Turkish authorities conducted raids on the homes of three journalists in Kurdish-majority eastern province of Van, leading to their arrest. The detained journalists include Arif Aslan, a reporter for the Voice of America (VOA) Kurdish service; Lokman Gezgin, editor of Serhat News; and Oktay Candemir, a freelance journalist.
The Dicle Fırat Journalists Association made the detentions public through a social media announcement, though the specific reasons for their detention remain undisclosed.
The raids and subsequent detentions have drawn attention due to their timing ahead of the upcoming local elections in Turkey. The pattern of detaining journalists prior to elections is not new; similar incidents were reported before last year’s general elections. During those operations, multiple individuals, including journalists, were targeted.
Dicle Müftüoğlu, Co-Chair of the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association was arrested in the pre-election operations last year, and has been in custody ever since. Müftüoğlu appeared before a judge twice but despite clear evidence during her two court hearings showing that charges against Müftüoğlu were solely related to her journalistic work, she has not been granted bail and will remain behind bars until the next hearing on 29 February.
This series of detentions raises critical questions about the state of press freedom in Turkey, especially in the Kurdish-majority regions, and highlights the precarious position of journalists working under restrictive conditions.