 annual fundraising event.){kind=link}
Bünyamin Tekin
Turkish journalists living in exile gathered in Germany on Saturday for the International Journalists Association’s (IJA) annual fundraising event.
The IJA is based in Germany and supports dozens of news platforms run by journalists in exile, including Turkish Minute.
The event featured speeches, live broadcasts, documentaries and appeals for public support to help independent media survive in exile.
Organizers said more than 100 people worked behind the scenes to coordinate the program, which was live-streamed to a global audience.
Speakers emphasized the role of journalists forced to flee Turkey and their efforts to continue reporting despite limited resources and digital censorship.
Audience members were urged to become monthly donors through a simplified three-step support process available online.
The association set a target of 3,000 new monthly donors, up from 2,000 in the previous year.
Organizers said financial support was needed to maintain satellite television broadcasts, digital platforms and training programs.
Viewers from across Europe, North America and other regions joined the livestream and sent in messages of support.
Journalists described the program as a “call to conscience” and stressed the importance of collective action.
The event included testimonials from reporters who launched YouTube channels, websites and podcasts after fleeing Turkey.
Cevheri Güven, an investigative journalist based in Germany, said digital platforms are increasingly restricting access to independent content.
Güven warned that relying solely on platforms like Google and YouTube puts critical news outlets at risk of disappearing from public view.
He said he brought the issue of algorithmic suppression to United Nations officials in March.
Sevinç Özarslan, a Turkish journalist living in exile, shared an emotional story about receiving a letter from a jailed colleague while she was working in a warehouse in Germany.
She said the letter asked whether anything was being done to support those still imprisoned.
Özarslan said that moment pushed her to dedicate herself to amplifying the voices of political prisoners and their families.
Fatma Zibak, editor-in-chief of Turkish Minute, also participated in the event and emphasized the importance of delivering independent news in English to international audiences.
Several documentary trailers were shown during the event, including films focused on wrongful imprisonment, torture and forced migration.
Filmmaker Nedim Hazar introduced a new short film project and said full-length versions could be developed with enough support.
A trailer for the feature film “Exodus,” directed by Serkan Nihat, was screened during the broadcast.
Organizers said the film, supported by IJA donors, has won multiple awards at international film festivals and will be released on streaming platforms in May.
Gonca Kara, chair of the Tenkil Museum board, joined the program to call for a permanent space to display the museum’s growing archive of repression-related materials.
The Tenkil Museum is a civil initiative dedicated to sustaining the memory of the victims of Turkey’s massive crackdown on the Gülen movement.
Tenkil means “purge” in Turkish, and the Tenkil Museum aims to highlight the human cost of Turkey’s persecution of the faith-based Gülen movement since a failed coup d’état in July 2016.
The Turkish government accuses the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, of orchestrating the attempted coup, although the movement denies any involvement in it. Turkey’s narrative about the movement has been met with skepticism outside the country, with the US and the EU refusing to comply with Ankara’s demands to designate the group as a terrorist organization.
Kara said she lost two children during the post-2016 purge in Turkey and emphasized the need to preserve memory through tangible artifacts.
The museum currently operates as a mobile exhibit and is seeking support for locations in Germany and the United States.
Young journalists presented media projects supported by the IJA, including NOK Digital, Voice and Deutsche Bold.
Organizers ended the event by thanking supporters and renewing their call for solidarity.
They said journalists in exile cannot continue without the financial and moral support of their audiences.
They also warned that as social media platforms limit reach, community backing has become a lifeline for independent media.
The night ended with a message displayed across the screen: “Together, we are stronger.”
*You can support Turkish Minute’s efforts to engage in independent journalism through your donations on this link. Turkish Minute operates under the umbrella of the IJA.