The suppression of the Kurdish media in Turkey continues as Turkish police raided the homes of at least ten journalists working in Kurdish news agencies this morning.
According to the latest reports at least 11 journalists from the Kurdish news agency, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) and the Kurdish all women’s news agency, Jin News were detained in early morning house raids by Turkish police in Ankara, Istanbul, Van (Wan), Diyarbakır (Amed), Urfa (Riha) and Mardin (Mêrdîn).
Seven of the journalists are women, including Diren Yurtsever, the editor-in-chief of MA news agency, who was detained in a house raid in Istanbul.
Based on information received, 11 journalists were detained in the police raids, including Öznur Değer, Derya Ren, Habibe Eren, Selman Gözelyüz, Hakan Yalçın, Diren Yurtsever, Deniz Nazlım, Zemo Ağgöz, Berivan Altan, Ceylan Şahinli and Emrullah Acar.
Gözaltına alınan gazetecilerden isimleri netleşenler şöyle:
Diren Yurtsever
Selman Güzelyüz
Zemo Ağgöz
Berivan Altan
Hakan Yalçın
Emrullah Acar
Ceylan Şahinli
Habibe Eren
Öznur Değer
Derya Ren
* Gazeteciler gözaltı sırasında şiddete maruz kaldıhttps://t.co/4QVEbyJO3V pic.twitter.com/ZG8UdjB6WG— Mezopotamya Ajansı (@MAturkce) October 25, 2022
During the raids the police also confiscated office equipment such as phones, computers and digital archives. MA reported that the police rammed doors during the raids and were very aggressive, at times pointing guns, throwing insults and pushing the journalists to the floor while handcuffing their arms behind their backs.
MA reporter Selman Güzelyüz, Jin News reporters Habibe Eren and Derya Ren were detained in Diyarbakir with the police reported to have confiscated many books during house raids in Diyarbakır.
MA editor-in-chief Yurtsever was detained in a house raid in Istanbul and many books were also seized during the raid. Yurtsever was taken to the Istanbul Police Department after a house search.
The police also raided the MA office in Ankara. MA reporters Zemo Ağgöz and Berivan Altan were also detained during house raids in the city. Police handcuffed the journalists by putting their hands behind their backs.
MA reporter Hakan Yalçın was detained during a house raid in Van, and Öznur Değer was detained during a house raid in Mardin.
MA reporters Emrullah Acar and Ceylan Şahinli have been detained in Urfa under the same investigation. Police confiscated all computers and cameras during the house raids here. In cities where journalists reside, the homes of their families’ homes were also raided.
According to the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), there are currently 57 journalists in jail in Turkey.
A report published in 2021 said 808 journalists had been detained from the beginning of the Justice and Development Party (AKP)’s term in office in 2002 until that year, and at least 87 journalists were imprisoned in 2020 alone.
A Turkish court in Diyarbakır (Amed) ordered to remand in custody a total of 16 out of 21 Kurdish journalists who had been arrested on 8 June in prison to await trial behind bars.
