The Reuters ad that caused Erdogan’s anger

Turkey’s strong reaction was caused by an advertisement of the Reuters news agency for the recruitment of a journalist in Istanbul.

Turkish journalists are talking about targeting the country and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, while it provoked strong condemnation from the Turkish president’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun.

In the advertisement for the position of deputy bureau chief in Istanbul published by Reuters earlier this month, with a closing date of December 28, the British news agency states, among other things, that “Erdogan has transformed Turkey in his two decades in power, moving it away from modern secular traditions and turning it into a powerful diplomatic and military presence in regions stretching from the South Caucasus to North Africa».

He also mentions that he is looking for “someone with strong writing skills and knowledge who can deliver in-depth reporting alongside the support of our high-performing team covering a critical juncture in the Erdogan administration – with runaway inflation and a devalued pound threatening his re-election bid the next months».

“Turkey is a complex and rapidly developing story. The successful candidate will be a strong reporter and writer with an eye for compelling storytelling and the ability to disentangle an often confusing picture to tell a well-rounded and balanced storycapturing the political and economic significance of the events and their international ramifications,” the ad continues.

See the ad below

The Turkish president’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, on Saturday (24/12) condemned the ad, saying the British news agency appeared to be “moving away from the facts”.

“Reuters seems to be moving away from the facts and instead using a biased perspective on what happened to ‘modern secular traditions’ in Turkey during the rule of President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan. These statements would only make sense in a propaganda pamphlet,” Altun wrote on Twitter, as reported by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.

Stressing that such behavior “wasn’t journalism”, Altun said a media outlet “must ask reporters on the ground about the facts before deciding what has happened and use that as a guideline for the news.”

TRT World’s reaction

In response to the Reuters ad, Turkish English-language broadcaster TRT World posted a job ad of its own for a correspondent based in Londonusing similar wording and tone to that of Reuters.

Drawing attention to the political instability and economic problems in the UK and the fact that the country is still ruled by a monarch in the 21st century, the advert highlights the ‘failure of successive governments toto respond to challenges such as COVID-19, Brexit and the global financial crises, which have left Britain in political turmoil. Short-lived governments have put the UK’s future in doubt, alienating it from Europe.”

Potential candidates and those hired for the job, TRT World wrote, must also “to provide support to our high performing team as they begin to cover important issues such as the pursuit of Scottish independence and the threat it poses to UK unity, runaway inflation and a devalued pound combine to further jeopardize the volatile political situation of Britain».