Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday that British Premier David Cameron has ordered the closure of a newspaper, a statement that startled observers as well as the British Embassy in Ankara.
Erdoğan was reacting to a supporter who reminded him of a BBC interview with Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen during a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) at Parliament. Gülen's BBC interview followed an earlier interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“Is it just BBC? The Wall Street Journal [as well]. Who are the owners of these? They have done the same thing in Britain, too, and Cameron has immediately closed down their newspaper. Now they have begun to strike from the US,” Erdoğan said.
“We are puzzled by Prime Minister Erdoğan's remarks,” said an official from the British Embassy, explaining that his statement might have been a result of a misunderstanding because Cameron has never closed down any newspaper.
It was not clear what Erdoğan was referring to, but media reports have speculated that he might have in mind the closure of Rupert Murdoch mass-selling tabloid News of the World. Murdoch closed down the tabloid after it was accused of hacking into the mobile phones of crime victims, celebrities and politicians.
Erdoğan has accused members of Gülen's Hizmet movement of conspiring against his government in the wake of a corruption scandal that went under way with a wave of detentions on Dec. 17, which included sons of three former government ministers.
(Cihan/Today's Zaman)
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