Exiled journalist Can Dündar: ‘Turkey’s at a new crossroads’
Turkish journalist Can Dündar had to flee his homeland in the face of growing repression. In exile in Germany, he is committed to creating a democratic future for Turkey. He is the latest in our “Global Voices of Freedom” video series.
Turkey celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2023 and will be holding parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14. The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has led the country as prime minister since 2003 and as president since 2014, has been facing falling approval ratings for some time. Last month’s earthquake disaster dealt another blow to his popularity. Uncertainty in the country is high, so are fears that Erdogan will toughen his authoritarian style.
Turkey now ranks 149th out of 180 in the press freedom rankings of the NGO Reporters Without Borders and is among the countries with the most imprisoned journalists. Media is under the control of the state or pro-government companies, and there is extensive censorship. Especially after the failed coup attempt in 2016, the government has taken even more repressive action against the media, the political opposition and civil society.
Dündar, one of the best-known journalistic voices from Turkey, has experienced this first hand. As a journalist, author, moderator and documentary filmmaker, Dündar was a major critic of Erdogan – and has been targeted by the government. After he revealed in 2015 that Turkey was illegally supplying weapons to Syria, Dündar was accused of espionage and supporting terrorism.
After a failed assassination attempt in 2016 – a man shot at him outside a courthouse – the journalist left the country. In 2020 he was sentenced in absentia to 27 years and six months in prison for espionage and aiding an armed terrorist organisation, and his assets in Turkey were seized. His lawyers have called the verdict politically motivated.
Today, Dündar lives in Germany and is editor-in-chief of the web radio Özgürüz. He continues his fight for a democratic Turkey from exile. In an interview with SWI swissinfo.ch, he says: “Freedom to express your opinion is like breathing, like drinking water, like feeding hunger. Unfortunately, in our country, we haven’t been able to breathe for quite some time, we’re thirsty and hungry.” It is the job of journalists to “clear the airways”.
Turkey is at a crossroads today, he said: one path leads to an autocratic regime, perhaps even a dictatorship. The other path leads to the establishment of a democracy. A democratic Turkey is a great opportunity for the region, for Europe, for the world. It is the task of a journalist in exile to work towards this goal.
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