Erdogan: Western Countries Are Governed By Their Media

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that Western countries are being governed by their media, while people are ignored, and that it is “not possible” to have democracy with the media’s dominance, speaking at the presidential palace on Wednesday on the occasion of the opening of the new academic year.

Lashing out at the media, Erdogan said “False information has been circulating in the Western media. We need to work to fix these. I have realized that these giant countries are governed by the media, not by those in power. So I said ‘Forget about the media, what are your people thinking? Tell me that’. It used to be the case with us once [in Turkey]. So-called fourth power”.

Noting that democracy takes its power from people, Erdogan stated that democracy would not work with media. He claimed that while the West talks about democracy, it prioritizes media over people.

The president added that the Turkish media will also report on this speech, but that he would not care about it, because he only cares “the rating” he receives from the people.

According to Erdogan, who referred to false information regarding Turkey spread by the Western media, Turkish academics should step in to fight disinformation.  

Also touching on educational issues, Erdogan claimed that his government managed to solve the inequality in educational opportunities, announcing a new raise in student loans – 500 TL per month for undergraduate students, 1,000 TL for graduate students and 1,500 TL for doctoral students.

The Turkish government has either seized or shut down dozens of news outlets, and jailed hundreds of journalists since the coup attempt aiming to overthrow Erdogan took place on July 15, 2016.

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