On Oct. 15, in the early hours of the morning, a scandal occurred in Istanbul that remarkably symbolized the ethical and identity crisis in Turkey’s political-media relations.

There were two anti-heroes of the incident. The entire world knows one: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The other was Sultan Akten, a reporter for the pro-government TGRT TV channel.

What happened? Erdogan, after performing his Bayram prayers for the Eid al-Adha holidays with his entourage at the imposing Mimar Sinan Mosque on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, was answering questions from reporters. Then, he was accosted by an unusual request from Akten: “As TGRT news department, we have been following you since early hours. You know we have holiday traditions. We did not yet exchange our holiday greetings with our mothers and fathers. If my colleagues allow me, I want to exchange my first greetings with you and receive my holiday allowance from you instead of my father.’’

“My father is not here, but we have the patriarchal state here,” she added. In Turkey’s political lexicon, a father’s protective but authoritative features are also attributed to the state, hence the "patriarchal state."