[TODAYSZAMAN] Journalist Cem Kucuk threatened Hurriyet daily columnist Ahmet Hakan Coskun, a widely read columnist known for his critical stance toward the government, in a column in the Wednesday edition of the pro-government star daily."Like a schizophrenic, you think you are still living in the era when
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
was ruled by the Hurriyet daily. If we [pro-government members of the media] want, we can smash you like a fly. You are still alive because we have shown mercy," Kucuk wrote in his column.
Kucuk also blamed Coskun for being the leading propagator of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) before the June 7 election in his column "Portrait of a schizophrenic and pro-PKK thief: Ahmet Hakan."
The threat came after Coskun spoke out on CNN Turk's "Tarafsiz Bölge" TV show against Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Istanbul deputy and party youth branch head Abdurrahim Boynukalin, saying: "Who are you? Are you a bandit?" in reference to Boynukalin telling protesters during a demonstration in front of the Hurriyet daily headquarters on Sept. 6, "No matter what comes out of the election on Nov. 1, we will make you [Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him...
] president [under a presidential system]."
On Nov. 24, 2014, Kucuk mentioned Dogan Media Group Honorary President Aydin Dogan's construction business in a column for the pro-government Yeni Safak daily, saying he would face permit problems from the government unless he fired Coskun from the daily.
Kucuk's threats have not only been directed at Coskun but have also covered a long list of writers critical of the government. He has published lists of "suspects," including well-known journalists, and said mass arrests would be carried out. Regarding the government's critics and opponents, he said everyone will reap what they have sown.
In an effort to put pressure on journalists covering the corruption probe of Dec. 17, 2013 that implicated senior government officials, Kucuk has singled out independent and critical columnists like Cengiz Candar, Cuneyt Özdemir, Mumtaz'er Turköne, Ihsan Yilmaz and Ihsan Dagi by name, saying they are involved in a plot against Turkey.
Also, on Wednesday pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-chair Selahattin Demirtas filed a criminal complaint against the Yeni Safak daily over a lead story run by the daily after 16 soldiers were killed by the terrorist PKK in Daglica, Hakkari province, on Sunday. In its headline on Tuesday, Yeni Safak called Demirtas a "murderer," accusing him of being responsible for the attacks on the security forces and the deaths of 16 soldiers. The daily acts as a government mouthpiece.
A major graft investigation implicating President Erdogan and other top AK Party figures was made public on Dec. 17, 2013. Then-Prime Minister Erdogan accused certain media groups and civil society organizations of being behind the graft claims and attempting to bring down his government.