Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) announced its "July Rights Violation" report. In the statement, it was pointed out that the pressures against freedom of thought and expression increased, detentions and arrests against those who dance halay (govend) to Kurdish music, and the removal of Kurdish warning signs written by municipalities on the streets. 

 

'FASCISM IS BEING SYSTEMATIZED'

 

Noting that fascism is systematized through troll accounts organized on virtual media against Kurdish language and culture, the statement said: "An all-out special war is being waged against Kurds, their language and culture. The arrest of those who sing Kurdish songs and halay, and the deletion of traffic warning signs written in Kurdish is fascism. Since the proclamation of the Republic, assimilation and genocide have been imposed on Kurds with the Eastern Reform Plans. Today, this mentality updates the assimilation and genocide policy with new arguments with the 'Collapse Plan'." 

 

PÊŞÎ KURDÎ

 

The statement emphasized that resistance against all these policies has continued from history to the present day, and stated the following: "The most concrete example of this is the Kurdish newspaper published by journalists defending the Free Press tradition in the years when the attacks against language were at their most intense. Despite all the pressure, censorship, killings and arrests, the Kurdish language has strengthened and reached today. These policies will not yield results today as they did yesterday. These policies must be frustrated by embracing the language more by saying 'Pêşî Kurdî', meaning 'Kurdish First'. 

 

PRESSURE ON JOURNALISTS

 

July was a month in which the AKP-MHP government's attacks on freedom of expression and thought were not only limited to language, but the attacks on the press also became more and more blatant. The government, which carried the war against the Kurds to Federated Kurdistan, and its partner Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) implemented a comprehensive repression policy against journalists. To summarize these attacks; on July 8, Turkey attacked ÇİRA TV Reporter Medya Hasan, ÇIRA FM Reporter Mirad Mîrza and car driver Xelef Xidir in Shengal with a drone. Mirad Mîrza lost his life in the attack. On July 11, KDP detained Zoom Media reporter Hejîn Fetah, a cameraman and the driver accompanying them. Photographer Murat Yazar, who had traveled to Federated Kurdistan to take photographs, was detained by KDP security forces in Zaxo on July 14. On July 23, Sulaymaniyah security detained Rojnews reporter Dêrin Rehîm and confiscated his equipment. The 3-year prison sentence given by the Dohuk Court to journalist Süleyman Ahmet, who has been held hostage by the KDP for 279 days, is the latest attack of the AKP-KDP collaboration.

 

In Turkey, attacks against journalists have been carried out with a conspiracy logic, disregarding the law. The most obvious example of this is Sadık Tapoloğlu. Journalist Sadık Topaloğlu and his friend Mehmet Savaş were arrested on July 13th on charges of 'being a member of an illegal organization'. Topaloğlu was tried in 2022 and sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison within the scope of the investigation that justified his arrest. Topaloğlu, who was sentenced based on the statement of a witness who never attended the hearings, was arrested again and sentenced for the second time. As in June, journalists continued to be openly threatened in July, especially by MHP executives and MHP media outlets. MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli targeted 154 people, including 63 journalists, who wrote about the Sinan Ateş murder case. 

 

341 NEWS ARTICLES BLOCKED 

 

On the other hand, the government, which uses Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and the Information Technology and Communication Board as an instrument of censorship, blocked access to 341 news articles and stopped the publication of 6 news websites. On July 3, Açık Radio's license was revoked, while on July 11, JINNEWS' account @KurmanciJINNEWS on digital platform X was blocked by X without justification. Mezopotamya Agency's website mezopotamyaajansi.net was blocked from access by the Gümüşhane Criminal Judicature of Peace on July 25, 2024.

 

We will continue to defend journalists and journalism in an environment where the law is disregarded, the presumption of innocence is abolished, attacks on language are increasing and all opposition groups are criminalized by the government with 'terrorist' discourses."

  

6 DETAINED, 1 ARRESTED 

 

Violations against journalists during July were listed as follows:

 

"One journalist's house was raided, 6 journalists were detained, 1 journalist was arrested. 1 journalist was subjected to ill-treatment, 69 journalists were threatened, 1 journalist was prevented from following the news. 1 journalist was investigated, 3 journalists were prosecuted. 9 journalists were sentenced to 51 years, 1 month and 17 days in prison. 54 lawsuits filed against 24 journalists continued. As of August 3, the number of imprisoned journalists is 36. 6 websites were shut down, access bans were imposed on 341 news articles and 7 virtual media content."