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avuolu sat down with Breitbart News for an exclusive interview at D.C.s National Press Clublast week.

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Free press is definitely necessary for democracies and democratic societies, avuolu said, noting that the media must be held accountable for their reporting. Press should be also, at the same time, much more responsible and they should tell the truth, he said.

Both U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoanhave pushed back against the medias allegedly biased coverage of events in their nations. Earlier this year, Erdoan praised Trump for putting CNN reporter Jim Acosta in his place during a news conference. Trump told Acosta, Im not going to give you a question. You are fake news in response to an article CNN had published alleging Russia had tried to compromise him.

Unlike Trump and his supporters, however, Erdoan fans have taken to violently attacking media outlets the headquarters of the newspaperHurriyetwere attacked twice by mobs chanting allahuakbar and Erdoans police forces have stormed and shut down broadcasters for alleged ties to terrorism.

Al-Monitor previously reported that the Cumhuriyet Dailys editor-in-chief Can Dundar and Ankara representative Erdem Gul landed behind bars Nov. 27 for reporting that Turkish intelligence shipped weapons to radical Islamists in Syria. Though theywerereleasedthree months later, they eventually receivedjail termsfor revealing state secrets. The piece titled How Erdogan Became Turkeys Biggest Media Boss also reports that 85 percent of Turkeys remaining news channels arestate-owned.

Unfortunately, the press is taking sides, and the role that press is playing in Western countries is not very constructive, avuolu told Breitbart News. He added his belief that the leftist media, especially in Europe, was responsible for a very dangerous trend which has taken the continent back to [the] pre-World War II era.

avuolu also blamed the media for fueling hateful sentiment towards migrants, refugees, Muslims, and Jews among other groups. Media should tell the truth. This is the main problem, unfortunately; both in your country and also in our region. Nevertheless, free media is essential for democracies.

Following the failed military coup against Erdoans government last July, Erdoans government shut down over 130 media outlets, arresting many of their highest-ranking journalists. However, on Tuesday, avuolu said, In Turkey, no media outlet or press has been shut down or closed by President Erdoan. And President Erdogan has no power to shut media down. Instead, avuolu suggested these actions were carried out by independent judiciaries in the country.

Nevertheless, there were some media outlets belonging to Fethullah [Gulen] terrorist organization, and they were involved in the failed coup in Turkey. And they were also involved in many illegal activities including fabricating false evidences against third persons. So those are the media outlets closed by the independent judiciaries in Turkey, not by President. The president has no authority to do so in Turkey.

However, the upcomingreferendum vote, taking place on April 16, will likely change that. At one pointduringthe interview, the foreign minister said that Erdoan has a lot of power now, noresponsibility but noted that if the referendum vote passes, the president will be [held] accountable and thathe will be vested with a great deal of responsibility. avuolu explained that currently, Turkey does not have a separation of power butbetween thegovernment and theparliament, but that with the new system, there will be a clear separation of power.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope@AdelleNaz

Original post:
EXCLUSIVE: Turkish FM Claims Erdogan Has Shut Down 'No Media Outlet or Press' - Breitbart News