Press and media professional organizations are holding simultaneous demonstrations in 10 provinces to protest pressure on journalists, censorship, and interference in media outlets. Before the marches under the slogan “No to Censorship, Freedom for the News,” journalists and members of the public showing solidarity gathered in Kadıköy, Istanbul, and set off on a march.
During the march, participants are carrying placards reading “Journalism Is Not a Crime,” “Not Disinformation, but ‘Order-Formation’” and “Freedom for Imprisoned Journalists.” They are also chanting, “The press is free and cannot be silenced.”
Dink, Göktepe, Mumcu
During the march, journalists and members of the public who had come to support them also remembered their colleagues who were killed in Turkey. Hrant Dink, founder of Agos newspaper, Metin Göktepe, a correspondent for Evrensel, and Uğur Mumcu, a writer for Cumhuriyet, were each commemorated by name. After each name was read out, the crowd responded with the chant, “Present!”
The press statement delivered at İskele Square was read by Gökhan Durmuş, president of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS). The statement declared: “In Turkey, journalism means standing with the people, not with those in power, politicians, or capital.”
“It Is Your Right That Is Being Silenced”
The statement said that journalists are being detained, imprisoned, or placed under house arrest for doing their jobs. It criticized the appointment of official trustees to media organizations, access restrictions imposed on news websites and social media accounts, and the working conditions of journalists.
It stated that journalists are being targeted for investigating how public funds are spent, reporting allegations of corruption, covering workers’ resistance, women’s struggles for their rights, the struggles of LGBTİ+ people, and the objections and dissent of young people.
Emphasizing that journalism is not about defending the interests of the political establishment or capital, but about uncovering what the public needs to know, the statement said:
“A journalist is responsible for bringing to light what the public needs to know, not for concealing what those in power do not want the public to know.”
The press statement noted that pressure on journalists targets not only media workers but also society’s right to access information. Declaring, “Without a free press, there can be no free society,” it continued:
“Censorship, self-censorship, shutdowns, and arrests are not just problems for journalists. They obstruct society’s most fundamental democratic rights and constitute a blow against the public’s right to access information.”
The statement noted that trustees had been appointed to Flash Haber TV, Ekotürk TV, the Habertürk group, TELE1, and Halk TV over the past two years. It also drew attention to access restrictions imposed on the news websites of JINNEWS, the Mesopotamia News Agency, and Kaos GL.
Restrictions targeting the social media accounts of news organizations including T24, Kısa Dalga, SolHaber, the Yeni Yaşam newspaper, and bianet were also raised.
The statement said that media outlets such as Gazete Duvar and TELE2, along with numerous local newspapers, websites, and television channels, had been forced to cease publishing or broadcasting. It called for public advertising and notices to be distributed fairly.
Release imprisoned journalists
Press and media professional organizations called on the public not to remain silent in the face of pressure on journalists and urged greater professional solidarity. The statement stressed that defending journalism means not only opposing pressure when one experiences it personally, but also defending the right of journalists with different viewpoints to do their jobs.
Stating that press freedom concerns every sector of society, the statement expresses the following demands:
- Release imprisoned journalists.
- End judicial pressure on news reporting.
- End the appointment of government-appointed trustees to media organizations.
- Lift unlawful access restrictions.
- Distribute public advertising and notices fairly and equally.
- Abandon practices that undermine press freedom.
Tülay Hatimoğulları, co-chair of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), and Özgür Çelik, chair of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Istanbul provincial organization, also attended the demonstration in support.
Politicians Ayşegül Doğan, Sezai Temelli, Türkan Elçi, Tülay Hatimoğulları, and Özgür Çelik also joined the march.
