Mahir Zeynalov
| Mahir Zeynalov | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Mahir Zeynalov Baku, Azerbaijan |
| Ethnicity | Azerbaijani |
| Occupation | Journalist, author |
| Notable credit(s) |
Today's Zaman newspaper, correspondent (2013–) Los Angeles Times, (2005) Caucasus International, Managing Editor (2013–14) Al Arabiya, Columnist (2013–) |
Mahir Zeynalov (IPA: Turkish pronunciation: [maːhir zeynalov]) is a correspondent for the Today's Zaman daily, a weekly columnist for Al Arabiya and a blogger at Huffington Post based in Washington D.C..
Early life
Zeynalov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan. His father, Isa Zeynalov, had been a prominent biologist in 1980s with numerous scientific discoveries in the area of crop. He has become a businessman following the chaotic demise of the Soviet Union. His mother has also been in the field of biology. He has a brother and a sister, an oral surgeon and dentist.
Career
Zeynalov first started his professional career with the Los Angeles Times, working with veteran journalist David Holley who was based in Moscow. He later joined Today's Zaman, as a foreign affairs correspondent and acting web editor. He had also been a managing editor at the Caucasus International magazine until 2014. He is writing weekly columns for Al Arabiya since 2013. In the past few years, he has made a number of contributions to various newspapers and magazines. He is a frequent commentator on developments related to Turkey in world's major radio and TV channels, including Monocle, BBC and Skynews. He has been twice recognized among 100 people to follow on foreign policy by the Foreign Policy magazine.[1][2] Mashable also listed Zeynalov in among 14 "reliable sources" to follow regarding Syria.[3]
Zeynalov has two Twitter accounts, one in English[4] and another in Turkish.[5] Zeynalov has the biggest number of followers among Turks tweeting only in English.
Zeynalov considers himself as a state-centric realist and writes about behaviors of states through neo-realist perspective in his Today's Zaman blogs.[6] He has an expertise on electoral systems.
Legal battles
Zeynalov has been a subject to massive smear campaign since Gezi summer protests erupted in 2003 June, particularly for his stance on the military coup in Egypt and his opposition to an education reform program by the government of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. When a corruption scandal broke out in December last year, Turkish president-elect Erdoğan sued Zeynalov for posting a news report on the graft allegations.
Zeynalov posted a Twitter message on 25 December 2013 stating 'Turkish prosecutors order police to arrest al-Qaeda affiliates, Erdogan's appointed police chiefs refuse to comply' and referring to a link in Today's Zaman website. The news Zeynalov referred to was about investigation about corruption charges against public employees and a Saudi businessman, Yasin al-Qadi who is listed by the U.S. as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Zeynalov was targeted by pro-government media in a smear campaign[7] and immediately sued by Erdoğan, demanding a prison sentence.
In late January, Zeynalov was called to police to testify and he dismissed charges, arguing that his writings are protected under the freedom of speech and press.[8] Prosecutors have not yet dropped charges against Zeynalov. Meanwhile, the state press body under the Turkish Prime Ministry extended Zeynalov's press card, but they refused to hand him the card, necessary for him to continue working as a journalist in the country.
On February 4, 2014, the Interior Ministry decided to deport Zeynalov, who is married to a Turkish citizen and was on his way becoming a Turkish national. He was not given a necessary time to appeal the decision. On February 7, 2014, Zeynalov and his wife surrendered to Istanbul police and were deported. Despite the deportation of Zeynalov, a number of Turkish ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, refused to comment on Zeynalov's deportation when quizzed by journalists.
On February 10, 2014, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Arınç said after a bi-weekly Cabinet meeting that Zeynalov was working in Turkey illegally and that the government in fact tolerated him for months. He defended the deportation as a necessary measure. In the following day, Erdoğan denied during his parliamentary speech that his government deported Zeynalov. He called Zeynalov a "liar" and argued that he has no idea about a tweet posted by the journalist, although he sued Zeynalov over his tweets.
Turkish lawmaker and opposition politician Sezgin Tanrıkulu submitted a parliamentary inquiry, demanding the government to explain on what grounds they deported Zeynalov. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Arınç acknowledged in a parliamentary response that the government deported Zeynalov, contradicting Erdoğan's previous statement, saying that his visa was expired.[9]
Reaction
A number of Turkish and international public figures, including international soccer star Hakan Şükür,[10] lawmaker İdris Bal, European Parliament’s rapporteur on Turkey Ria Oomen-Ruijten[11] slammed the government for deporting Zeynalov.
Turkey's opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu commended Zeynalov, calling him "brave" and described Erdoğan as a "coward" for the deportation decision.[12]
The New York Times included Zeynalov among outspoken journalists Nazlı Ilıcak and Mehmet Baransu for continuing covering the corruption scandal despite pressure on media.[13] Government's repressive treatment of Zeynalov was widely covered in international media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times, The New Yorker, Reuters, Associated Press and BBC.
Many international press advocacy and human rights bodies criticized the government for Zeynalov's deportation, including the Committee to Protect Journalists,[14] the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, OSCE, International Press Institute, European Parliament, Reporters Without Borders, Union of German Journalists, Russian Union of Journalists,[15] Turkish Journalists Association, Media Ethics Council and Contemporary Journalists Association.[16]
While the French government criticized the Zeynalov's case, the US State Department called pressure on Zeynalov as "unsettling."[17]
References
- ↑ "A who's who of the foreign-policy Twitterverse in 2013".
- ↑ "A who's who of the foreign-policy Twitterverse in 2012".
- ↑ "14 Reliable Sources to Follow on Twitter for Syria News".
- ↑ "Mahir Zeynalov's English account".
- ↑ "Mahir Zeynalov's Turkish account".
- ↑ "Has Obama become a realist".
- ↑ "Cemaat yazarından ihanet dolu tweetler!".
- ↑ "Today's Zaman journalist dismisses charges in testimony".
- ↑ "Arınç: Sınır Dışı Edilen Gazeteciye Basın Kartı Verilmedi".
- ↑ "Zeynalov'un sınırdışı edilmesine tepki".
- ↑ "Oomen-Ruijten cites media freedom concerns after Zeynalov's deportation".
- ↑ "Opposition slams gov't for deporting Azerbaijani reporter".
- ↑ "In Scandal, Turkey’s Leaders May Be Losing Their Tight Grip on News Media".
- ↑ "CPJ criticizes Turkish gov't over Zeynalov's deportation".
- ↑ "Int'l press organizations rally behind deported Today's Zaman journalist".
- ↑ "Decision to deport journalist anti-democratic, say journalists' associations".
- ↑ "US calls on Turkey to uphold fundamental freedoms after Zeynalov’s deportation".