Reaction from journalists: Must unite against attacks

  • actual
  • 12:13 18 January 2025
  • |
img

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.” 

View More Articles

14:09 Amara marches in Curne Reş
13:54 March war balance sheet: 11 thousand 585 attacks
10:11 'Öcalan has developed a new understanding of politics'
09:49 Amara ready to welcome guests
09:38 Let's walk together on the path opened by Abdullah Öcalan say young people
31/03/2025
18:52 Prisoners in İmralı meet with their relatives
30/03/2025
13:20 Rojin Kabaiş and Narin Güran commemorated
13:04 Attacks continue despite ceasefire
12:44 Youth: Let's be at Amara with spirit of Newroz
11:11 HDK Co-Spokesperson: The issue is not CHP but democracy
10:31 Special regime in İmralı must change says DBP member
09:25 4 April invitation from Öcalan
09:05 Father of 2 HPG members whose bodies not returned: Steps must be taken for a solution
28/03/2025
14:01 BYC: Journalist Khan forcibly dissappeared for reporting violence
13:34 Austrian politicians: Turkey must heed Öcalan's message
11:25 4-month İmralı report: 'urgent' application to CPT
09:23 House raids in Ankara and Istanbul: 2 journalists detained
09:23 'New system cannot be built in Syria without participation of women'
09:22 One month passed since Abdullah Öcalan's call: Physical freedom must be ensured
09:21 Struggle for peace and democracy cannot be separated says Tunç Soyer
08:48 3 arrests in Ankara
08:13 Resistance at METU throughout the night
27/03/2025
20:15 Resistance vigil in Tishreen on its 78th day
16:08 BBC correspondent deported from Turkey
15:12 Journalist Egid Roj commemorated
14:19 Protests continue in Balochistan
13:50 10 people arrested in Izmir beaten in prison
13:18 Lawyers applies to meet with Abdullah Öcalan
11:41 LAB expresses solidarity with Eğitim Sen
10:54 BAC: No news of Baloch journalist
10:11 Ban on 11 areas in Şirnex
09:08 Journalists release from prison
09:01 House raids in Ankara
08:47 Detentions in METU protest
26/03/2025
08:49 Yves Henz: Freedom of Abdullah Öcalan is necessity
25/03/2025
17:11 7 journalists arrested
09:13 No step on the 'right to hope' for 154 days
24/03/2025
16:21 Protests continue in Balochistan
16:13 New move by women's movements in North and East Syria
15:31 194 soldiers to be sentenced for 'Return to Life'
15:00 Shelling on Sakiro village
14:49 9 lawyers detained
14:30 School boycotts at many universities: Racist attack on students in Cebeci
14:05 Turkey carries out thousand 45 attacks in 2 days
13:54 Youth march to Amara from Amed
13:03 Trustees appointed to 13 municipalities since local elections
12:56 DFG and MKG: Journalists must be released immediately
12:37 'Abdullah Öcalan's physical freedom must be ensured'
11:50 Istanbul Governorate files criminal complaint against Newroz Organising Committee
11:01 No news from detained Baloch women