CNN Türk has faced backlash following its coverage of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen’s funeral in Pennsylvania on Thursday, with many condemning the station for crossing journalistic and ethical lines with its use of dehumanizing language.
Gülen, who died of health complications on Sunday at the age of 83, was a Turkish Islamic scholar who inspired the worldwide Gülen movement, which is celebrated for its educational and charitable initiatives.
The Gülen movement is accused by the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of masterminding a failed coup on July 15, 2016 and is labeled a “terrorist organization,” although the movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the movement since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following the abortive putsch in 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding.
Turkish media coverage about Gülen and the movement often reflects the official stance of the Turkish government, which portrays them as traitors and terrorists.
The pro-gov’t CNN Türk, a local affiliate of CNN Int’l, is violating journalistic and ethical standards in its coverage of the funeral of Fethullah Gülen. In its reporting the station employs derogatory language, referring to Gülen’s body in a callous manner as a “carcass.” pic.twitter.com/ifma0rmY4n
— Fatma Zibak (@joyful_hopeful) October 24, 2024
Following his funeral service in Sussex County, New Jersey, where thousands of supporters gathered to pay their last respects, CNN Türk broadcast derogatory descriptions of the event and mourners on its program. The program described the funeral service, attended by more than 20,000 people, as a “carcass ritual” and referred to the crowd as vultures descending on his body, drawing sharp reactions from viewers.
The coverage has sparked protests on social media, where users, including Turkish journalists, academics and human rights advocates, voiced outrage over the insensitivity of CNN Türk’s language.
Professor Mehmet Efe Çaman, one of the thousands of academics who were fired from their jobs in Turkey by government decrees in the aftermath of the abortive putsch, said on X that CNN Türk’s language was “not only biased and propagandist but also pathologically insensitive.”
Lawyer Osman Zerey also condemned the coverage, saying it demonstrated “hostility toward religious people” and criticized the station for disregarding “the sacredness of funeral rites in Islam.”
Others called on CNN International to hold its Turkish affiliate accountable, arguing that the content violated journalistic ethics.
A chorus of voices from critical media in exile and online commentators pointed out that CNN Türk’s framing of the funeral appeared to even go beyond the government’s longstanding narrative on Gülen.
Gülen, who had lived in self-imposed exile in the US since 1999, consistently denied any involvement in the coup or in terrorist activities, but the movement he inspired has faced a sweeping crackdown, with tens of thousands of his real or perceived followers dismissed from jobs, detained or prosecuted.
Critics also pointed out that CNN Türk’s coverage appeared to target not only Gülen but also the broader Turkish society’s religious sentiments.
Calls are mounting for CNN’s parent company in the United States to address the actions of its Turkish affiliate. Social media users have reached out to CNN International, asking it to either revoke the Turkish franchise’s license or issue a formal rebuke. So far, CNN International has not responded publicly to the incident.
CNN Türk is known for its pro-government stance and has drawn criticism for its coverage in recent years.
Other Turkish outlets have also faced criticism for their inflammatory coverage of Gülen’s funeral. Even opposition broadcaster Halk TV toed the line of the Turkish government to cover Gülen’s funeral with a barrage of slurs and insults against the deceased scholar.
Prominent Greek journalists Dimitris Ikonomou and Akis Pavlopoulos, speaking on Skai TV, criticized Halk TV’s language, which they described as unprecedented and appalling. They argued that even amid political or ideological conflict, it is uncommon in Greece to mock religious rituals in such “a grotesque way,” highlighting the coverage as a departure from norms of professionalism in international journalism.
TV100, another pro-government station, featured host Kübra Par making derogatory remarks about the cleric, stating, “May his [hell] fire be abundant.”
Her remarks stood in sharp contrast to the typical approach within Turkish society, where, even amid conflict, respect for the dead often prevails.
When she made the remarks, Par was speaking to Doğu Perinçek, a politician long opposed to Gülen and known for his endorsement of the government’s anti-Gülen crackdown but who refrained from making disparaging comments about the cleric following his death.
Perinçek, an ardent government ally in the post-coup crackdown, carefully avoided inflammatory language out of respect for the deceased. His restraint contrasted sharply with Par’s remarks, highlighting what many viewed as a concerning erosion of journalistic standards and professional ethics in Turkey’s media landscape.
Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency and other pro-government outlets have also adopted pejorative language, frequently referring to the Gülen movement as “FETÖ,” an acronym for “Fethullah Terrorist Organization,” a term officially introduced by Turkish authorities in 2016. This creation reflects the Turkish government’s ongoing efforts to portray Gülen and his followers as enemies of the state.
Critics argue that these cases show how the pressure on the pro-government media to demonize perceived opponents has reached unprecedented levels and often violates the norms of decency.