The Yeni Şafak newspaper on Tuesday said Turkey is being besieged by the global media, referring to a series of digital news platforms in Turkish launched or sponsored by foreign media groups.
Known for its staunchly pro-government stance, the daily claimed that these initiatives with Turkish content have arrived in addition to the “political, military and economic onslaughts Turkey is faced with.”
According to the report global media giants have stepped up their activities in Turkey in a way that is reminiscent of the period prior to the “colour revolution” that took place in former Soviet republics.
They chose digital platforms and social media over traditional means in an attempt to avoid scrutiny, the report said.
Deutsche Welle’s Turkish service was accused of being “devoted to publishing [content] against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.”
The BBC’s Turkish service was highlighted for its publications in favor of the heavily prosecuted Kurdish political parties in Turkey and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria, which the Turkish government views as a terrorist group.
Russia’s Sputnik was described as the “most inscrutable” among the foreign media outlets, pursuing an “anti-Turkey” editorial policy in spite of the growing relations between Turkey and Russia.
Voice of America and Fox TV were listed in the report as news outlets that are funded by the United States. They, as well as Euronews, were accused of spreading propaganda on behalf of opposition parties and terrorist groups.
A YouTube channel named “+90” that was created to create content in Turkish with the cooperation of BBC, Deutsche Welle, Voice of America and France24, was mentioned as an unprecedented coalition targeting Turkey.
The report also slammed a group of news platforms funded by Gulf countries, most notably the UAE-funded Ahval news website and the newly established Independent Turkish, which was launched on the basis of an agreement between The Independent daily of the UK and the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), owned by the Saudi government.