Zaman, Turkey
May 8 2004
Taboos Hinder Publishing
“Diversity in society does is not reflected in publishing. Expression
of only one opinion is emphasized in Turkey, like in almost all other
countries, because of the influence of neo-liberal globalization,”
said journalist Ragip Duran during a meeting of the Turkish
Publishers Union (TYB).
The TYB met on Friday at Bilgi University Dolapdere Campus for the
first time since 1998. TYB President Cetin Tuzuner delivered the
opening speech, where he mentioned that the first TYB meeting was
held in 1936. “But we still have problems today because of the fact
that problems and issues discussed in previous congresses were never
resolved,” he said.
Journalist Ragip Duran participated in a session on the freedom of
publishing in Turkey, where he brought attention to the monopoly in
the sector. He said that diversity of opinion is not represented in
published works. Duran also mentioned that several taboos that could
prevent a work from being published. These include the Armenian
issue, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), Islam and Ataturk.
Meanwhile, Prof. Turgut Tarhanli claimed that the boundaries of
freedom of speech are not well defined. He said that the press’
biases on the issues of ethnic discrimination and violence are
particularly noticeable.
05.08.2004
Elif Tunca
Bursa