As jailed Kurdish journalist Serdar Karakoç awaits extradition proceedings in the Netherlands at Germany’s request, 122 media colleagues have issued a joint public statement demanding his release on the basis that he has already been granted political asylum by Dutch authorities.
“It is unacceptable that the Dutch authorities detained Karakoç, arrested him and threatened to hand him over to Germany, where he would face the further threat of extradition into the hands of the Turkish authorities,” the signatories stated.
The extradition of Karakoç “would pose a threat to his fundamental rights and wellbeing, as evidenced by the Dutch authorities’ decision to grant Karakoç political asylum,” the statement continued.
Karakoç, a Kurdish citizen of Turkey, fled to exile in Europe after 20 years reporting for the Kurdish free press under violent state oppression and several years imprisonment. Since 2001 he has continued his professional journalistic activities in the Netherlands as a recognised political refugee.
Along with many other Kurdish activists working in Europe, Karakoç is likely to accused of membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the armed Kurdish freedom movement, due to the nature of his journalistic work of sharing information related to the Kurdish issue. Specific charges are yet to be clarified.
PKK Executive Duran Kalkan explained why the number of requests made by Germany for the extradition of Kurdish activists has recently escalated:
“Germany is doing what Turkey is unable to do. The European states do not yet extradite alleged PKK members to Turkey because they are threatened with unfair trials and even torture. So Germany has them arrested and charges them here. This observation cannot be dismissed out of hand.”
The journalists, in the joint statement issued on 5 June, stressed, “Endangering Karakoç with refoulement runs counter to international humanitarian law, and the ethics and principles of Dutch society… Democracy, law, freedom of information and freedom of the press are universal rights – they also belong to the Kurds.”
Karakoç’s extradition proceedings are expected to commence in two weeks.
Signatories of the joint media workers’ statement:
BARIŞ ABBASOĞLU /JOURNALIST
DERAV ALA / JOURNALIST
CEMİLA ALP / TV MODERATOR
ERCAN CAN AKTAŞ / AUTHOR
GÜNAY ASLAN /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
SELMAN ASLAN / TV MODERATOR
DEVRİM ARSLAN – JOURNALIST
HEVAL ARSLAN / TV MODERATOR
DİLGEŞ ARYEN – JOURNALIST
AYSEL AVESTA NEWS EDITOR
FATMA GÜLÇİÇEK ARİ / TV MODERATOR
NURDOGAN AYDOĞAN /JOURNALIST
GÜLİSTAN AZAK – TV MODERATOR
DILVIN AZAM / JOURNALIST
KENAN AZİZOĞLU /JOURNALIST
BAYRAM BALCI /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
BARIŞ BARIŞTIRAN / MOVİE PRODUCER
AZADEH BARZADEH / TV MODERATOR
BARIŞ BOYRAZ / TV MODERATOR
SERHAT BUCAK /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
MIHEMED CEFAL / JOURNALIST
HÊLÎN CÛDÎ /JOURNALIST
DILYAR CIZIRI / JOURNALIST
RODIN ÇAVUŞ / JOURNALIST
XAYRÎ ÇELİK /TV MODERATOR
SARA ÇEKDAR- CAMERAMAN
LEYLA DENİZ /JOURNALIST
ARZU DEMİR /JOURNALIST
NEWROZ DEMHAT / JOURNALIST
ERGÜN DEPÎ /JOURNALIST
BİLAL DERSİM /JOURNALIST
SOZDAR DERSİN /JOURNALIST
İZZET DERSİM /JOURNALIST
SEVİM DEVRİM / TV MODERATOR
MELISA DIPDERE – JOURNALIST
NAZLI DUMAN / TV MODERATOR
RIDVAN DÖNER / TV MODERATOR
MEMED DREWŞ / NEWS EDITOR
DİCLE ELYAS / MOVİE DİRECTOR
OĞUZ ENDER / NEWS EDITOR
BERİVAN EMİNOĞLU / TV MODERATOR
NESRİN ERGİN/ TV MODERATORİN
NURULLAH EKİNCİ / JOURNALİST
FÜSÜN ERDOĞAN /JOURNALIST
FERMAN MOHAMED FETAH / JOURNALIST
SELİM FERAT / SOSYOLOG
MEDENÎ FERHO /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
HASSAN GHAZİ /JOURNALIST
SABAHATTIN GÜLTEKIN / TV MODERATOR
MENİCE GUNAY /TV MODERATOR
MAZHAR GÜNBAT /JOURNALIST
ESİN AKGÜL GÜNEŞ / TV MODERATOR
İBRAHİM GÜMÜŞ / TV MODERATOR
LATİFE GÜZEL / CAMERAMAN
SHOLOH GODARCİ / TV MODERATOR
ALİ GÜLER /JOURNALIST
HÜSEYİN DAĞ /JOURNALIST
CANO HASAN / CAMERAMAN
NASSER HATEMI / JOURNALIST
ABDULLA HEJAB / POLITICAL ACTIVIST
BERİVAN HISO/ JOURNALIST
OMER HOJEBRÎ / JOURNALIST
ORHAN İBRAHİM / DIRECTOR
AZİME İNAN /JOURNALIST
FENYA IGREK / TV MODERATOR
DENİZ İKE /JOURNALIST
FEHİM IŞIK /JOURNALIST
SELAHATTİN IŞILDAK /JOURNALIST
TEVFİK KALKAN / AUTHOR
AHMET KAHRAMAN /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
ZİNAR KARA / JOURNALIST
TAHİR KARA / NEWS EDITOR
ELİF KAYA / JOURNALIST
İSMET KAYHAN / NEWS EDITOR
HAYRİ KIZILER / BELGESELCİ
MOHAMAD KHELLO / DIRECTOR
ALAN MAIŞ / JOURNALIST
RENDE MECIT / JOURNALIST
RONİ MEDYA /JOURNALIST
CAHİT MERVAN /JOURNALIST
ARAM MELEKŞAH / TV MODERATOR
WİRYA MİHEMEDÎ / TV MODERATOR
LAWAN MİHEMEDÎ / TV MODERATOR
SASAN MÊHRABÎ / TV MODERATOR
MEHMET EMIN MUTLU / JOURNALIST
ZEDAN XALAF MİRAD /TV MODERATOR
MOHAMAD MUSTAFA/ CAMERAMAN
XEZNE NEBI / JOURNALIST
SERDAR UREK / JOURNALIST
LEYLA UYAR /JOURNALIST
KENDAL MIDYAD ÜRÜN / NEWS EDITOR
SEDAT OKTAYKAN /JOURNALIST
KARZAN ALİ OSMAN /NEWS EDITOR
RAMAZAN ÖLÇEN / TV MODERATOR
HEBUN OMER / JOURNALIST
SİNAN ÖNAL / POLITICAL SCIENTIST
CİHAN ÖZGÜR /JOURNALIST
YELİZ ÖZTÜRK / JOURNALIST
HASAN RAMO / JOURNALIST
ŞİLAN PELŞİN /JOURNALIST
MUSTAFA REZAN /JOURNALIST
FERÎBOZ REZAİ / TV MODERATOR
CÛDÎ RONAHÎ / DIRECTOR
CIHAT ROJ / JOURNALIST
FARUK SAKIK /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
VEYSİ SARISÖZEN /JOURNALIST
MAHMUT SEVEN /JOURNALIST
BARZAN SHASWAR / TV MODERATOR
MAHMUT SIDO / JOURNALIST
REŞAD SORGUL /JOURNALIST-AUTHOR
ERDOĞAN SÜRGEÇ / VİDEO EDİTOR
SAMAN ŞEHABÎ / TV MODERATOR
EJDER ŞEXO / TV MODERATOR
ZIVER ŞEXO / JOURNALIST
MEDINE TEMO / JOURNALIST
AZİZ TUNÇ / AUTHOR
MAHİR ÜZMEZ /JOURNALIST
RIDVAN YAĞIZAY / CAMARAMAN
ARZU YILDIZ /JOURNALIST
ENES YIDIZ / JOURNALIST
BOKAN YİGİT / JOURNALIST
AHMET YÜCEDAĞ /JOURNALIST
