ISTANBUL - Reacting to the crackdown on the Free Press, journalists stated that all professional organizations should meet with a common mind. 

 

The crackdown on the Free Press continues with detentions and arrests. Journalists Reyhan Hacıoğlu, Necla Demir, Rahime Karvar, Rahime Karvar, Ahmet Güneş, Vedat Örüç and Welat Ekinci were detained in house raids in Wan, Istanbul and Mersin yesterday as part of an investigation by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.  Several computers and hard drives were seized in simultaneous raids on Martı and Güncel Prodüksiyon in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district.

 

Journalists Fatih Polat and Umut Taştan commented on the issue.

 

'THE TRUTH IS WANTED TO BE HIDDEN'

 

 

Umut Taştan stated that Free Press workers were targeted even in a period when discussions on a solution and peace were ongoing and reminded that Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were murdered while they were following news in North and East Syria. Taştan said that journalists who took to the streets to embrace and react to the murdered journalists were also arrested. Emphasizing that the state is trying to hide the truth through massacres, detentions and arrest, Taştan said, “Trustees, operations against politicians, young people and the public, bombardments and the economic crisis... The AKP-MHP government wants these not to be talked about. When you pick up many TV channels or a few newspapers, you will see the same agenda and headlines. Even institutions that claim to be oppositional close their eyes to what is happening in North and East Syria in order not to lose their comfort zones. That is why we often receive news of the detention and arrest of Free Press workers.” 

 

'COMMON SENSE MUST BE FOUND'

 

Emphasizing that journalists were detained in the latest raids because of their professional activities, Taştan added, “Journalists' materials are seized, their books are taken away and their newspapers are collected to create a crime. Those who are responsible for investigating and exposing the truth are being terrorized. All press professional organizations should think of the solution with a common mind. Solidarity must continue in every field. It should not only be the workers of the Free Press who take to the streets. Press laborers who think that they are untouched today should also take steps.”

 

'THE HISTORY OF THE KURDISH PRESS IS A HISTORY OF STRUGGLE'

 

 

Journalist Fatih Polat pointed out that the history of the Kurdish press is a history of struggle. Polat said, “Let us remember what the official attitude towards the Kurdish press was at the forefront of the fluctuations related to the Kurdish issue. For example, if a cross-border operation is to be carried out, a journalism that exposes that operation and takes a stance against it is first of all wanted to be silenced and Kurdish journalists are detained and arrested. Or if there is a crackdown on a legal Kurdish party and municipalities inside the country, Kurdish press workers will also be subjected to this crackdown. There has not been a single process in which this has not happened. In other words, we can see the preliminary signs of the state's 'fight against terrorism' discourse in connection with the Kurdish issue in the treatment of the Kurdish press and Kurdish press workers."

 

CALL FOR REACTION

 

Polat added, "Press freedom is not only the concern and work of journalists. In a country where journalism, which is based on the public's right to receive news and accurate information, is silenced, the opposition cannot make its voice heard. Therefore, anyone who is concerned about democracy must also be concerned about freedom of the press. We need a much wider reaction. All our detained colleagues, including those who have already been arrested, must be released and the pressure on Kurdish press workers must end.”