Istanbul: A US journalist claimed on Wednesday that his honorary Turkish citizenship was revoked on the orders of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over a critical article that saw him branded an "enemy" of Turkey.
Writing in The Boston Globe newspaper, reporter Stephen Kinzer said he arrived in the southern city of Gaziantep on Tuesday to receive the honour in recognition of a story in the New York Times in 2000 that led to ancient Roman mosaics in Gaziantep being saved.
But his "acutely embarrassed hosts" sat him down upon his arrival, telling him that both the ceremony and his honorary citizenship had been cancelled upon "the personal order of Erdogan".
"A lavish ceremony has been planned, the mosaic museum has been set for a banquet, tickets have been printed, a professional interpreter from Ankara has been engaged," Kinzer wrote on The Boston Globe`s website.
But the plans went awry after the presidency allegedly sent Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Sahin, who was to present the award, a fax describing Kinzer as "an enemy of our government and our country."
Attached to the fax was an article penned by Kinzer for the Boston paper on January 4 that included a paragraph accusing Erdogan of increasing authoritarianism, Kinzer, who was Istanbul bureau chief for the New York Times between 1996 and 2000, said.
"Once seen as a skilled moderniser, (Erdogan) now sits in a 1,000-room palace," the article read, referring to Erdogan`s gigantic presidential palace in Ankara, seen by opponents as a symbol of his authoritarian extravagance.
"(He is) denouncing the European Union, decreeing the arrest of journalists, and ranting against short skirts and birth control. Strong leaders can descend into this kind of political madness. It`s no wonder we`ve soured on them."
The president`s office was not immediately available for comment.
"There has been a political difficulty but I feel very close to the city and I feel like a citizen already," Kinzer told AFP by phone from Gaziantep.
"I love this country, but it has once again proven how unpredictable it could be," the author of "Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds", which was published in 2008, said.
Erdogan, who ruled Turkey from 2003 to 2014 as premier and since last year as president, is accused by his opponents of growing authoritarianism and intolerance of criticism.
Concerns have mounted in recent months over media rights in Turkey, with legal proceedings launched against several journalists on accusations of criticising or insulting Erdogan.
The president on Monday accused the New York Times of meddling in Turkey`s affairs after the paper in an editorial criticised Erdogan`s "long history of intimidating and co-opting the Turkish media."
"As a newspaper, you (the New York Times) should know your place," he said in a televised speech in Istanbul.
Erdogan is hoping his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will garner a two-thirds majority in June 7 parliamentary elections.
A majority of that magnitude would allow the government to change the constitution and boost Erdogan`s powers to that of a US-style executive president.
