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Erdogan muzzles the opposition newspaper. Europeans (a little) concerned. silent tusk

TuskErdoganAnkara@UE160304
Donald Tusk and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara (credit: CUE)

(B2) The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, had barely left Ankara when the Turkish authorities sent the police to the opposition newspaper Zaman. Justice has appointed a provisional administrator at the head of the newspaper to take control of it. 48 hours from the summit between the EU and Turkey, this may appear both as a manifestation of internal strength but also as a provocation against the Europeans. Knowing that Europeans are being taken by the throat by the refugee crisis, Ankara feels its wings growing.

Faced with this, the European reaction was rather measured. The call to freedom of the media is very clear, addressed to a country that is just as much a candidate for membership as a member of the European Convention on Human Rights. In fact, only the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, reacted but not in the name of the 28 (the most solemn procedure) or in her name (the normal voice), but only through her spokesperson (which normally in diplomatic terms and the lowest denominator of European reaction).

« The EU has repeatedly stressed that Turkey, as a candidate country, must respect and promote high democratic standards and practices, including media freedom. A free, diverse and independent media is one of the cornerstones of a democratic society by facilitating the free flow of information and ideas, and ensuring transparency and accountability. All countries, and in particular those negotiating EU membership, must guarantee fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, and due process, in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights ( ECHR). »

Donald Tusk was careful not to comment on the question, preferring to highlight on his thread Twitter photos showing him in the company of President Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu, even recounting a phone call with the NATO Secretary General to congratulate himself on the good NATO-Frontex cooperation.

Faced with the real threat of the migration crisis and Turkey's European needs, press freedom can wait 48 hours...

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Distributed in more than 600 copies, Zaman is close to the religious community of Fethullah Gülen, which maintained close ties with Erdogan for more than ten years, before the breakup in 000, explains Reporters Without Borders. " For more than three years, pro-Gülen media outlets have had their official licenses suspended and their journalists regularly indicted. »

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Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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