ANKARA - With the photograph he took during the invasion attacks of ISIS against Kobanê, which was published with a report titled, "The soldiers played, the media reported", journalist Deniz Nazlım who unmasked the theater played by the government, unmasked another theater played by the government when he was being detained by the Ankara Security Directorate.

 

Mezopotamya Agency reporter Deniz Nazlım, who grew up in Kırıkkale, first started questioning the conflicting issues he had in his mind about the state here. Being born in an Alevi village, Nazlım dived into a soulsearch, being exposed to assimilation policies in the Central Anatolia Region.

 

Nazlım who seperated from his family and his village when he want to university, took his first step into journalism in Journalism School in Kocaeli University. When his inner conflicts about the social conflicts deepened during his years at the university, Nazlım started to solve these conflicts in his head and started defining himself a socialist. Being involved in the youth organisations throughout his years at the university, Nazlım reflected the ideology he adopted to his life both theoretically and practically.

 

FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH FREE PRESS

 

Nazlım first met with the free press during his years at the university. Following a wave of arrests to the free press in the case known as "KCK Press", scores of journalists were detained and 40 journalists were arrested, Nazlım contacted Dicle News Agency (DİHA) and told that he wanted to volunteer as a reporter in Kocaeli. 

 

NAZLIM STARTED TO WORK WITH DİHA IN ANKARA 

 

Feeling a deep bond to the free press while he was a volunteer reporter, Nazlım started working at the Ankara Office of DİHA. Adabting to his work as a journalist really fast, colleagues of Nazlım said: "He wanted to work on issues no one addressed. He wanted to write about the stories of people in the slums of Ankara."

 

10 YEARS IN PURSUIT OF TRUTH

 

Continuing his work uninterrupted for 10 years until he was arrested, Nazlım first worked as a reporter and then became the editor-in-chief of Ankara office. He continued his pursuit for truth in dihaber and then in Mezopotamya Agency, when DİHA was closed with a law decree.

 

SOLDIERS PLAYED, MEDIA REPORTED IN SURUÇ

 

A photograph taken by Nazlım, who went to the Suruç border during the invasion attacks of ISIS against Kobanê in 2014, became a hot topic in Turkey. After the manipulative news that Kobanê was about to fall by the media organs of the government following the ISIS attacks, a mise en scene took place on the hill that saw Kobanê from the opposite direction and where live broadcasts were made by the por-government media. The “journalists” who wanted to photograph the intense security measures taken by the Turkish soldiers on the way to the Mürşitpınar Border Gate, tried to portrate the soldiers like they were in a battle and took their photos for minutes. The fact that the soldiers were facing towards Suruç with their guns pointed in that direction and not towards Kobanê showed how big a theater was at play. Taking the picture of the soldiers and the "journalists", Nazlım wrote a report with the title, "Soldiers played, media reported" and unmasked the theater played by the government which was the topic of discussions for a long time.

 

THE PRESSURES COULD NOT MAKE HIM BACK DOWN

 

During his time in the Ankara office, Nazlım was subjected to many police raids by the police which tried to make a spy out of him. Despite all these, Nazlım, who was given a decision of non-prosecution in the investigations opened against him, never gave up on his pursuit for the truth.

 

NAZLIM: WE ARE PERFECTLY AWARE

 

Following a raid on his home in November 9, 2018, speaking at the press conference held in Human's Right Association (İHD) Ankara Branch, Nazlım said: "I will continue doing my job without betraying the principles of my profession and without doing anything outside my profession. They harassed me before and threatened me to work elsewhere in an illegal interrogation in Ankara Security Direcorate. We are perfectly aware of where we are working at. We are journalists and we are ensuring the right of the society to be informed."

 

NAZLIM DEDICATED HIS MASTER'S THESIS TO FERHAT TEPE

 

Continuing his education as well as being an experienced journalist, Nazlım completed his master's degree at Hacettepe University, Institute of Social Sciences, Anthropology Department last year. Nazlım, who studied one of the most important social problems for his master's thesis, wrote about the disappearances under custody and unsolved murders in his thesis. Nazlım presented his thesis with the following title: “The Liminal Reading of Forced Disappearance: Those Who Wait and Passengers” to Ferhat Tepe, who was murdered by JİTEM on July 28, 1993 when he was the Bitlis reporter of Özgür Gündem Newspaper.

 

'WE ARE EXPERIENCING THE HONOUR OF INSISTING ON THE TRUTH'

 

Nazlım's family, whose house was raided during the operation in which he was arrested, was also threatened by the police. Sending a message through his lawyers during the detention, Nazlım said, "We are experiencing the honour of insisting on the truth. Regardless of the venue, it is the journalist's duty to find the truth and make it read. We are here, doing our jobs, we will come back”, which was a reflection of his commitment to the truth.

 

HE UNMASKED THE THEATER PLAYED BY THE GOVERNMENT

 

The professional honor and truth of Nazlım, whom the police tried to force his head down while he was being detained and taken to the police car after the raid on his home, unmasked the theater played by the government.

 

Journalist İbrahim Aslan, who worked with Nazlım in Ankara for many years, spoke about Nazlım as a witness to his work as a journalist and a friend, also emphasized that Nazlım unmasked the theater played by the Ankara Security Directorate.

 

PROFESSIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO MANY JOURNALISTS

 

Stating that Nazlım took important responsibilities in terms of journalism in a very short time, Aslan said, “He contributed to the professional development of many people. His main characteristic is to be curious. What brought him to the Free Press and kept him there for many years was his ideological perspective. He became the subject of the free press where he came as a volunteer. He was aware of the problems the Kurds were experiencing and how these problems affected his identity.”

 

POLICE TRIED TO FORCE HIS HEAD DOWN TO INTIMIDATE THE SOCIETY

 

Reminding that journalists have always been targets during the times of attacks on society in the history of Turkey, Aslan said: “If the government is going to launch a general attack against the opposition, it first targets journalists who can give a voice to them. This is always like this. Especially after 2015, there have been serious attacks against the Free Press and other opposition journalists. There is a practice of 'subjugation' in these attacks as well. This treatment towards Deniz and Berivan Altan was made to intimidate the society.”

 

Stating that the Kurdish press brought up all violations of rights in both Turkey and Kurdistan despite all obstacles, Aslan said, “This is how they are giving a message to the society through the Free Press after the Censorship Law. It was not Deniz and Berivan whom they tried to force their head down. It was the society itself. Free press represents the people. This is not a simple act."

 

NO SOLIDARITY, BUT A LOT OF STATE REFLEX

 

Emphasizing that a strong atmosphere of solidarity did not emerge after Nazlım and the 8 journalists were arrested, Aslan emphasized that those who only engage in journalism out of opposition to power "avoid meddling" when it comes to the Kurdish press. Aslan said: "Because when it comes to the the Kurdish question, they aline with the government. Berivan Altan has been detained before. She was working as a journalist in the heart of Ankara. Those journalists were supposed to ask, 'Why were they subdued with long-barreled guns?' Whatever happens, if you summon a journalist to come give their statement, they will come. They won't escape. No journalist is impartial. They can write for the Kurdish press, but they will be impartial in their reports.But no matter where we stand, we h ave to act together when one of us is attacked. Some press outlets published the news about their arrest and wrote that "some organisational materials were siezed". What was siezed was their computers and cameras. This is acting with state reflex. We have to stand up against this state reflex in order to solve the Kurdish question.

 

A CENTURY OLD PROBLEM

 

Stating that the attacks against journalists is a deep-rooted problem, Aslan said: "Many Kurdish journalists were killed during 90's. Journalists from the Turkish left like Metin Göktepe were also killed. Hrant Dink was killed because he questioned the official ideology of the state. This is a very deep-rooted problem. It is a century old problem, and it didn't start with the AKP. While journalists do not question the century-old official ideology of the state, which constitutes the root of the problems, it is not enough to question the AKP alone.”

 

MA / Fırat Can Arslan