Davuto?lu at work: Silencing media, banning journalism

One of the most visible characteristics of authoritarian rulers is restricting dissident voices through political pressure, curbing freedom of expression and imposing a crackdown on media outlets in order to silence any opposing voice. This column will cite just two incidents from last week, one in Russia and the other in Turkey, to illustrate how this authoritarian understanding is being implemented.

On April 1, Russian authorities shut down a television channel operating in Crimea as the voice of the nearly 250,000 Crimean Tatars after Russia?s state media regulator refused to give it a broadcasting license. The move was seen as the latest salvo in Moscow?s crackdown on the pro-Ukrainian community that opposed Russia?s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.       
  
Western powers, including the United States, the European Union as well as human rights organizations and press associations, have strongly criticized Russia for silencing the Crimean Tatar television channel. A similar reaction came from Turkey, too, which is closely following the developments in Crimea with concerns that Crimean Tatars? rights and freedoms will deteriorate under Russian rule.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu cited the banning of the television channel as ?another example of the oppression of the Crimean Tatar people? while his Foreign Ministry issued a written statement on the development recalling that ?press freedom is an inseparable part of pluralism and democracy.?

On the same day Russian authorities silenced a television channel, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu issued an instruction not to allow certain media outlets, including daily Hürriyet and all Do?an Media outlets, to cover the funeral ceremony of a prosecutor that was...