It has been 3 years since Yılmaz Yakut, the “Kalo” of the Free Press, lost his life on January 16, 2022 due to cancer. Kalo (elderly) started working at Free Press in the 1990s, a period of village evacuations, kidnappings and disappearances, unsolved murders, detentions and arrests in Kurdistan. From the age of 14, he worked as a distributor for Özgür Gündem newspaper. During this time, he was detained, kidnapped and subjected to severe torture many times. One winter day in 1993, while delivering newspapers to subscribers on Melik Ahmet Street in Sûr (Sur) district, he was attacked with a cleaver by Hezbollah and wounded. Kalo was saved by the newspapers hidden in his coat. 

 

Despite all the pressure, Kalo did not back down and continued his work as a “little general” of Apê Musa (Musa Anter). Kalo delivered the newspapers that were banned from entering Kurdistan to the people, sometimes camouflaged in garbage bags, sometimes in flour bags or under buckets of seeds. Kalo started his struggle with Özgür Gündem newspaper in 1992 and continued until 2010 with Özgür Ülke, Yeni Politika, Demokrasi, Ülkede Gündem, Özgür Bakış, Yeni Gündem, Yeniden Özgür Gündem, Welat and Ülkede Özgür Gündem newspapers.

 

 

Journalist Hakkı Boltan, one of Kalo's colleagues, said that Kalo was one of the first names that came to mind when the Free Press tradition was mentioned. Boltan said, “Yılmaz was one of the first distributors. No one knows the attacks on Kalo. No one knows how many times he was beaten, detained and threatened. When we looked at his body, we could see how much torture he was subjected to from the blows he received. Each of those wounds are news. He was fighting against the attacks of fascism,” 

 

Noting that Kalo's determination came from the meaning he attributed to journalism, Boltan said, “At that time, there was a death almost every day. For this reason, we especially commemorate Kalo. Being Apê Mûsa's general suits him the best. Wherever a journalist was in trouble, Kalo would run there. We promise 'Kalo, rest in peace, your legacy of struggle continues. We promise that we will continue to do so.” 

 

MURDERED JOURNALISTS

 

Stating that attacks on journalism continue today, “When we look at the year 2024, we see that attacks on journalism are never lacking. Our friends Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan were murdered. They were targeted even though their cars had the word 'press' on them. Where did they come from? They were coming from the news. Just as Kalo opened a space and breathed life into journalism in the most difficult days, Nazım and Cihan were doing the same in Tishreen. They were fulfilling the people's freedom of information. They were the successors of Kalo, Apê Musa, Nagihan, Gülistan, Hero and all the journalists who struggled. We are grateful to Kalo and his friends and all the journalists who struggled,” he said. 

 

'WE WILL CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE'

 

 

 

Ümit Aslan, who worked with Kalo and now distributes the Yeni Yaşam newspaper, said, “Yılmaz continued his work without giving up despite all the torture. Yılmaz was full of morale and energy. When we went out in the field with Yılmaz, he was so full of morale and had such warm communication with his subscribers... Everywhere we went, everyone respected him and called him Kalo. Therefore, his death affected us very much and saddened us. Today we continue their struggle,”

 

Stating that he and his friends were also subjected to similar attacks, Aslan said, “But we could not give up our struggle. Because being a journalist is really a very sacred duty. Because you are a path for people. We have never stepped back from this sacred duty and we never will. Because we are Apê Musa's little generals.”