Peace Journalism and the Kurdish Question: A Frame Analysis of the Peace Process in the Turkish Press Ayça Demet Atay Submitted to the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication and Media Studies Eastern Mediterranean University July 2016 Gazimağusa, North Cyprus Approval of the Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Prof. Dr. Cem Tanova Acting Director I certify that this thesis satisfies the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication and Media Studies. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ümit Ġnatçı Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies We certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Communication and Media Studies. Prof. Dr. Süleyman Ġrvan Supervisor Examining Committee 1. Prof. Dr. Mine Gencel Bek 2. Prof. Dr. Süleyman Ġrvan 3. Prof. Dr. Ruhdan Uzun 4. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hanife Aliefendioğlu 5. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Metin Ersoy ABSTRACT Peace journalism, that aims to contribute to peaceful transformation of conflicts, emphasizes the free will of journalists on what to report and how to report it. However, what if ―peace‖ becomes the official policy of the state, and the state imposes pressure on the media to act in line? Can the resulting form of journalism be still considered as peace journalism if it is ordered to support peace? This study assesses these questions within the context of the peace negotiations between the Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan- PKK) and the Turkish state. A quantitative frame analysis of the news coverage of the peace process in eleven Turkish newspapers, Cumhuriyet, Habertürk, Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Sözcü, Taraf, Türkiye, Yeni Şafak, Yeniçağ and Zaman, is conducted in an effort to examine how the so-called ―resolution process‖ was constructed in the mainstream Turkish press in the time period of 2013. The results are compared with the qualitative frame analyses of two cases: PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan‘s Newroz message where he called the armed organization to withdraw across the border on 21 March 2013 and the press conference at the PKK base in Mount Qandil on 25 April 2013, where the PKK announced that they will withdraw. Front pages of the selected newspapers on the consecutive days of these two key events are analysed. The results show that the Turkish press, with the exception of nationalist dailies, supported the peace process in the selected time period. Considering the state-media relations in the country, this study names this form of journalism as ―state-imposed peace journalism.‖ Keywords: Peace journalism, Turkey, peace process, state-media relations, Kurdish question, frame analysis iii ÖZ ÇatıĢmaların barıĢçıl yollardan dönüĢtürülmesine katkıda bulunmayı hedefleyen barıĢ gazeteciliği, neyin nasıl haberleĢtirileceği konusunda gazetecilerin özgür iradesine vurgu yapar. Ancak ya ―barıĢ‖ devletin resmi politikası haline gelirse ve devlet medyayı hizada tutmak için baskı uygularsa? Bu durumda ortaya çıkan gazetecilik, barıĢı desteklese bile barıĢ gazeteciliği olarak nitelendirilebilir mi? Bu çalıĢma, bu sorulara Kürdistan ĠĢçi Partisi (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan- PKK) ile Türkiye devleti arasındaki barıĢ görüĢmeleri bağlamında yanıt aramaktadır. ―Çözüm süreci‖ olarak adlandırılan sürecin, ana akım Türk basınında 2013 yılı içinde nasıl inĢa edildiğini incelemek amacıyla on bir Türk gazetesini- Cumhuriyet, Habertürk, Hürriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Sözcü, Taraf, Türkiye, Yeni Şafak, Yeniçağ ve Zaman- kapsayan nicel bir çerçeveleme analizi gerçekleĢtirilmiĢtir. Bu araĢtırmanın sonuçları iki vakanın – PKK lideri Abdullah Öcalan‘ın silahlı örgüte sınır dıĢına çıkmaları çağrısında bulunduğu 21 Mart 2013 tarihli Nevruz mesajı ve 25 Nisan 2013‘te PKK‘nın Kandil Dağı‘ndaki üssünde gerçekleĢtirilen örgütün çekileceğini açıkladığı basın toplantısı- temsilini içeren nitel çerçeveleme analizleri ile karĢılaĢtırılmıĢtır. Seçilen gazetelerin bu iki önemli olayın ertesi gününde yayımlanan baĢ sayfaları incelenmiĢtir. Sonuçlar göstermektedir ki milliyetçi gazeteler dıĢındaki Türk basını seçilen zaman döneminde barıĢ sürecini desteklemiĢtir. Ülkedeki devlet-medya iliĢkileri göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, bu çalıĢma bu gazetecilik biçimini ―devlet tarafından dayatılan barıĢ gazeteciliği‖ olarak adlandırmaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: BarıĢ gazeteciliği, Türkiye, barıĢ süreci, devlet-medya iliĢkileri, Kürt sorunu, çerçeveleme analizi iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Süleyman Ġrvan for his supervision, support and guidance from the early stages of this thesis. Without his insightful supervision, this research project would not have been realized. I would like to thank to the members of my Thesis Monitoring Committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mashoed Bailie and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Metin Ersoy, for their remarks. Especially Dr. Mashoed Bailie, with his precious critiques, helped me broaden my horizon. I would also like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tuğrul Ġlter for his remarks on the ―Peace Journalism as a Self-Other Relationship‖ subsection, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hanife Aliefendioğlu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurten Kara and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Anıl Kemal Kaya for their support. Finally, many thanks to my dear friend Ms. Elnaz Nasehi for her invaluable support and critiques; and to my parents Ms. Tuncay Atay and Mr. Aziz Atay and dear Ms.Cavide Atukalp for their caring and loving encouragements throughout this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................iii ÖZ ..................................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xi LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... xiv 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Problem .................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Context of the Study: The Peace Process in Turkey ................................................ 2 1.3 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 3 1.4 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 3 1.5 Method of Data Collection and Analysis ................................................................. 4 1.6 The Structure of the Thesis ...................................................................................... 5 2 PEACE JOURNALISM: A LITERATURE REVIEW................................................... 7 2.1 The Story about the Origins ..................................................................................... 8 2.2 Early Premises of Peace Journalism ...................................................................... 10 2.3 The Peace/War Journalism Model ......................................................................... 12 2.4 What is Peace Anyway? ......................................................................................... 15 2.4.1 ―Peace‖ as Nonviolence .................................................................................. 17 2.5 Peace Journalism as a Form of Self-Other Relationship ........................................ 19 2.5.1 Different Conceptions of Self ......................................................................... 19 2.5.2 Peace Journalism as an ―Other-Centred‖ Ethical Position .............................. 22 2.6 Debates in Peace Journalism Literature ................................................................. 25 vi 2.6.1 The Role of the Journalist as a Participant-Observer ...................................... 25 2.6.2 Objectivity ....................................................................................................... 26 2.6.2.1 Early Years: a Discussion on Deconstruction .......................................... 26 2.6.2.2 On Critical Realism as the Methodological Foundation ........................ ..30 2.6.3 Agency versus Structure Debate ..................................................................... 35 2.7 Peace Journalism and the Role of the News Media in Peace Processes ................ 42 3 THE ―KURDISH QUESTION‖ .................................................................................... 50 3.1 Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism in Turkey ...................................................... 52 3.1.1 The First ―Kurdish‖ Rebellion ........................................................................ 52 3.1.2 First Kurdish Nationalist Organizations .......................................................... 53 3.1.3 First World War and the Treaty of Sèvres ...................................................... 53 3.1.4 Koçgiri (Kochgiri) Rebellion .......................................................................... 54