İSTANBUL - Stating that the country's record of freedom of the press has never been clean since history, academic Atilla Güney said: "No matter what anyone says, there is the fact of 'Kurdish journalism' in this country, and there is also the violence and oppression they get through."

 

All opposition groups waging a democratic struggle were targeted in the context of the Kurdish issue, Turkey's century-old problem, after the end of the "dialogue process" with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan between 2013 and 2015, the concept of war was put into effect. Social polarization has deepened as much as possible and rights, law, democracy and freedoms have been shelved with the war policy escalated in the past 8 years. Especially with the "Presidential Government System", which was accepted with the Referendum on April 16, 2017, put into practice as of July 9, 2018 and which the public described as the "one-man regime", the country was rendered uninhabitable.

 

Thousands of politicians, lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists have been arrested so far. Finally, 126 people, including journalists, politicians, lawyers, trade unionists and artists, were detained in house raids in 21 cities within the scope of the Diyarbakır-based investigation carried out by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on April 25. Among those detained, 4 journalists were arrested by the court to which they were referred.

 

JOURNALISM IN THE SPIRAL OF VIOLENCE

 

Mersin University Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Atilla Güney prepared a report book called "Journalism in the Spiral of Violence" by investigating the experiences of journalists who are facing investigations, lawsuits, detentions and arrests due to their professional activities after being expelled.

 

We talked with Güney about the situation of the press in Turkey and the pressures on journalists.

 

RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS ARE TARGETED

 

Stating that he finished his book titled "The Marxist Rejection of Sociology" on political science, which is his field after he was expelled in 2017, Güney said: "I focused on studies that synthesize theory and practice, one of the narrow and angular standards of the academy. It will be ironic, but being expelled from the academy made me realize that I was in the throes of abstract debates for years, and that this was actually a kind of intellectual self-censorship. I turned to more social-practical issues with this awareness.

 

Stating that Turkey has been under the yoke of authoritarianism and social fascism especially for the last 10 years, Güney said: “Freedom of thought and expression; are the two basic categories of human rights and freedoms on the target board of authoritarian regimes. As an academic who has not only been expelled, but whose social, political and economic rights have been usurped, I have begun to embody a series of work ideas addressing the challenges faced by different professional groups that have an important role in the struggle for human rights.”

 

THE CHALLENGES OF JOURNALISTS

 

Stating that they observed that the pressure on the press had turned into ordinary jargon and evolved into a medium far beyond the freedom of expression and press, Güney said: "We witnessed the journalists trying to carry out their profession in a spiral of life safety and violence. State violence against journalists has been institutionalized in our reports and that this violence has come to the fore as detention or arrest. Recently, not making news, preventing news follow-up, direct intervention during news follow-up seems to have become almost routine. There are many sub-reasons such as house raids on reporters, confiscation of materials, denying the news, filing journalists, targeting the journalist who made the news on social media, forcing the people who are the subject of the news to complain about the journalist. Secondly, one can talk about violence through the judiciary. It can be mentioned about judicial violence that is carried out through reports, investigations, arrests without preparing an indictment, prepared by the law enforcement and put into practice by the prosecutor's office without exception. It is seen that many articles of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) that have nothing to do with journalism and freedom of the press are in operation.”

 

THE REALITY OF KURDISH PRESS

 

Pointing to the Kurdish press, Güney said: “No matter what anyone says, there is the fact of 'Kurdish journalism' in this country, and there is also the violence and oppression they experience. From the Roboski Massacre to the murder of Kemal Kurkut, to the news of two citizens thrown from a helicopter in Van, they signed the news that would bring the government down in a democratic country. Despite all the disinformation in the Syrian civil war, they wrote the truth. Their news was carefully followed by many international media organizations. This tradition of journalism, which requires personal effort and dedication, is struggling with the spiral of violence that I have summarized above, despite all the economic difficulties. There is no journalist in the region who has not been arrested or prosecuted at least once. Their agencies have been shut down many times, and numerous publication bans have been imposed on their websites. Almost half of the journalists I interviewed while conducting this study are currently in prison, and the rest continue to do journalism under threat, in the multiple lawsuits filed against them.”

 

'OPERATION IS LINKED TO ELECTION'

 

Referring to the recent detentions and arrests in Amed, Güney stated that the operation is closely linked to the 14 May elections, where the probability of losing power was very high. Güney continued: “In this operation, journalists who would provide information flow during the election process, lawyers organized for ballot box security, artists who supported the Green Left Party, and Kurdish politicians were detained. This general situation shows that the operation is directed towards elections. This operation was carried out to arrest people who will be influential in the election process and during the voting, to turn the process in their favor, and to intimidate and intimidate especially the Kurdish voters.”