Turning a blind eye: Hürriyet daily ignores Zarrab's testimony against Erdoğan

The website of Hürriyet daily did not include Zarrab’s testimony that "Erdoğan had given orders for them to start the trades, the banks"
Monday, 04 December 2017 01:38

While Turkey is completely focused on Iranian-Turkish gold trader Reza Zarrab’s trial carried out in the U.S., Turkish media outlets have chosen to ignore his testimony. Doğan media group, which owns Hürriyet, Posta newspapers, Kanal D TV, partially CNN Türk TV, Doğan news agency and many others, censored Zarrab’s testimony.

Honorary president of Doğan media group, Aydın Doğan, had a meeting with his chief editors. According to the news from OdaTV, the meeting took place in Kanal D building with the participation of the executive editors of TV channels and newspapers.

Zarrab has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with U.S. prosecutors in the criminal trial of a Turkish bank executive accused of conspiring to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran. He told jurors on Thursday in a federal court in New York that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally authorized a transaction on behalf of Iran.

The Hürriyet newspaper, the so called 'flagship' of the Turkish media, failed to publish a real report about the trial. The website of Hürriyet did not include Zarrab's testimony that "Erdoğan had given orders for them to start the trades, the banks." Allegations of wrongdoing by Turkish AKP government political and financial members have transfixed Turkey, but with some newspapers, including Hürriyet, focusing instead on courtroom conspiracies and clothes, many readers have been left hungry for news.

Another censorship came from CNNTürk. CNNTürk interrupted the live broadcast while Republican’s People Party’s (CHP) spokesperson Bülent Tezcan was speaking about documents revealed by CHP’s leader Kılıçdaroğlu about Erdoğan family’s offshore accounts.