Turkish security forces raided the homes of 11 Kurdish journalists and the offices of two Kurdish media outlets, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) and Jin News, early Tuesday. One journalist, Zemo Aggoz, was put under house arrest to take care of her 45-day-old child while the rest were taken into custody.
The court on Saturday officially arrested MA’s editor-in-chief, Diren Yurtsever, and reporters Deniz Nazlim, Selman Guzelyuz, Berivan Altan, Hakan Yalcin, Emrullah Acar, and Ceylan Sahinli as well as Jin News’ reporters Habibe Eren and Oznur Deger. They were all taken to prison by the security forces after the trial. However, Mehmet Gunhan, who received training at MA for a while, was released but will be under judicial supervision, according to the agency.
The journalists have been accused of being members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. However, it is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
The arrests have been widely criticised at home and internationally, with many social media users launching the hashtag #GazetecilikSucDegildir (Turkish for: Journalism is not a crime).
Turkey’s Human Rights Association (IHD) condemned the raids, saying they are “unacceptable.”
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Tuesday called the detentions “unlawful,” demanding their release. “These attacks did not produce results yesterday and they will not produce results today!”
Kurds have been oppressed in Turkey for decades and numerous Kurdish news outlets have been closed due to their alleged links to the PKK.
Pervin Buldan, co-hair of the HDP, said in a tweet on Tuesday that the authorities will not be able to silence journalists. “Your partners in the 90s couldn't silence the free press, and you can't either.”
Both multilingual news outlets focus on Kurdish issues in Turkey and the region.
Gulnoza Said, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, called for the release of the Kurdish journalists.
“Turkish authorities once again deprived several journalists of their freedoms under a court-ordered secret investigation. These journalists behind bars are unaware of what they are accused of, just like the journalists who were arrested in Diyarbakır in June who remain detained and uninformed,” she said.
“Turkish authorities must immediately release the journalists in custody, return their confiscated property, and stop harassing the Kurdish media in Turkey with baseless charges that typically end up being related to their journalism,” added Said.
More than a dozen Kurdish journalists working for Jin News and Medya Haber were arrested by Turkish security forces in mid-June for similar charges.
