Did you know that CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour would be arrested if she set foot on Turkish soil? For the first time in Turkey, a newspaper editor has made an official complaint about a foreign media correspondent. The editor’s complaint states, “Ms. Amanpour has abused the powers of CNN while reporting about the Gezi protests. She caused loss of life and property by disseminating false news and provoking people.” As the Gezi protests and their aftershocks stretch to fill a month's time, we must ask: What is the Turkish government’s biggest loss?
After days of on-location observing, I have come to the conclusion that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s biggest loss is the erosion of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s intellectual support base. This loss curtails Erdogan’s ability to control Turkish public opinion significantly because the average Turk has lost his trust of the mainstream media, and the internal rifts within pro-AKP media establishment are taking their toll. Let’s start with the second piece of the puzzle.
