'Justice March' and US apathy

If anybody is wondering whether the "justice march" in Turkey, which was initiated by the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to protest the arrest of one of its own lawmakers, is drawing attention in Washington, the coverage by top American newspapers might give some clue. American media jumped on board roughly around the 20th day of the march, which was only a few days ago. 

Until then, not only the march was quite invisible in the U.S. public domain but it also lacked interest from even devoted Turkey watchers who seem to have lost their faith in the opposition long time ago. 

To be fair, American journalists have been vigilantly attentive to democracy failures in Turkey and reporting extensively in the last years. Therefore, their late arrival in the march's zone is perhaps more to do with the logistics than apathy. The march coming closer to its final destination in Istanbul is a key factor in the sudden attention. Furthermore, the decision of the Kurdish issue-focused Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) to join the march, despite their fundamental differences with the CHP, probably made the whole protest more newsworthy for Western media outlets. 

Undoubtedly, the U.S. mission in Turkey is closely following every detail at the "justice march." But the question is how much those diplomatic cables are resonating in the U.S. capital. When I first raised the question about the arrest of CHP deputy Enis Berberoğlu, a former journalist with 33 years of experience, in a briefing of the State Department, the spokeswoman was stunned. Indeed, I did not expect Heather Nauert to be deeply invested in the Turkey file given the bulk of matters she has on her plate. However, it was evident that Berberoğlu was not in her famous binder full of...