ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered the formal arrest of a Kurdish journalist who was detained last week for allegedly fostering ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). His colleagues and family deny the charges.
Aziz Oruc, a Kurdish journalist from Diyarbakir province, worked for the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DIHA) for several years. A case was launched against him in 2009 for his alleged ties with the group, which the Turkish state considers a terrorist organization.
In 2017, Turkish authorities pressed terrorism charges against Oruc, forcing him to flee to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq with his wife and children to avoid arrest.
He continued to work in media while exiled in the Kurdistan Region city of Sulaimani.
Fearing he may be handed over to the Turkish state, Oruc attempted to reach Europe to claim asylum. Unable to enter Turkey, he crossed into Iran and headed north to Armenia.
Without the proper papers to enter Armenia, border authorities detained him and deported him back to Iran, which then forced him to return to Turkey.
Abdullah Ekelek, who is the head of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) office in Dogubayazit, Agri province, traveled to the nearby Iranian border to meet Oruc.
Before Oruc could leave Dogubayazit, Turkish forces swooped in and detained him on December 11, according to Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA).
Dogubayazit’s penal court ruled on Wednesday that Oruc should be formally placed under arrest for “membership of a terrorist organization”. He has since been moved to Patnos Prison, according to the independent Bianet news outlet.
Turkish security forces have arrested several other DIHA journalists on similar charges. Access to the Istanbul-based news agency’s website has been blocked by Turkish authorities multiple times.
Oruc’s wife Hulya returned to Turkey after hearing of her husband’s detention.
“This situation has concerned us. My husband is experiencing the same obstacles other journalists face,” she told Rudaw on Tuesday.
Oruc is a “journalist and father”, not a terrorist, she said.
Erdogan Alayamut, one of Oruc’s colleagues in Istanbul, told Rudaw the Turkish authorities are well aware Oruc is a journalist.
“They and we know that Aziz Oruc is and has been a journalist for the last 7-8 years. We call for the immediate release of our colleague Aziz Oruc. He has been detained for six days, experiencing all sorts of torture by the Iranian government,” he said.
Mustafa Kuleli, head of Turkey’s Journalists’ Syndicate, told Rudaw: “The pro-government media have definitely received instructions from somewhere to introduce Aziz Oruc as a terrorist … and lynch him.”
Kuleli called for the “universal rights of journalists” to be respected in Turkey.
Turkey ranked 157 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom index for 2019, making it one of the world’s most prolific jailers of journalists.
The pro-Kurdish HDP slammed the Turkish government and media outlets on Wednesday for branding Oruc a “terrorist”.
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