Turkish PM Erdoğan says media 'misunderstood' his remarks

He also criticized the Turkish media for creating tension and “spreading lies” as prosecutors rounded up suspects for an alleged plot to overthrow his government.

"My statements were misunderstood," Erdoğan said Tuesday at a weekly meeting of his Justice and Development Party, or AKP, in Ankara. "I didn’t say to the media bosses: ‘I don’t like this, don’t publish that.’

"No publishing executive can say that I asked for a columnist to be fired."

Erdoğan's comments on the media on Friday sparked outrage.

“I want to call the bosses of these newspapers. You cannot say, ‘I cannot intervene in what the columnist writes,’" he said Friday. "Nobody has a right to increase tension in this country. I cannot let such articles upset financial balances. You pay the salary of that columnist and tomorrow you will have no right to complain.”


/Hurriyet Daily News/