Untitled Document
Did anyone notice that a Kurdish “terrorist” bombing ripped apart
a bus at a Turkish holiday resort recently? The bombing killed five people, including
one British and one Irish national, plus three Turks, and injured 13 people. The
bombing was akin to the London bus that was torn apart. Earlier a bombing blamed
on Kurds wrecked a train in eastern Turkey killing six people. A report from CNN
made no mention of “terrorism”.1 A report from the BBC made only one
passing reference to “terrorist incident” when quoting Turkish officials.2
There was no reference to “Kurdish terrorists”. There has only been
minimal and reserved media coverage with little talk of evil “terrorism”
targeting innocent people. The coverage has certainly been devoid of any emotional
content or sensationalism. Why? Because the Kurds must be the latest media darlings
and politically correct good guys due to Saddam Hussein’s “oppression”
of them. It is rather like how the Jews became the darlings after World War Two.
The media appears to have adopted a standard formula for reporting these particular
Kurdish bombings: 1) There is no reference to the T-word (“terrorism”
or “terrorists”) except where Turkish officials are quoted; 2) Kurdish
groups are mentioned only in passing; 3) Kurdish groups are never referred to
as “terrorists” but as “rebel groups”, “separatist
groups”, or “militants”; 4) Even the PKK is never referred
to as a “terrorist” group, only that it has been “declared”
one by Europe and the US; and 5) Almost every report reminds you that “Islamic”
groups have also carried out bombings in Turkey in the past. The CNN and BBC
reports mentioned above conformed to all these rules.
Both the CNN and BBC reports generally played down the Kurdish aspect and certainly
expunged any link to terrorism by conforming to rule 3 above. The Kurdish PKK
was said to have launched an “armed rebellion against the Turkish state
in 1984” to “carve out an independent Kurdish area”. There
was no reference to terms like “insurgency”, which the media uses
in Iraq to conform to the wishes of the Bush administration. Furthermore, the
media has made a point of mentioning the reasons for the Kurdish war in Turkey,
something usually avoided when any official (Muslim) terrorists attack. Agence
France-Presse referred to “Kurdish separatists” and a “Kurdish
rebel group” and its only reference to terrorism was when quoting the
Turkish Prime Minister who declared the bombing a “terrorist attack”
(the quotation marks were in the AFP report).3
A week earlier a blast at another resort left 20 people injured. A report from
Agence France-Presse made no reference to the T-word.4 Reuters reported immediately
(on 10 July) that Kurds were responsible for the bombing, but several other
agencies hardly made any reference to Kurds at all.5 Reuters made reference
to a “Kurdish rebel group” and a “separatist group”
but there was no reference to terrorism. The term “rebels” is avoided
like the plague when the media reports of events in Iraq.
Australia’s ABC news didn’t have much to say about the bombings.
This is not really surprising from Australia’s ABC network, considering
how it has lately become a blatant government propagandist tool, especially
in how it whitewashes and cheerleads the American occupation of Iraq. While
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was reported to have condemned
the bombing, it has received nowhere near the comment that bombings by the official
terrorists receive. One wonders if he would have made any comment had a Britain
not been killed.
The examples could go on but the gist has been presented here. The media has
demonstrated a remarkable double standard in its reporting of this bombing attack
in Turkey. Perhaps the bombing is an inconvenient one for the media, since the
official “Islamic” and “Muslim” terrorists were not
responsible. In relation to this bombing, the media had demonstrated again how
it manufactures consent by presenting a particular bias in its news coverage.
Endnotes:
1 CNN, “Security tight after Turkey blast”, 17 July 2005. Found
at http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/17/turkey.blast.reut/index.html
2 BBC, “PKK ‘behind’ Turkey resort blast”, 17 July
2005. Found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4690181.stm
3 Agence France-Presse, “Bomb blast in Turkish resort kills five in second
attack in a week”, 16 July 2005. Found at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050716/ts_afp/turkeyblast_050716173751
4 Agence France-Presse, “Bomb blast at Turkish resort leaves 20 injured”,
10 July 2005. Found at http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/s/afp/20050710/wl_afp/turkeyblast_050710162929
5 Reuters, “Kurdish bomb attack wounds 20 in Turkish resort”, 10
July 2005. Found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/10/AR2005071000314.html
