On Sunday March 10th, 2019, two German journalists left Ankara, Turkey’s capital, after not receiving accreditation for their work. The journalists, Jörg Brase and Thomas Seibert had their request for press cards denied and then were forced to leave Turkey within ten days of their rejection. This rejection for press cards marks one of the rare instances where Turkey seeks to directly censor foreign journalists in Turkey. While censorship in Turkey of Turkish journalists is rampant, this expulsion illustrates one of the first attacks on international media (time magazine citation). The expulsion of these two journalists could be the start of a trend to eliminate the threat of international media systems, especially given the revolutionary power and history of Tagesspiegel, the German newspaper.
Tagesspiegel newspaper has international power and strong ties to the United States making it currently a highly powerful publication as well as a publication rooted in Germany’s own radial history. The publication’s headquarters are in Berlin. It is the third most subscribed-to paper, and it “describes itself as the capital’s most quoted newspaper.” It has correspondent offices located in Washington D.C., connecting the publication heavily with the United States. For these international connections, I speculate that this is why these two journalists were targeted as some of the first international journalists in Turkey.
The expulsion of these journalists has already sparked a travel advisory by the German foreign ministry stating that: “there was a risk that the Turkish government could ‘take further measures against representatives of the German media or civil society institutions.’” Always a risk for Turkish journalists, this expulsion further threatens the media climate in an already censored country. The reactionary travel advisory, while functioning to protect German journalists, can act as fuel to the Turkish government as they see their actions to censor international media are working in their favor to further isolate and insulate Turkish media.
Media and Politics in Turkey 