Through administrative channels the Foreign Ministry is linked with the Milli Emniyet (National Security), the counterintelligence service. This organization is directly responsible to the Prime Minister's office and is usually headed and largely staffed by the military. Some of the highest officials in the government have served for a time in the Milli Emniyet.

CHAPTER 16

PUBLIC INFORMATION

The processes of public information reflect the social and economic characteristics of Turkey. A literacy rate of 48 percent limits the impact of printed matter and enhances the role of oral communications. The transistor radio and the expansion of the highway system, however, facilitate the spread of information. The predominantly rural character of a country in which 65 percent of the population lives in areas of 5,000 inhabitants or less also affects the process of communication.

The division between rural and urban areas, between illiterate and literate Turks affects the importance of various means of communication, whose influence varies among these groups. Modern developments in communications and the economic development of the country, however, promise to facilitate the flow of information between the groups. Oral communication retains its role as the single most important means of public information. The ultimate source of most news, however, is the national press and the radio. For example, local newspapers pick up news from these sources, and information culled from them is spread by word of mouth.

Engaged in the dissemination of information and news are a large number of newspapers and periodicals. At the beginning of 1968 there were 889 newspapers and 520 periodicals. Five Istanbul dailies, however, accounted for 80 percent of the newspapers circulation. The vast majority are provincial newspapers and periodicals with limited circulation and influence, which are usually dependent on official advertising for survival.

The importance of radio, especially in modernization and the promotion of nationalism, was quickly recognized by the Republic. The first radio broadcasting station, operated as a concession with government supervision, opened in 1927. When the concession lapsed in 1936 the government itself built a radio station which opened in 1938. Today there are 15 transmitting stations and more than 2,780,000 registered radio receivers. Turkey is also beginning a television system. Thus far, it is confined to Istanbul and Ankara.

PRESS AND PERIODICALS

The Turkish press was really established in the latter half of the 19th century, although a Turkish printing press had been introduced as early as 1727. The printing of religious works, however, was forbidden because religious leaders considered the Arabic script essential to the sacred nature of these works. The first newspaper in Turkish, Takviv-i Vekayi (Calendar of Events), founded in 1831, was an official gazette. Consequently, Tercüman-i Ahval (Interpreter of Events), established in 1860, is considered the first Turkish newspaper, although an Englishman, William Churchill, published a paper Ceride-i Havadis (New Gazette) beginning in 1843.

Turkish papers and journals have a tradition of partisanship which still colors Turkish journalism. They are also closely associated with the development of modern Turkish literature (see ch. 10, Artistic and Intellectual Expression). Members of the Young Ottomans and the Young Turks expressed their political and reformist ideas in papers; many of them were published in exile and smuggled into the country. A brief period of liberal rule and an expanded press followed the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. Nationalism became one of the main themes expressed in this period. The dictatorship of Enver Pasha and his associates brought an end to this freedom.

A similar pattern of liberalization and repression has characterized the history of the press. For example, a new period of freedom followed World War I, but a gradual curtailment came with the consolidation of the Republic. Press controls were maintained by Kemal Atatürk and Ismet Inönü. Liberalization once more followed World War II, a development which paralleled the growth of legal political opposition.

The Democrat Party had widespread press support when it defeated the incumbent Republican People's Party in 1950. A new period of repression began when the Democrat Party became the object of criticism. After early 1954 government control was strengthened by amending the press laws. The 1954 regulations imposed heavy fines on journalists convicted of writing articles which could harm "the political or financial prestige of the state." These controls were extended in June 1956. Newspapers could only publish official accounts of the actions of the Grand National Assembly without comment and public statements considered libelous or damaging to the national prestige were prohibited. One rule provided that a rebuttal from persons criticized must be published on the same page and column as the article in question and in the same size type. Journalists were jailed and publishers fined as the Democrat Party became increasingly sensitive to criticism of eco

nomic problems. These measures alienated many intellectuals and contributed to the May 27, 1960, coup.

Government Control

The freedom accorded the press after the 1960 coup led to abuses and a subsequent tightening of control. The problem of freedom and restraint is compounded by the partisan nature of Turkish journalism. Political criticism, for example, often takes the form of personal abuse. Public opinion appears to be tolerant of press controls. The peasants are not concerned with this issue. Most journalists and some members of the intelligentsia advocate a large measure of press freedom, but, over and above their party attachments, most educated Turks seem to believe that some restraints are needed because of the partisanship of the press.

According to Article 22 of the Constitution of 1961, "The press is free . . . (but) . . . freedom of the press and the obtainment of information can be restricted by law only in order to safeguard national security, or public morality, to prevent attacks on the dignity, honor, and rights of individuals. . . ." Many measures of the 1950's that restricted the press were repealed after the coup. The press is presently regulated by some legislation, stemming from the 1950's, provisions of the Penal Code, and a system of selfregulation. On July 15, 1960, for example, an editor was made responsible for the statements of an author unless it could be demonstrated that the editor did not know the contents of the article that appeared in his newspaper.

The law for Preventive Measures of March 1960 provided penalties for criticism of the 1960 Revolution or praise of either the ousted government or pre-Kemalist regimes. Attempts to promote communism or fascism or the reestablishment of religious principles in the government of the state are subject to penalties under Articles 141 and 142 of the Penal Code. Articles 158 and 159 regulate the defamation of the President, the Republic, the nation and its institutions. Attempted coups in 1962 and 1963 brought brief periods of martial law.

A system of self-control was adopted by the press in 1960. A code of ethics and a Court of Honor were established with government approval and the aid of the International Press Institute. Expectations regarding the self-control system have been disappointed as shown by the lack of cooperation on the part of many papers and a decline in the prestige of the Court of Honor. The Court has, however, some real control over government advertising.

Prosecutions for press offenses have been increasing. Some observers believe that excesses by the press itself are responsible for

the rise in the number of proceedings. The articles which give rise to prosecutions are reviewed by a panel of three persons, usually lawyers, to determine if these articles fall within the provisions of the law. If convicted, a journalist may appeal his sentence to a higher court which may overturn the conviction. In Istanbul in 1967 there were 152 prosecutions of journalists; of these, 25 were for articles violating laws against Communist propaganda, 14 for advocating the reestablishment of religion, 31 for insult or slander, 33 for obscenity, and the remainder for other offenses. The Justice Party government appears more willing than the coalition governments which preceded it to press prosecutions against the left. In March 1968, for example, leftists such as Orhan Kemal and Mustafa Kutlu were arrested for possessing Communist propaganda, i.e., books of Marx and Lenin. On July 21 the National Assembly deprived Cetin Altan of parliamentary immunity from prosecution for six articles considered to be Communist propaganda which were published by Akşam.

Attempts to restrict the press further have been resisted by articulate segments of the Turkish population. In 1967 public reaction, especially in intellectual circles, led the Justice Party to shelve a law "On Defense of Rights and Liberties" which would have broadened existing legislation. Moreover, a bill to repeal the Law for Preventive Measures of 1962 has been presented. Previously, those prosecuted under this law up to 1967 had been granted pardons under an amnesty law.

Channels for governmental influence over the press are not limited to legislation. Turkey has a system of official advertising, which subsidizes the press. The Democrat Party abused the system. Since 1960 the distribution of the advertising has been controlled by a nonpartisan quasi-official agency, the Office of Press Publicity. Any paper which has a minimum circulation and meets other requirements qualifies for the advertising. This indirect subsidy provides the margin of survival for many papers. Although administered impartially, the system of official advertising has been linked to the Court of Honor; a paper convicted of an offense is liable for loss of this income for a limited period of time. A further potential means of government control is the sale of newsprint. The press has been handicapped by sale of this essential at prices higher than the market price, but it has been distributed in a neutral fashion.

SURVEY OF THE PRESS

The national press is urban in nature and readership. It generally advances a modern and secular viewpoint, with the notable exception of Tercüman, which provides a sympathetic forum for