Expression Interrupted

Journalists and academics bear the brunt of the massive crackdown on freedom of expression in Turkey. Scores of them are currently subject to criminal investigations or behind bars. This website is dedicated to tracking the legal process against them.

Released journalists: "Detentions are meant to intimidate society and journalists"

Released journalists:

MKG Chair Roza Metina says, “In a democratic society, journalists need to be able to practice their profession freely. If journalists are being obstructed, one cannot talk of democracy in that country”

AZİZ ORUÇ

The journalists who were detained as part of an Ankara and Eskişehir-based investigations and later released have said that the detentions and arrests are intended to intimidate journalists and society and stated, “Journalists should not face trial for their reporting, photos and articles”.

Many journalists and artists were arrested in İstanbul, Ankara, Batman and Diyarbakır on 26 November 2024 as part of an investigation launched by the Eskişehir Chief Prosecutor’s Office. Those detained in Diyarbakır were Mezopotamya Women Journalists’ Association (MKG) Chair Roza Metina, Ahmet Sümbül, cartoonist Doğan Güzel, writer and translator Ömer Barasi and Berfin Atlı, filmmaker Ardin Diren, Abdurrahman Aydın, poet and writer Ahmet Hicri İzgören, Havin Derya and photographer Emrah Kelekçiler. Erdoğan Alayumat (freelance journalist), Hamza Kaan (Bilge Aksu) (freelance journalist), Tuğçe Yılmaz (bianet) and Suzan Demir were detained in İstanbul; Mehmet Uçar (freelance journalist) in Batman; and Bilal Seçkin (freelance journalist) in Ankara.

The nine journalists, writers and artists detained in Diyarbakır were released after being transferred to the courthouse on 28 November.

Of the detainees who were transferred to the courthouse in Eskişehir on 29 November, journalists Kaan and Aksu were imprisoned pending trial, while Serap Güneş, Erdoğan Alayumat and Tuğçe Yılmaz were released under judicial control measures. Journalists Bilal Seçkin, Suzan Demir and Havin Derya, who were transferred to the courthouse with a request for being placed under judicial control measures were released by the magistrate under judicial control measures.

MKG Chair Roza Metina and journalist Bilal Seçkin, who were detained during the operations and later released have spoken to Expression Interrupted.

Seçkin: “Journalism is under pressure”

Bilal Seçkin said, “In our part of the world, journalism, civil society and freedom of expressions as a whole are unfortunately coming under daily increasing pressure” and added there was no longer any tolerance for a plurality of voices and that this intolerance has come to be protected by the law. “The ‘disinformation’ law, which came into effect last year, the recent debate on the law on ‘influence agents’ are examples of how the pressure I mentioned is becoming legalized. This is a very dangerous situation for society because they are paving a way to able to accuse the whole society,” Seçkin stated.

Call for societal solidarity

Seçkin said that journalism is a public duty and went on as follows: “Journalists should not face trial over their reporting, photos, and articles. We could have been called in to give a statement at the police station or the prosecutor’s office but instead our homes were raided early in the morning. This is intimidation, and this intimidation targets all sections of society. The way to overcome it is through societal solidarity.”

Roza Metina: “If journalism is obstructed in a country…”

Roza Metina mentioned that many journalists and artists had been arrested in home raids and said, “There was psychological violence in detention. The aim of the operation and all the pressure that was employed in it is to prevent the journalistic profession from being practiced freely. The government uses the judicial stick to prevent journalists from practicing journalism. They want the pro-government media to play the main active role. False news is circulated, while the truth is manipulated. Society’s right to be informed is violated. When my home was raided, the first thing that was confiscated was the Kurdish Xwebûn newspaper, which was presented as an element of crime. This is a formally registered newspaper. It goes to show the approach to language and journalism. There is systematic pressure on the Kurdish language and Kurdish journalists. Our news items were cited as elements of crime. In a democratic society, journalists need to be able to practice their profession freely. If journalists are being obstructed, one cannot talk of democracy in that country. It is very difficult to argue on these grounds that Turkey is a democratic and free country.”

“We will not yield to pressure”

Metina, who said that the obstructions have proved the importance of journalism and added, “Journalism is a profession that informs society and makes the voice of the people heard. This is why it is the target of such strong attacks. Detentions and arrests have been used to target the organized structure of journalism, and they serve to prevent the right to report the news. Pressure on journalists also constitutes an attack on the right of society to be informed. In detention, my reporting, as well as press statements I attended or read concerning journalists were presented as crimes. These statements were about protecting women journalists and to amplify the voice of women. We will continue to stand by women journalists when their rights are violated. Our profession was openly cited as an element of crime. However, we will not yield to this pressure, these detentions and arrests. We will continue to defend our pens and our cameras. We will never compromise on our dignified stance. We will continue the journalistic profession, even under very difficult circumstances. The pressure has been mounted for years but we journalists have never wavered in our determination to continue practicing the profession.”

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