Suicide bombers attacked a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey on Saturday, killing at least 97 and injuring dozens more. The bombings come in the midst of nationwide turmoil, as Turkey prepares to hold snap elections on November 1st. Opposition leaders have accused the Turkish government of using the current political climate to censor and restrict news coverage and curtail freedoms of speech and of the press.
Saturday’s attack is the third of its kind, following an attack at another political rally in Diyarbakir that killed four in June, and an attack that killed 33 in Suruc in July.
The Turkish government issued a ban on news coverage on the attack that went largely unheeded, reported the New York Times and the Financial Times. In spite of its established democratic system, this ban follows other government led efforts seen as authoritarian efforts to curtail freedom of the press. “Sometimes, the government does this to block the dissemination of certain images, as we saw earlier this year during a hostage crisis at an Istanbul courthouse,” writes Tim Arango, a correspondent for the New York Times, in response to comments I posed in a Question and Answer thread. “But my understanding is that sometimes, after the fact, there is blowback such as fines for local organizations that have violated them.”
In September, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was accused of inciting violent protests against opposition newspaper Hurriyet Daily News. One of its columnists, Ahmet Hakan, was assaulted near his residence in early October. In 2014, the government temporarily banned Twitter throughout Turkey in what was seen as a bumbling attempt to stop access to the microblogging service. “The environment for the press and freedom of expression in Turkey, never great, has been deteriorating.” writes Mr. Arango.
The bombings have exacerbated already heightened tensions, with the current government refusing to form a coalition government and instead choosing to hold snap elections after Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its parliamentary majority during June elections. “We are seeing a particularly toxic environment ahead of the [November 1st] election,” writes Mr. Arango. Turkey was previously considered largely immune to the turmoil and strife of its Middle Eastern neighbors.
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Updated 13 Oct. 2015
Original comments thread via NYTimes.com
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