DİYARBAKIR - Noting that journalists are arrested for writing the truth, DFG Co-chair Dicle Müftüoğlu and MKGP Spokesperson Roza Metîna emphasized that Free Press employees will not bow down to pressure and will continue their work.

 

Mezopotamya Agency (MA) Editor-in-Chief Diren Yurtsever, MA reporters Berivan Altan, Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Ceylan Şahinli, Emrullah Acar and JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznur Değer, who were detained on October 25 under torture as part of the Ankara-based investigation, were arrested on Saturday, October 29, on charges of "being a member of a terrorist organisation".

 

Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chair Dicle Müftüoğlu and Mesopotamia Women Journalists Platform (MKGP) Spokesperson Roza Metîna evaluated the arrests and the pressure on the press.

 

THE PROCESS AFTER 2016

 

Turkey has regressed on freedom of press and expression for many years, DFG Co-chairperson Dicle Müftüoğlu said: "This situation is also reflected in the reports of international press and rights organisations. Especially with the state of emergency declared after the so-called coup attempt in 2016, it was put into complete pressure. There is no tolerance for even a single person who speaks out of the rhetoric of the government. The pressure in the country is increasing day by day. We can see this from the economic crisis, the aggravation of the isolation in Imrali, the state of war, and the use of chemical weapons in the Federated Kurdistan Region.”

 

'JOURNALISTS ARE TARGETED AFTER CHEMICAL WEAPONS'

 

Noting that there are many violations of rights and that journalists who bring up these violations are targeted, Müftüoğlu said: "The last example of this is 9 colleagues who were arrested. Instead of calling independent committees to duty against the images of Turkey using chemical weapons, Turkish state pursued a policy of repression. The state of war in the Federated Kurdistan Region had actually been going on for two years, but for the first time its dimensions have come to light. For the first time, the government felt the need to make a statement on this issue, even through denial, and put this issue on its agenda. Our friends were targeted for writing about the violations against the Kurdish people and the resistance of the Kurdish people. They tried to prevent this situation from happening.”

 

'PRESSURE WILL INCREASE WITH CENSORSHIP LAW'

 

Referring to the future reflections of the Censorship Law passed by the Parliament, Müftüoğlu said: "Censorship law was accepted despite all the objections of the opposition and professional organisations. They have been working under censorship for a long time as Kurdish journalists. We, as Kurdish journalists, saw in our own lives what the Censorship Law means because even when there was no such law, Kurdish journalists were unfortunately targeted much more because of informing the society. We have said that these pressures will increase with the censorship law and we have experienced an example of this once again. We can say that this will continue to multiply.”

 

'THE PERPETRATORS OF KONYA MASSACRE WERE RELEASED'

 

Adding that the questions asked to the journalists during the trial were tragicomic, Müftüoğlu said: “While our friends were being detained, they were tried to be criminalized by the government media and the police, their heads were tried to be bowed down. Our friends were asked about their news stories. One of the simplest examples was a racist massacre against the Dedeoğlu family, 7 members of a family were murdered just because they were Kurds. It was these journalists who revealed the massacre, they published the details and served them to the world public opinion. What a coincidence, the trial of this massacre was held yesterday and the perpetrators were released, but the journalists who exposed this massacre were arrested. In fact, it was intended to give a message to the society, to all journalists. It was stated how journalists would be targeted if such facts were revealed.”

 

CALL FOR JOINT STRUGGLE

 

Müftüoğlu said: "There are problems with freedom in Turkey and there are always efforts to change the agenda in Turkey. That's why they always attack the free press first. At the same time, the elections are approaching, the current government is targeting the free press in order to be successful in the election and to prevent the mistakes it has made. 30 years of free press tradition has not bowed down. This tradition did not bow down to massacres and bombings, and it will not bow down from now on. We continue to do our job to inform the public. We state that our friends should be released. We will fight for it. In this sense, we have a call to other journalists, we need to respond and resist this attack together in order to defend journalism, and we call on everyone to fight together.”