Davutoglu's
3 UN Qs Are 2,
Nothing on
Press Freedom,
Rohingya, Citi
Sale
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
5 -- After
Turkey's Prime
Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu met
with UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon for an
hour on March
5, Ban's
spokesman
agreed to
postpone his
noon briefing
for at least
half an hour
so Davutoglu
could hold a
press
conference in
the UN Press
Briefing Room.
But in that,
Davutoglu's
spokesman
announced
there would be
only six
questions:
three from
“UN”
journalists
and three from
Turkish media,
in Turkish.
Even that
didn't hold.
The first
question was
set aside for
the UN
Correspondents
Association,
become the UN's
Censorship
Alliance, here
and here,
which gave the
question to
its (Turkish)
vice president
from TRT,
about Turkey's
fight against
terrorism.
Next came Al
Jazeera, about
Staffan de
Mistura's
failing plan
in Syria, then
a hard-working
Egyptian
journalist
about Egypt -
Turkish
relations.
That was it.
Inner City
Press would
like to know,
among other
things, if the
topic of the
Rohingya in
Myanmar came
up in the
meeting with
Ban -- an
issue
Davutoglu and
Turkey have
previously
raised, and
which Inner
City Press covers,
for example
here.
On the
financial
issued that
consumed most
of Davutoglu's
visit in New
York, does
Citigroup's
sale of its
stake in
Akbank at a
loss signify a
run to the
exits?
None of the
three
questions
brought of
freedom of the
press. Inner
City Press
when it was
over asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, on
behalf of the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
if he would
postpone the
UN briefing
for the prime
ministers of
all other UN
member states.
Dujarric said
he is
accommodating.
We'll see.
Dujarric
also said that
press freedom
was NOT on
Ban's agenda
when he met
with
Davutoglu. For
an hour.
Davutoglu had
said, in
answer to a
question in
Turkish about
his country's
incursion into
Syria, that he
spoke with Ban
Ki-moon (whom
he called
“Mister Moon”)
before the
incursion, and
Ban hadn't
offered any
criticism --
seemingly, a
green light.
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Dujarric to
confirm this
call, and
Dujarric
refused. One
might ask, how
may green
lights are
being given,
or seen?
We'll have
more on this.
, 
