Turkish authorities should “allow media and journalists to do their jobs and investigate reports of journalists being attacked by security forces and threatened online for their election reporting,” the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said. The warning was repeated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which documented attacks on eight journalists and three arrests while warning that “these serious press freedom violations must stop.”
Their warning came as evidence emerged of Kurdish journalists, in particular, being targeted with water cannon and rubber bullets, detained, beaten and throttled, and harassed in the course of post-election unrest driven by Turkish authorities’ attempt to subvert the democratic process and stop democratically elected Kurdish politicians from taking power.
The international watchdog details a wide range of attacks on journalists reporting for critical and pro-Kurdish media. For example, four pro-Kurdish journalists were taken into custody in Istanbul on Wednesday. Freelance journalist Medine Mamedoğlu was also detained, reporting that officers two cameras and beat her when she resisted. “They punched me in the mouth, hit me in the back, pulled my hair and throttled me,” she told CPJ.
In further comments, the young, female, Kurdish journalist added: “While I was doing my job in Van, I was subjected to violence and taken into custody. I received death threats because of the video I shared. I have concerns about this, but I am not afraid.” She was able to continue filming during the police’s violent attacks, documenting as they attacked a lawyer present at the scene and appeared to mockingly admit to rights violations. Meanwhile, freelance journalist Oktay Candemir was similarly punched in the face and forced to delete images.
Other reporters say they were singled out and targeted by the police as they tried to cover widespread civil unrest, particularly in the city of Van, where two days of massive civil demonstrations resulted in the government’s e Van Provincial Electoral Board’s decision being overturned, thereby reinstating Abdullah Zeydan of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party as the mayor of Van.
Kadir Cesur, a critical journalist working in Van, told CPJ he was twice deliberately targeted by police. ““Police were shooting at the protesters with rubber bullets. We were separate from them as a group of journalists. One of the officers suddenly turned and opened fire on us,” he said.
Meanwhile, journalists in the cities of Siirt, Hakkari and elsewhere in Van also reported being targeted with rubber bullets and gas canisters, forcing them to seek medical attention. Notably, many of the journalists who spoke to CPJ said they would not be filing police reports, demonstrating a low level of trust in the Turkish police to prosecute these attacks.
In Hakkâri, journalist Serkan Kaya faced death threats after capturing footage of individuals allegedly using firearms against demonstrators, who were claimed to be close associates of the AKP Hakkari Provincial Chairman. Pursued by armed individuals threatening his life, Kaya sought refuge in a nearby building. The individuals reportedly threatened, “Come out, we will kill you.”
Attacks on journalists in Turkey are commonplace. This weekend, the Dicle Firat Journalists’ Association commemorated 6 April as the Day of Killed Journalists. “From Hasan Fehmi Bey, who was killed on April 6, 1909, to Güngör Aslan, who was killed in 2022, 67 journalists were killed in Turkey in 115 years,” the organisation wrote in a message posted to X. “The number of journalists killed in Turkey between 1989 and 2000 alone reached 37.
