DİYARBAKIR - Demanding the release of the detained Mesopotamia Agency (MA) and Jinnews reporters, DFG said, "The free press will not back down and will not give up its struggle."

 

As part of the investigation launched by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 11 journalists including Mezopotamya Agency (MA) Editor-in-Chief Diren Yurtsever, MA reporters Deniz Nazlım, Selman Güzelyüz, Zemo Ağgöz, Berivan Altan, Hakan Yalçın, Emrullah Acar and Ceylan Şahinli, and JINNEWS reporters Habibe Eren and Öznur Değer were detained during raids to their homes and offices in nine cities of Turkey in the early hours of Tuesday morning. 

 

MA's Ankara office was also raided under the guise of a warrant search. Reacting to the police raid and detentions, Dicle Fırat Journalists' Association (DFG) demands the release of the journalists by a written statement they announce.

 

‘DIGITAL MATERIALS SEIZED’

 

DFG stated that he first target of the government, which has recently passed the “Censorship Law” in the Turkish Parliament, happened to be the free Kurdish press.

 

“Journalists continue to be arrested by dawn raids. Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, police raided the houses of Mezopotamya Agency (MA) and JINNEWS reporters, who are also members of our association, in Ankara, Istanbul, Diyarbakır (Amed), Urfa (Riha), Van, (Wan) Mardin (Mêrdin), Mersin and Adana in the morning. 11 of our colleagues were arrested within the scope of a file with a 'restriction order'. The Ankara office of Mezopotamya Agency was simultaneously raided by the police and all digital materials were seized,” DFG said.

 

’PLOTTED BY THE GOVERNMENT’

 

Underlining that such operations targeting the free Kurdish press is not a coincident, DFG said, “The operation against the Free Press, disguised as a judicial operation, but actually plotted by the government, is not the first of its kind. Previously, 20 journalists, 16 of whom were sent behind bars later on,  were arrested in an operation in Diyarbakır on June 8, 2022, The indictment of the journalists, who have been in jail for five months charged solely based on their news reports, has still not been prepared by the prosecutor.”

 

‘AN OPERATION TO OSCURE THE FACTS’

 

Stating that such operations against the Kurdish journalists “are operations to silence journalists and obscure the facts”, DFG continued as follows:

 

“The government, which has no limits in its anti-Kurdish and anti-Kurdish hostility, will never be able to silence the Free Press journalists who cover the reality of the war with all its clarity. Free Press journalists, who belong to the tradition of 'The truth shall never remain in the dark', have never bowed down to any attempt of oppression like this, neither yesterday nor today; they have persistently carried out their journalistic activities for the sake of the truth. 

 

“Kurdish journalists, who draw strength from Apê Musa, Gurbetelli Ersöz, Deniz Fırat, Cengiz Altun, Ferhat Tepe and Nagihan Akarsel, continue journalism with the determination. 

 

“Kurdish journalists will resist against the 'genocide of the press' and will never be silenced. No one will be able to break the pen of truth. 

 

“You will not be able to prevent the Free Press, which could you have ever silenced by bombings and massacres carried out in the 1990s, from being the voice of the truth.”

 

’SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE OPERATION’

 

DFG called on all journalism organisations around the world to be the voice of detained Kurdish journalists and ended their statement with the following words:

 

“The tyrannical, despotic government should know that fear is useless. No matter how much pressure they exert, no matter how many censorship laws they introduce, neither the Free Press nor the Kurdish press will ever be intimidated by threats, pressure, detention and prison, nor will they back down and give up their struggle.

 

“We call on all journalists and journalism organisations to speak out against the operation targeting Kurdish journalists and to defend freedom of press and expression. All detained colleagues should be released immediately."