Social media posts, news stories, travel destinations and attendance to a funeral were among the questions the Kurdish journalists were asked at the Ankara court house on Friday as they gave their initial statements in front of prosecutors after four days in police custody.
The 11 journalists working for Kurdish-focused Mezopotamya Agency and all-women Jin News were arrested on 25 October in house raids. They were not informed on why they were arrested, but pro-government media reported terrorism as the reason.
A total of eight prosecutors were tasked with questioning journalists Diren Yurtsever, Deniz Nazlım, Berivan Altan, Selman Güzelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Emrullah Acar, Ceylan Şahinli, Habibe Eren, Öznur Değer and Mehmet Günhan, Mezopotamya reported.
Journalists were asked why they joined the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG), a professional organisation of mostly journalists from Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast. Other questions included why they attended the funeral of Nagihan Akarsel, a journalist and academic who was assassinated last month in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
Habibe Eren was asked whether the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had ordered Jin News to cover Akarsel’s funeral.
Diren Yurtsever was asked why she worked as the editor-in-chief at Mezopotamya, and questioned over a photo of her holding a microphone with the agency’s branding.
Öznur Değer was asked why she accepted an award by the Ankara Chamber of Architects in the name of Jin News. Değer was also asked why she went on a total of 67 trips, and who had “ordered” her to make her social media posts.
Deniz Nazlım was asked whether he was “uncomfortable” working at Mezopotamya.
Mezopotamya reporter Emrullah Acar was asked how he knew Selman Güzelyüz, another reporter at Mezopotamya.
Güzelyüz himself was asked how the agency was funded, and why it covered news about the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a pro-Kurdish left-wing party that is the third largest voting bloc in Turkey. Güzelyüz was also asked where Kurdistan was.
Berivan Altan was asked what methods she used to publish news articles.
Eight prosecutors posed the questions to nine of the journalists, while a ninth prosecutor, the one who officially heads the investigation, was present for the statements of Güzelyüz and Eren. The case prosecutor is expected to decide whether the 11 journalists will be arrested or released, with help from the other eight, Mezopotamya reported.
The journalists gave their first statements at the court house after refusing to testify at the police station, citing mistreatment by officers.
