I will believe that there is absolutely no connection whatsoever between the editorial slant of this newspaper and the goals and perspectives of the Turkish Government when
1. This same newspaper directly criticizes policies and actions of the Turkish Government.
2. Spokespeople from the Turkish Government publicly denounce statements such as those made in this article, and make concrete efforts to distance themselves from such views.
Without concrete evidence to the contrary, most people will naturally believe that a newspaper and a government that are joined by marriage is also joined by ideology. In a case such as this, it is the responsibility of the newspaper as well as the government to take steps to distance itself from such perceptions. Unless such efforts are made, it's a natural and logical connection for people to make. A newspaper with good and honorable intentions toward honesty and independence would take great pains to publicly declare it's independence through word and deed.
Turkey is a democracy not an Arab dictatorship or monarchy as the source of this comment (MEMRI) is accustomed to.
True, although democracy, like most other concepts, involves questions of degree. I would be surprised to hear someone make the claim that democracy in Turkey is equivalent in all respects to democracy in the West. Nobody is claiming that it has to be the same in order to be a valid democracy, but it would be helpful to everyone in the world, especially during these times of crises perpetrated by Islamofascism, if clear statements of neutrality were made in cases such as this newspaper's ties to the government.
Please don't be too quick to cast MEMRI as an organization that lumps all non-Western societies together. They have only just now begun to translate Turkish media and so far they have accurately stated the connection between the Turkish government and this newspaper. Just as MEMRI has done with other Arab media sources, they will, I'm sure, be happy to translate and publish positive articles as well as the negative ones.
Yes, this paper does criticize the government when it feels like it. Just like all the others in the country.
Spokespeople from the Turkish Government publicly denounce statements such as those made in this article, and make concrete efforts to distance themselves from such views.
This is the first time that I've heard this paper being claimed to have ties with the government and I live in Turkey.
I doubt anyone in government would have heard of such a claim so why should they bother to denounce every bad thing written in every newspaper in the country? There are hundreds of newspapers and this is not a particularly high selling one.
True, although democracy, like most other concepts, involves questions of degree. I would be surprised to hear someone make the claim that democracy in Turkey is equivalent in all respects to democracy in the West. Nobody is claiming that it has to be the same in order to be a valid democracy, but it would be helpful to everyone in the world, especially during these times of crises perpetrated by Islamofascism, if clear statements of neutrality were made in cases such as this newspaper's ties to the government.
Turkey does not have to prove to anyone that she is against these ragheaded psychopaths. She has been fighting these SoB's for decades, even centuries, and with absolutely no help from the "West". In fact most of these nutcases have thrived on "Western" assistance, direction and negligence. Wahhabism, for instance, is something the British pumped up to separate oil rich Arabia from the Ottoman Empire.
Just as MEMRI has done with other Arab media sources, they will, I'm ...
Turks are not, never have been and never will be Arabs.