‘Know your place,’ Turkey’s Erdogan tells NY Times

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a critical editorial, accuses The New York Times of meddling in Turkey’s affairs, and angrily tells the US daily to “know your place.”

In a growing controversy over media rights in Turkey — ahead of the June 7 legislative polls — Erdogan blasts an “impolite” editorial in The New York Times last week which, he claimed, “literally gave orders to the United States.

“As a newspaper, you [The New York Times] should know your place,” he said in a televised speech in Istanbul.

“You are meddling in Turkey’s affairs by writing something like this. By publishing this editorial, you are overstepping the limits of freedom,” he went on.

The New York Times had on Friday published a editorial entitled “Dark Clouds over Turkey,” which was deeply critical of Erdogan’s rule, and accusing him of a crackdown ahead of the polls.

“The United States and Turkey’s other NATO allies should be urging (Erdogan) to turn away from this destructive path,” wrote The New York Times editorial.

Erdogan spat back: “Who are you? Could you say something like this to the US administration?”

The editorial referred to attacks by Erdogan on the Dogan Media Group, which owns the Hurriyet daily, over its coverage of the death sentence handed to former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi.

— AFP