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[–]temiz 0 insightful - 1 fun0 insightful - 0 fun1 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Yeah, definetly "free" and totally not a police state that prisons journalists who doesn't agree with them

[–]Chipit[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

And yet here's The Guardian, flagship of British leftism, arguing that it's not.

Shocking, eh?

Freedom of speech is part of the daily routine in Turkey. Western attacks on the Turkish government smack of a dubious agenda

Respectable publications such as the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Financial Times, and the Economist have followed their lead – albeit in a much more reasonable fashion than Rubin – in arguing that the arrests demonstrate that Turkey does not respect freedom of expression.

Not just The Guardian, either.

Here is what they are missing: the journalists who've been arrested were not arrested because of their journalistic activities or for expressing their opinions: they are suspected of being part of a plot to topple the civilian government.

As anyone who regularly follows the Turkish media can attest, there is no shortage of sharp criticism of the Erdogan government in the Turkish media. Freedom of expression is part of the daily routine.

Turkey may still not be a liberal democracy, but those who argue that it is turning into a police state are misleading world public opinion.