Saturday 2 November 2013

It is not Easy to be a Journalist in Turkey - 1


Every single journalist listed below was killed due to their writings, believes. It is agonising that this is not the whole list, a very minor fragment of it. After a brief read, one may relate to fake-named Turkish Facebook profiles and even to Disgruntled Young Penguins and V for Vendetta masks wearing Gezi protestors.

İsmail Hayırsevener (1958 – 2009)
Founder of the newspaper of ‘İlk Haber’
Became a target due to his writings on corruption
Killed by gunned down in broad daylight while he was under police protection

Hrant Dink (1954 – 2007)
Ex editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos (Ակօս)
Gunned down simply because he was Armenian by a Turkish nationalist
While his killer had been taken into custody, photographs of the assassin flanked by smiling Turkish police

Ahmet Taner Kışlalı (1939 – 1999)
A journalist known for his secular attitude
A bomb package was left on his car, when he tried to remove it, it got triggered
Allegedly killed by an illegal religious organization by the name of Tawhid-Salaam Jerusalem Organization (tr: Tevhid-Selam Kudüs)

Uğur Mumcu (1942 – 1993)
An investigative journalist for the leading Kemalist broadsheet
He was assassinated by a bomb placed in his car, outside his home
Allegedly killed by an illegal religious organization by the name of Tawhid-Salaam Jerusalem Organization (tr: Tevhid-Selam Kudüs)

Musa Anter (1918 – 1992)
A dissident, nationalist Kurdish-Turkish writer and activist
Allegedly gunned down by a member of PKK (separatist Kurdish Working Party)

Turan Dursun (1934 – 1990)
Previously a religious officer, an Islamic Scholar, a writer, an atheist
Gunned down, for this killing a member of the Islamic Movement Organization (tr: İslami Hareket Örgütü) was sentenced to life imprisonment, but the person believed to be his killer, is still on the run
A book was found on his bed entitled "the Holy Terror of Hizbullah" which, according to his relatives, did not belong to Dursun and had probably been left as a message by the terrorists

Çetin Emeç (1935 – 1990)
A prominent Turkish journalist and columnist
Two people entered his car and shot him and his driver
For this killing four members of the Islamic Movement Organization (tr: İslami Hareket Örgütü) were sentenced to life imprisonment, but his brother does not believe that the true killers were caught

It is not easy to be a straight-forward individual in a conservative society. And after re-checking the perpetrators in the above list, please imagine a non-secular Turkey under an intolerant regime for a brief moment. The arrested, imprisoned, attacked journalists will be mentioned in the future writings here as well as the civil liberties.
  
  1. http://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/119396-murder-of-hayirsevener-was-not-a-personal-issue
  2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Turkey

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