict the gov't's later statements. Erdogan ought to have a credibility problem, especially after he backtracked on the Mavi Marmara.

american american

7/1/2012 7:54:41 PM

probably the same sources you get your ergenekon and balyoz info from

TheAnatolian

7/1/2012 6:02:58 PM

I don't see why people should believe to the simple statements uttered by some dubious "US officials" quoted on a short newspaper article instead of the Turkish authorities who have not held back any detail of this incident.

sam stevens

7/1/2012 4:50:01 PM

Of course he does, Erdogan only likes complimentary reports. Why has he not told the Turks about their planes which were scrambled on the Turkish/Syrian border yesterday ? We in the 'West' are getting the reports,but nothing here in the Hurriyet. Why ?

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