* Photo: Berat Albayrak / Twitter
Click to read the article in Turkish
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Kayseri MP İsmail Özdemir addressed a Parliamentary question to Minister of Treasury and Finance Berat Albayrak, asking him seven questions regarding the situation of local journalists who have been severely affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
In his Parliamentary question, the MP noted, "The printed and visual media working on the local level need to be supported urgently and it needs to be ensured that these outlets can at least catch a break."
As reported by Sarp Sağkal from Cumhuriyet, Minister Berat Albayrak, habitually sending website links to the Parliamentary questions of opposition party MPs, used the same method in answering Özdermir's questions.
When the MHP MP opened the related web page, he saw that only one of his seven questions had an answer there. Indicating that his six questions were left unanswered, he has returned these questions to Albayrak.
According to the statement of İsmail Özdemir, Albayrak answered his Parliamentary question with the following link: https://www.bik.gov.tr/basin-ilan-kurumunun-gazeteleri-rahatlatacak-destek-paketi/, which goes to a page titled "Press Advertisement Institution's Support Package will Relieve Journalists" published on the official website of the BİK.
As indicated by the MP, the information on this page has an answer only for this question: "Is it possible to ensure that working and unemployed press workers are provided with a salary support by the BİK and all media workers are given long term interest free loans half as much as their salaries if they want?" (HA/SD)