Erdoğan and the attempt to silence Al Jazeera

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has thrown his full weight behind Qatar and is now declaring the 13-point ultimatum that the Saudi-led coalition laid against that country to be "illegal."

The second demand listed in the ultimatum is that Qatar "immediately shuts down the Turkish military base, which is currently under construction, and halts military cooperation with Turkey inside of Qatar."

This is the point that Erdoğan clearly objects to the most. There can be no mistake which camp his statements on the topic put Ankara in. 

It also shows how Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoğlu's recent attempts to mediate in this crisis are no more than a palliative exercise in futility. Obviously, any mediator has to be impartial and acceptable to both sides.
 That is clearly not the case in this instance.

But the real point to be made here is that Erdoğan has declared all 13 demands against Qatar to be "unlawful." This includes demand number 11, which calls on Doha to "shut down all news outlets funded directly and indirectly by Qatar, including Arabi21, Rassd, Al Araby Al Jadeed, Mekameleen and Middle East Eye, etc."

This demand is not only unlawful, as Erdoğan says, it also goes against international norms regarding freedom of the media and the individual's right to be informed. 

Nevertheless, Riyadh and its regional supporters want to silence a global news outlet whose factual reporting has been the bane of their lives, especially since 2011, when the now long-dead "Arab Spring" first erupted.

However, looking at what's happening in Turkey, silencing Al Jazeera should actually be close to Erdoğan's heart, given his strong desire to control the press at home and prevent unfavorable, albeit factual,...