ISTANBUL - Stating that it is illegal to prevent journalists and broadcast bans in the earthquake areas, Journalists said: "The government attacked journalists because it did not want their incompetence and deficiency to be heard."

 

It has been 26 days since the earthquake in which approximately 46 thousand people lost their lives and thousands were injured in 11 provinces centered in Maraş. While the government, which cannot respond to the public's calls for help, and aid institutions such as AFAD and Red Crescent, do not stop, journalists who reflect the victimization of the people are targeted.

 

After AKP President Erdoğan declared a State of Emergency (OHAL) in the earthquake zone, journalists began to be detained. The targeting of journalists and the publication bans imposed after the earthquake were evaluated by Nişmiye Güler, a member of the Board of Directors of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) and the Media and Legal Studies Association (MLSA) Co-Director, lawyer Veysel Ok.

 

KURDISH JOURNALISTS ARE TARGET

 

Reminding that the Kurdish press was targeted by the government, Veysel Ok said: "Because Kurdish press went to the region right after the earthquake and conveyed the negligence and inadequacies experienced to the public. The fact that most of the journalists in the earthquake area were Kurds caught the attention of the government. The first thing the government does is block access to Kurdish media sites. The Kurdish press has been targeted by the government for a long time and there are more than 60 Kurdish journalists in prison today. The attacks on the Kurdish media have spread to the whole media today."

 

Stating that the government's orientation towards Kurdish journalists also determines its approach to the Kurdish problem, Ok continued his words as follows: "While Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu thanked all countries that helped Turkey due to the earthquake in all languages, he did not thank in Kurdish. This is a reflection of the government's approach to the Kurdish Questions. It is necessary to raise a common voice against these pressures on the Kurdish press. In order to defend the rights of journalists, it is necessary to be principled, not discriminatory. It is not possible to close 304 sites in one day after the earthquake. This decision itself is both unlawful and political.”

 

JOURNALISTS WERE THERE BEFORE THE GOVERNMENT

 

Nişmiye Güler, a member of the Board of Directors of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), who followed the developments in the earthquake area on site, said: "The state came to the region late and that no aid was delivered to the villages and neighborhoods yet. Because of all these shortcomings, the state tries to prevent the journalists in the region from reaching the public with the truth. The government does not want its own failure to be seen. We saw on the spot that AFAD and Kızılay, the institutions of the state, did not provide aid and still did not reach the people.”

 

Reminding that the Free Press had been subjected to such obstacles before, Güler said: "The state knows how the Free Press would take a position in such situations and give examples of what happened in the Roboski Massacre and the Elazig earthquake. Whatever needs to be said, the Free Press says and reflects it everywhere. There should be solidarity among journalists. We have a lot of imprisoned journalist friends, and no one listens to this. There are still journalists who follow in their footsteps, at least on the path they left.”