{"id":4675,"date":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media4democracy.org\/en\/yilmaz-ozdil-qa-at-the-press-house\/"},"modified":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T00:00:00","slug":"yilmaz-ozdil-qa-at-the-press-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media4democracy.org\/en\/yilmaz-ozdil-qa-at-the-press-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6zdil Q&A at the Press House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Implemented by the Association of Journalists and funded by the European Union (EU) the Media for Democracy\/Democracy for Media Programme (M4D) hosted journalist Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6zdil at the Press House this week. \u00d6zdil talked with young journalists about journalism and what\u2019s going on in the world today.<\/em><\/p>\n

Speaking at the event, President of the Association of Journalists Nazmi Bilgin said, \u201cWe are going through a dark time in terms of freedom of the press and expression but we have people that continue to show courage despite everything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

SULTAN YAVUZ – <\/strong><\/em>S\u00f6zc\u00fc Newspaper columnist, journalist Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6zdil talked with and answered the questions of young professionals working in the media sector.<\/em> Implemented by the Association of Journalists and financed by the EU, \u201cMedia for Democracy\/Democracy for Media\u201d hosted Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6zdil at the Press House. \u00d6zdil stated that he gets his motivation from Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s \u201cAddress to the Youth\u201d and remarked \u201cTurkey\u2019s only way out is for it to return to its factory settings\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chairman of the Association of Journalists Nazmi Bilgin welcomed \u00d6zdil by remarking that not everybody who writes a column is an actual columnist but \u00d6zdil is one of the names that does their job properly with integrity. Bilgin added:
\n\u201cWe attended a panel in Prague last week where somebody asked for the definition of journalism. One of the panellists answered \u2018A journalist is someone who gets payed for what they write and not for what they don\u2019t write.\u2019 The number of people who shouldn\u2019t be writing in Turkey has reached such a point that we are in search of people who write the truth. We are going through a dark time in terms of freedom of the press and expression but we have people that continue to show courage despite everything.
\nAs an Association we have certain red lines, our members must believe in the republic and be the protectors of Atat\u00fcrk\u2019s principles…We are open to different ideas but not to hopelessness. We have to believe that the future will be better and we need to struggle for it. Previous chairmen of the Association Beyhan Cenk\u00e7i, Metin Toker, C\u00fcnyet Arcay\u00fcrek and Atilla Bart\u0131no\u011flu have all been arrested, I have not; this is my greatest achievement. We aim to keep the struggle alive no matter what. Today we are hosting an important journalist who believes in commemorating Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk and his principles. I would like to thank him for coming here today and to salute the enlightened future days to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

M4D Project Coordinator Seva \u00dclman made the opening speech of the event following Chairman Nazmi Bilgin. \u00dclman remarked that \u00d6zdil has been practising this profession as a true \"\"journalist, he has always stuck to facts and refrained from embellishing the truth. Giving biographical information about \u00d6zdil, \u00dclman said:
\n\u201cThe child of immigrants from Crete, Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6zdil attended \u0130zmir Atat\u00fcrk Highschool and then studied journalism at Ege University. He started his career at Yeni As\u0131r Newspaper in 1982 and after becoming promoted to editor-in-chief, he worked as a senior executive in various newspapers and televisions in Istanbul. Milliyet, Sabah, H\u00fcrriyet and Star are some of them… \u00d6zdil started to write as a columnist for Sabah newspaper in 2005 and has been a columnist for S\u00f6zc\u00fc since 2014. \u00d6zdil has nine published books. In 2018, \u00d6zdil\u2019s book \u201cMustafa Kemal Atat\u00fcrk\u201d became a best seller with one and a half million copies sold; some of his books have become plays as well. \u00d6zdil was awarded over 600 awards from various NGOs and universities. \u201d
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00d6zdil, \u201cAs the press we need to give more importance to dialogue rather than mologue\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\n\"\"\u00d6zdil began his presentation by joking about how he was never a good student and he should be considered a graduate of \u201cK\u0131zlar Kahvesi\u201d because he hung out there all the time. While at university \u00d6zdil had to take a course called \u201cFundamentals of Journalism\u201d and one day journalist Mehmet Ali Birand was invited to the lecture. \u00d6zdil was told that he would fail the class if he didn\u2019t ask a question so he asked Birand \u201cMay I be excused?\u201d, nevertheless \u00d6zdil did pass his course. Remarking that the press should give more importance to dialogue rather than monologue \u00d6zdil proceeded to incorporate the audience in the event by receiving and answering questions.
\n\u00d6zdil said that even though he has been painting a bleak portrait in what he writes there is always hope and that his young colleagues should \u201cbe positive about life\u201d.
\n\u00d6zdil stated that certain religious officials found a lot of political power after 2002 with the AKP government and these people could not represent the Turkish people as the Directorate of Religious Affairs. In the years of the National Struggle, mufti Mehmet R\u0131fat B\u00f6rek\u00e7i donated all his money to Mustafa Kemal and the soldiers, he later became the first President of Religious Affairs. \u00d6zdil remarked that it was religious men like Mehmet R\u0131fat B\u00f6rek\u00e7i who were true patriots.<\/p>\n

President Erdo\u011fan's visit to America<\/strong><\/em>
\nAnswering a question from the audience about how he views Hilal Kaplan being asked if she was a \u201creal journalist\u201d in the White House by foreign correspondents during Erdo\u011fan\u2019s visit, \u00d6zdil said:
\n\u201cI\u2019m very happy the pro-government media was disgraced in the White House. Even Trump knows they're not journalists. In fact, before this visit, he said at the G20 Summit in Japan, 'There\u2019s no Hollywood set where you could produce people that look like them.\u201d The same thing happened again. We\u2019ll find out about the details later but we all know Trump\u2019s point of view.\u201d
\nWhen asked how he saw the AKP, \u00d6zdil responded by saying the party has run its course:
\n“In 2002, the AKP had a political base in Turkey. Besides the economic crisis, there was controversy surrounding the headscarf, and media bosses were able to appoint any minister they wanted, some high-ranking officials in the military acted as though they owned the country. But in 17 years the AKP did worse than what they initially had opposed. The election results of the 31 March Mayoral Elections show us that the AKP won\u2019t be able to win another election. We have been experiencing a very severe lack of opposition in the last 10 years and those in power will not change without the opposition changing itself.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump's rhetoric of admiration should be regarded as an insult\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\nAnswering a question from a member of the audience about President Trump admiring President Erdo\u011fan, \u00d6zdil remarked that Trump follows the media in Turkey closely, has made racist remarks about immigrants and loves dictators; \u201cthese are all things we should take into account.\u201d said \u00d6zdil and added \u201cComing from someone who called Sisi his favourite dictator, this should be considered an insult\u201d.
\nResponding to the question about writers Ahmet Altan and Nazl\u0131 Il\u0131cak's detention, \u00d6zdil argued that both Il\u0131cak and the Altan brothers were taken away from their homes as children for political reasons and that they could have been traumatized. \u00d6zdil added, \u201cThis trauma perhaps manifested to such a degree that they became anti-military and anti-state. This hatred almost made them cooperate with FET\u00d6 (Fethullahist Terrorist Organization). Today, I see dozens of girls and boys experiencing the same trauma. If the necessary measures are not taken, we might see thousands of Il\u0131caks and Altans in the future.\u201d
\n\u00d6zdil stated that Turkey\u2019s only way out is to turn its face westwards \u201cFrance and Norway are good examples. Turkey's mission should be to be fully independent. Leaving NATO isn\u2019t like walking out of a film you don\u2019t like. It would have serious strategic consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stating that the moral problems of journalists is not solely a problem of this generation but has been an ongoing problem ever since the beginning of the Republic \u00d6zdil said: \u201cUntil the 1980 coup there were relatively respectable journalists. These were predominantly Ankara journalists. After the coup, those who claimed to have been Ataturkists formed the media capital. After September 12 the number of respectable journalists didn\u2019t decrease but due to many new papers being established people who called themselves journalists were able to find employment. Journalism was no longer a profession; it was merely a job. Suddenly everybody was able to become a politician, contractor or journalist in Turkey. September 12 ended the need for qualification to practise journalism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the achievements of the Republic, Erdo\u011fan is sitting in that seat as President today\u201d<\/strong><\/em>
\n\u00d6zdil expressed his views on criticism surrounding the alphabet reform by mentioning only ten percent of the population knew how to read and write during the Ottoman Empire and they mainly consisted of soldiers and non-Muslims. \u00d6zdil emphasized that the public quickly benefited from the alphabet reform and said:
\n\u201cPeoples from other countries were thus able to learn Turkish much easier, too. The Latin alphabet brought people together, this wouldn\u2019t have been possible through Ottoman Turkish. We see today that the Ottoman Empire is being glorified and the republic is being scorned. When we look at it, we see that all leaders have been children of the public, and its thanks to the achievements of the Republic Erdo\u011fan is sitting in that seat as President today. When I was at the ATV, I hosted Ertu\u011frul Osman, the last person born in the palace, and Erdo\u011fan gave him a Turkish passport, as well. Ertu\u011frul said on live TV, that despite it being upsetting personally for him, he owes his existence to Atat\u00fcrk and he was quite happy that the republic was founded. I\u2019d urge those who are being nostalgic about the Ottoman Empire to watch that episode.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cJournalism is a matter of luck and talent\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Y\u0131lmaz \u00d6zdil gave the following answer to a student who asked what he thinks about the future of the profession in face of so many communication faculties opening around the country:
\n\u201cJournalism is a matter of luck and talent. If you're lucky you might catch a break but if you\u2019re talented you\u2019ll always have the opportunity excel. Journalists are like a cormorant (a bird that dives to catch fish), you think they have drowned but out they pop with a fish in their mouths. Suddenly something big happens and you make news out of it and you become the best journalist in the world. Being ethical, not lying; these have to be your most fundamental principles. As it is in the USA, Europe or Japan, media owners can have mining companies or petrol companies. The main concern is that the paper is profitable, if it doesn\u2019t turn a profit then it\u2019ll have to shut down; if the paper continues to publish despite losing money, there\u2019s something fishy going on.
\nTurkish politics is at the crossroads of a new 30-year process and I believe the media will change hands. A new era and a political process is starting, and if we all try to establish this ethically, respectable journalists such as C\u00fcneyt Arcay\u00fcrek and U\u011fur Mumcu could once again influence the media. We must be hopeful. \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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