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Arrest of 9 protesting Kurdish journalists’ death in Turkish drone strike sparks outrage

Turkish Minute

Journalist unions and bar associations in Turkey have condemned the detention and arrest of nine people, including six members of the press, who protested the killing of two Kurdish journalists in a reported Turkish drone strike in northern Syria, Voice of America (VOA) Turkish edition reported on Monday.

The protest, organized by the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association, the Mezopotamya Women Journalists Association and the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey Press Union (DİSK Basın-İş), took place in İstanbul’s Şişhane Square on Saturday. Protesters condemned the deaths of Nazım Daştan, 32, and Cihan Bilgin, 29, who were killed Thursday near the Tishrin Dam, east of Aleppo, while covering clashes between Ankara-backed forces and US-supported Kurdish fighters.

Police intervened as protesters attempted to read a statement to the press. Officers removed journalists covering the event from the area and some were detained.

According to VOA, 14 of the 59 detainees were referred to the prosecutor’s office today. At the prosecutor’s request, the on-duty criminal court of peace ordered the arrest of journalists Gülistan Dursun, Hayri Tunç, Enes Sezgin, Osman Akın, Pınar Gayıp and Serpil Ünal, along with İmam Ugiş, a board member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) İstanbul provincial branch; Can Papila and İmam Şenol.

They were accused of “violating the law on meetings and demonstrations” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization,” VOA said.

Meanwhile, the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into İstanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu and board members for a press statement issued following the killings of Daştan and Bilgin, on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “openly spreading misleading information.”

Journalist unions and bar associations condemned the developments.

“Issuing a press statement is not a crime. Attacks on freedom of expression are unacceptable. We condemn all forms of attacks and pressure targeting journalists and journalism,” DİSK Basın-İş said in a statement on the social media platform X, calling for the immediate release of the arrested journalists.

 

Noting that the right to organize meetings and demonstrations has constitutional protection, the Journalists’ Union of Turkey stated that the arrests are “unacceptable.”

 

The İstanbul Bar Association, one of the largest in the world with 65,000 members, expressed its objection in a written statement regarding the investigation of its members. It stressed that it is “absolutely impossible” to establish any direct or indirect connection between the accusations in the news reports and the contents of the association’s statement.

 

“The unlawful investigation targeting the professional organization of lawyers, … must be immediately terminated,” the Ankara Bar Association urged, and the İzmir Bar Association also expressed solidarity with their colleagues in a statement.

 

Rights groups routinely accuse Turkey’s government of undermining media freedom by arresting journalists and shutting down critical media outlets, especially since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan survived a failed coup in July 2016.

Turkey, one of the world’s top jailers of journalists, is ranked 158th among 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2024 World Press Freedom Index, not far from North Korea, which occupies the last position on the list.

The president is also accused of exerting absolute control over the judiciary thanks to vast powers granted him by a presidential system of governance.

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