Istanbul thrives as Arab media hub despite Khashoggi anxiety

Istanbul, the buzzing Turkish metropolis where Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared two weeks ago, has since the Arab Spring become a hub for Arabic-language media despite Turkey’s own reputation for eroding press freedoms.

Arabic-language journalists from countries who have found refuge in the city from authoritarian regimes or war say they have been rattled by the disappearance of Khashoggi but still believe they enjoy greater freedoms in Turkey than at home.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, also considered dividing his time between Washington, where he lived since 2017, and Istanbul, where he was seeking to arrange the paperwork to marry his Turkish fiancee. But he has not been seen since October 2 after he visited Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.

Turkish officials say they believe he was murdered, a claim initially denied by Saudi Arabia although unconfirmed US reports have said Riyadh may be about to suggest he died during an interrogation that went wrong.

Rallies in front of the consulate demanding answers after Khashoggi’s disappearance have brought together Arab journalists and intellectuals based in Istanbul, showing the strength of the exiled community.

The community is dominated by nationals from countries caught up in the uprisings during the Arab Spring such as Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Libya. One of the most visible of Khashoggi’s Istanbul-based supporters has been Ayman Nour, the Egyptian chief of opposition broadcaster El-Sharq, who also heads the secular and liberal Egyptian opposition party, Al-Ghad.

"Istanbul has given us a free space that doesn’t exist in the Arab world, not to mention the fact that Turkey supported the Arab Spring which gave birth to the majority of the media based here," 54-year-old Nour said in his Istanbul office.

Although the editorial line of numerous media established in Istanbul is favourable to political Islam-based parties, El-Sharq prides itself on bringing journalists from different political currents.

Nour served jail time under former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and then opposed both Islamist ex-president Mohamed Mursi and current leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who came to power after Mursi was ousted by the military in July 2013.

The channel employs 135 journalists and technicians, and launched in 2014, owing much of its success in the Arab world to its main programme "Maa Moataz". The show is presented five days a week by star journalist Moataz Matar, known for his lyrical musings. A longtime friend of Khashoggi, Nour said the his case had scratched the sense of security of opposition Arab journalists based in Istanbul.

Syrian Rashad Abdelkader, editor-in-chief of the widely-followed news website Arabi Post, said it is "easier to bring together journalists of different Arab nationalities in Turkey". Abdelkader said the website "does not consider itself to be opposition media against this or that Arab regime but aims to offer readers quality and transparent journalism".