MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

News Center- In the last 10 months, four detention operations have been conducted against journalists and press workers. In these operations based in Amed (Diyarbakır) and Ankara, 32 journalists have been arrested on terrorism-related charges. In the last house raids conducted between April 25 and April 29, six journalists, including Dicle Fırat Journalists’ Association Co-chair Dicle Müftüoğlu, were arrested.

 Turkey will hold presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14, 2023. As the 2023 elections approach, the arrests of journalists, lawyers and political activists are thought to be a great risk for election security.

In an interview with NuJINHA, women journalists say the detention operations will not reach their goals and the struggle for truth will continue. Journalist Evrim Kepenek thinks journalists are targeted because they witness the ongoing rights violations in the country.

‘The aim is to silence society’

Emphasizing that the detention operations aim to design not only journalists but also society through Kurdish journalists, Evrim Kepenek said, “Those who carry out these operations know that when journalists and lawyers are arrested in Diyarbakır, we will send a message to everyone across Turkey. One of the aims of these operations is to silence society while another aim is to prevent receiving information from the (Kurdish) region before the elections. They think that the more we weaken the Kurdish agencies, the more we will prevent the rights violations in the region from being reported. However, they forget that Kurdish journalists have not kept silent although many operations have been carried out against them for years. The Kurdish journalists always find a way to report the truth to the public in its simplest form.”

  ‘The successors of Ape Musa will continue to work’

Evrim Kepenek says that Kurdish journalists have experiences to overcome this process with their own strength. “Silence harms Kurdish journalists but creates a more difficult situation for those who identify themselves as both journalists and democrats.” Evrim Kepenek calls on everyone to speak out against the injustice practices against journalists. Breaking the silence is, of course, essential for the arrested journalists but it is more essential for our society. Our colleagues do nothing but journalism. These bad days will pass as they passed before and the successors of Ape Musa will continue to work by holding their heads high. None of us will care what happens to those who remain silent. They (The government) try to create a whirlwind out of silence and include everyone in it. But there is a very strong whirlwind of journalism practice and tradition against that whirlwind of silence.”

 ‘Journalists are arrested for their journalistic activities’

Journalist Sibel Yükler spoke about Turkey’s new ‘disinformation’ law. “This law is a blow against journalism. The detention operations against Kurdish journalists are political operations. Many investigations have been launched against journalists to deactivate press outlets. The accusations against journalists are based on the statements given by secret witnesses. There is no evidence to accuse journalists. For this reason, journalists are asked, ‘Why did you report?’ Nowhere in the world, the report of the journalist covering the lynching of Syrians is not shown as a crime; however, the journalists arrested as part of an investigation launched in Ankara are accused of covering the lynching of Syrians. Issuing an arrest warrant against journalists on terrorism-related charges for covering the murder of the Dedeoğlu family clearly reveals that these operations are political operations against journalists.”

‘The operations also raise concerns about the security of the upcoming elections’

“The operations launched against journalists in the past 10 months are against the will of the Kurdish people and the upcoming elections,” Sibel Yükler said, “The detention operations against journalists, NGOs, political activists, lawyers and artists can be seen as a pre-election message to the freedom of politics, press, expression and association.”

 ‘We can get out of the darkness with solidarity’

Sibel Yükler called on human rights organizations and journalists’ organizations to immediately take action against the recent crackdown on journalists. Once, journalist Abdurrahman Gök told me: ‘If fear is dominating a society and journalists surrender to it, the whole society will be plunged into darkness. Journalists are those who save society from darkness. We can get out of the darkness with solidarity.’”