Rozerin Gültekin-Elfazi Toral

 

ISTANBUL - Speaking about the murder, arrest and criminalisation of journalists, women underlined that the Free Press is revealing the truth despite everything and emphasised the need to increase the common struggle.

 

On 19 December, journalists Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan were targeted and killed by a Turkish Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) on the road between Tişrîn Dam and Sirîn town.

 

On 23 August 2024 Gülistan Tara and Hêro Bahadin, on 4 October 2022 Nagihan Akarsel, on 22 March 2017 Nujiyan Erhan, on 8 August 2014 Deniz Fırat were murdered by ISIS.

 

In Northern and Eastern Syria, 32 free press workers, including 13 women, were murdered in the last 10 years.

 

Following the massacres of Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, reactions from all democratic groups, especially journalists, have been and continue to be demonstrated both in Kurdistan and Turkey. In Istanbul, one of the cities where the massacre was protested, nearly 60 people were detained and 9 people, including 7 journalists, were arrested on 21 December.

 

Journalists and women's organisations made evaluations on the massacres and arrests against the Free Press.

 

‘Nazım came to Cizre at the risk of him life to write the truth with courage’

 

Underlining that the government tries to criminalise journalists in order to hide the truth, journalist Zeynep Kuray said that the partisan press, which announces lies to the public as truth, betrays the society and told about her acquaintance with the murdered journalist Nazım Daştan. Zeynep Kuray said, "I knew Nazım Daştan from a period when it was the most difficult to follow the news. I saw him in Cizre during the period of curfews and self-administration. At that time, he came to Cizre, went to Şırnak, went everywhere, at the cost of his life in order to write the truth with courage. After Mother Taybet was murdered, her body stayed for 7 days, and she was the journalist who reported about it. He was imprisoned for reporting this news, for breaking the perception that was wanted to be created. What does it mean to say that these are not journalists? It is another immorality for someone who calls himself a journalist to say this. There is an imposition on the whole society that you will believe what I say. If you deviate from this, it is said that I will imprison you, I will silence you, I will slaughter you. This is a very dangerous trend. No matter how much they try to silence, arrest and murder journalists, the truth will always come out."

 

‘You are the ones who are not journalists’

 

Zeynep Kuray pointed out that the detained journalists were asked whether the murdered journalists were being tried for KCK and PKK and said: "Is there a single person working in the Kurdish press who writes about the Kurdish issue and is not being tried for KCK and PKK? They have started a witch hunt. People should not get used to this. Not everything in life is black or white, there is grey. Those who spread false news and those who supported this betrayed their profession. Those who say these are not journalists, you are the ones who are not journalists. You are the dark face of journalism. Today, two young journalists are trying to report news there and it is a great pain. We have never dropped their pens, neither Nazım's nor Cihan's pens, they are always in our hands and we will continue to convey the truth."

 

‘We call on democratic organisations to stand by us’

 

Expressing that they do not accept the murder and arrest of journalists and that they will not remain silent, Gazete Patika reporter Yadigar Aygün drew attention to the fact that journalists face constant danger while doing their job. Yadigar Aygün said, "Journalists are being murdered while doing their jobs and this is a war crime. While journalists should be provided with working spaces, our journalist friends are being massacred in Palestine and Syria. The society should stand by us journalists. We call on the whole society, women's organisations, trade unions, revolutionary institutions, democratic institutions to stand by us, not to leave us alone and let's grow this struggle together until we get our colleagues. The arrest of journalists is actually an attack on the people's right to information. The arrest of 7 journalists means that many news, many rights violations, torture, many labour protests, many massacres of women, child abuse will not be revealed. That is why we all need to protect our right to information."

 

‘The never-ending tradition of the Free Press’

 

Newroz Unverdi, a member of the Women's Time Association, said that the detention, arrest and murder policies against journalists are described as torture and emphasised that freedom of the press is increasingly restricted. Newroz Unverdi pointed to journalists Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan who were murdered on 19 December and said: "While their colleagues wanted to commemorate the murdered journalists and raise voice against the attack, they were detained under torture and then 7 journalists were arrested. This is a very clear picture of how Turkey views the Free Press. This picture is a clear indication that the state is trying to keep the society away from the truth and only opens space for journalists who are in favour of themselves. There is a never-ending tradition of Free Press in Turkey and Kurdistan. A new journalist takes over the camera of every fallen and arrested journalist and tries to bring the truth to the public again."

 

‘Solidarity is the best way of struggle’

 

Reminding that the repressive policies against both journalists and society are aimed at ‘silencing’, Nesteren Davutoğlu, Coordination member of the Union for Democracy (DİB), underlined that everyone has the right to freedom of expression and thought. Nesteren Davutoğlu said, "There is something called the search for rights. Journalist friends were doing their duty. Journalism is a profession for the public's right to be informed. We condemn these pressures. Nothing will be solved with violence. The struggle for rights is through democratic means. Solidarity is the best way of struggle. In solidarity, it is possible to show that what is being done is unjust. Some press channels are closed to us and ignore what we say. However, freedom of information is one of the most important rights for the progress of a society. No government that suppresses peoples has been able to impose something by force and for a long time. Without freedom of the press, we would not be able to hear each other. Nothing can be gained through violence."