The Dicle Fırat Journalists’ Association (DFG) has released a statement concerning the arrests of Nurcan Yalçın and Derya Us in Diyarbakır (Amed), which included several others such as Sema Koç, a council member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.
The association noted that this operation is part of a broader campaign to criminalise journalism, stating that the coalition government has significantly increased pressure on the press in recent years, with particular focus on Kurdish journalists.
Two weeks ago, nine Kurdish journalists were arrested and taken into police custody during similar dawn raids in Istanbul. At least one of the women journalists, Esra Solin Dal, was reportedly strip-searched. Three journalists were remanded in custody on charges of terrorist activity, with all three being the focus of a campaign by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“Journalism is not a crime,” declared the Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association (MKG) following the detention of journalists Us and Yalçın. The association condemned the strip-search of Dal and called for the immediate release of the journalists, pledging to continue their work to keep the public informed.
