As
Davutoglu
Opens UN
Turkish
Lounge, Press
Squeezed,
Attacks by UNCA
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May
17 -- Turkey's
foreign
minister Ahmet
Davutoglu came
to the UN on
Friday night,
for the
ceremonial
opening of
what's called
the "Turkish
Lounge"
outside the
renovated
Security
Council. Inner
City Press photos
here
& here.
He
spoke about
Turkey's
desire to make
Istanbul a "UN
city," and to
have a big UN
building. He
did not
mention that
this hyped up
Turkish Lounge
is taking over
a space the
press used to
have access
to, to
actually cover
the Security
Council.
FM Davutoglu,
DSG Eliasson,
Turkish PM,
(c) MRLee
Inner
City Press,
which has
raised the
issue to
numerous
ambassadors
both for
itself closely
covering the
Council and
for the new Free UN Coalition for Access, asked UN
Capital Master
Plan chief
Michael
Adlerstein
about the
issue back on
April 25, video here, and see below.
At the
May 17
reception,
Inner City
Press raised
the issue in
detail to the
affable
Permanent
Representative
of the UK,
Mark Lyall
Grant, and to
the Deputy
Permanent
Representative
of one of the
UK's largest
former
colonies. Both
indicated that
a table for
the press to
work at should
not be
impossible.
But will it
happen?
Meanwhile
this
month's UN
leader of the
Organization
of the Islamic
Cooperation
told Inner
City Press
about a
meeting
earlier in the
day about the
Rohingya,
predicted
there would be
more action
for them. One
can only hope.
A
person with
close
knowledge of
the Turkish
Mission said
it is no
longer up to
Turkey what
happens with
their lounge;
that the UN
Department of
Public
Information
has said it
will depend on
complaints by
Security
Council
members. But
that would be
lowest common
denominator:
the most press
unfriendly
would win.
Back
on April 25,
Adlerstein
told Inner
City Press,
“we offered a
series of
rooms for
gifting,”
based on a
resolution by
the General
Assembly.”
Of the
Security
Council
stakeout
Adlerstein
continued,
“One of the
areas we
offered,”
which he said
“used to be a
coffee bar...
the Turks
asked for that
area. They
furnished it,
their
architect came
in.”
Inner
City Press
asked, who
decided that
the press
would not have
the same
access it had
before?
Adlerstein
paused;
there was
laughter.
Inner City
Press said,
“It's a press
conference” --
albeit about
the re-opening
of the
Trusteeship
Council
Chamber.
Adlerstein
then
told Inner
City Press,
“this was a
discussion
which is still
ongoing. As
the building
opens, I think
that dialogue
with the press
will evolve.”
While
Inner City
Press didn't
say it, the
UN's dialogue
on press
access,
accreditation
and other
matters can no
longer by
limited to the
old UN
Correspondents'
Association.
UNCA
has been
ineffectual;
worse, it has
tried to get
the UN to
throw out
media that the
wire services
that dominate
the UNCA
Executive
Committee
don't like.
Charbonneau
of Reuters
& UNCA
shakes with
Ban: on what?
(c) Luiz
Rampelotto of
FUNCA
Those
individuals
were present
Friday night,
some of them
fresh off
anonymous
social media
attacks on
smaller media.
That is
disgusting,
and triggers
this footnote
and soon more.
UNCA has
become, at
least at the
level of the
Executive
Committee, the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
Despite
DPI knowing
full well of
UNCA's turn
into
censorship and
anonymous
attacks, they
are given
a large
prominent
space that
others cannot
use.
And, with
their
increasing and
unchecked use
of anonymity,
the UN
Cowardice
Association.
Even on this
issue which
they claimed
to be working
on, they
cannot be
relied on.
Watch this
site.