Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
In Libya, something happened in front of all of us. That was the famous “humiliation” in the tent, Gaddafi's humiliation. The incident is as follows: October 6, we are waiting; we have settled in a hotel and we are going to meet with Gaddafi. It is not known where and how we will meet. Because Gaddafi is a politician who hides his whereabouts because he is under constant threat. Let's say to protect himself from attacks from the West, the US and other places. On October 6, 1996, we set off in the afternoon. First we boarded an airplane, we went by plane, and then we traveled through the desert in buses with the headlights turned off. Apart from journalists, there were many business people. They wanted to witness this event with great curiosity and excitement. Because Gaddafi was an important figure in his own right and we went. First a dinner in a huge tent. Before dinner, Gaddafi called us journalists. So I was able to go up to Gaddafi. His face was strange. Like the faces of old people in paintings, with lines and lines... He was very impressive, of course, and he had an interpreter with him. A Turkish translator. He said “welcome” to us briefly, on his feet, together with Erbakan. He said very good, beautiful words. Then we had dinner in a big tent and after dinner Erbakan and Gaddafi will retire for a meeting.
Normally this event, the protocol is as follows: They meet, after the meeting they come out and make a statement to the press together. But something interesting happened here. Gaddafi called us journalists before the meeting. We were surprised, especially my colleagues who were more experienced, they said, “Oh my God,” and I don't forget, we asked Hasan Hüseyin Ceylan, who was an Ankara MP at the time and one of the closest people to Erbakan, “Hasan Hüseyin Bey, what's going on?” He said: "Look how much Gaddafi loves our Hodja. Just before we meet, he will call you and show you how much he loves and respects him." And Gaddafi said those words: "I have always been curious. Why is there not a Kurdish state under this firmament?" He started off with very harsh criticisms and accusations against the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey... and we witnessed a diplomatic scandal. I will never forget, Abdullah Gül was the Minister of State at the time. He left the tent in silence. Then, after that introduction, they went back to the tent for a private meeting, and we were left outside, stunned. Some people said: “Could the translator have made a mistake?” and so on. Of course this was recorded. Gaddafi's words were recorded. There, on the spot, people who knew Arabic listened and said that there was no mistake in the translation. We were shocked.
It was a huge scandal. Of course, this scandal was something that those who were uncomfortable with Erbakan and who were uncomfortable with the Welfareyol government were looking for and couldn't find. In other words, from the perspective of “Erbakan disgraced us in a Bedouin tent”... Many people were surprised, but many people were actually pleased. I see that some of those people are now very supportive of the AKP government. There are some journalists. But they were very happy about it. Then there was the next day. The next day was very strange. Because there were meetings between delegations and a joint statement was to be prepared. It couldn't be prepared, it took hours. There were obviously huge discussions going on. After that big scandal... But of course, there is also a completely different aspect of the job, one that has to do with journalism and again with fake news. Here's the thing: All this is happening in the desert, late in the evening, and after the big shock, of course journalists want to report it. We all want to, but how do we do it? There is no internet. There is no reception, etc... Finally they said: “Let's go to the hotel, let's take care of ourselves there”. We arrived at the hotel, it was very late. It was past midnight, and finally an agreement was reached:
"In the morning, everyone should sit down, write the news and pass it on. So that no one can dodge anyone." Okay, that's done. I didn't have much to do with the incident anyway, because I am an external employee of ATV. It was more of a matter that concerned the newspapers. It was not possible for televisions to broadcast at that time. But then, when we woke up in the morning after that exhaustion, we learned that the whole of Turkey was shaken by this scandal. Then the truth of the matter came out. Milliyet newspaper made a lightning raid in Istanbul in the morning. They printed a few thousand newspapers. But these newspapers - they were very widespread in those days; they still are, but they were much more widespread then - were read on the radio, on all the radios. Of course, it was a big event, a big scandal, and the whole of Turkey became aware of it through Milliyet newspaper. Of course, the Milliyet newspaper outsmarted everyone. There was Fikret Bila, the Ankara representative at Milliyet newspaper at the time. He did it. Derya Sazak was the editor-in-chief. Of course, this confused a lot of things there.
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