silencing kurdish voices (photo by diego cupolo)
in turkey the press was always controlled by the state. freedom of press and
freedom of speech has never existed. defending these freedoms, working for democracy, and publishing news on kurdish reality means risking death in turkey. the turkish state with its antidemocratic structure has shaped and developed the press for its own interests. in the first constitution of the turkish republic in 1924 it says that the press is free, however, article 70 immediately imposes the racist restriction: freedom of the press and freedom of speech is a fundamental right of the turks.
even the first kurdish alphabet (1968, by emîn bozaslan) was banned and confiscated. the author was punished.
halit güngen (21, from sirnak) was the first murdered kurdish journalist. he was murdered in february 1992
the next victim was cengiz altun (26, from bismil). he was also murdered in february 1992. 40,000 people appeared at his burial
hafiz akdemir (27) was previously imprisoned for 7 years before he was murdered in june 1992. his killer could escape because the police protected the killer
yahya orhan (28, from merdin) was murdered in july 1992. 27 cartridge cases which belonged to the mp-5 used by the turkish special forces were found at the scene. but also here the murder was registered as a murder of “unknown people”
cetin ababay (28, from batman) was murdered in july 1992. the police did not follow the perpetrators. the police prevented cetin ababay from being taken to the hospital. so he died
burhan karadeniz (19) wrote about the turkish counter-guerilla, about rape by the state forces, and about attacks on the unarmed kurdish civilian population. in august 1992 he was attacked and has since been paralyzed
hüseyin deniz (36) was murdered in august 1992. before his assassination he was already threatened several times
musa anter (74) was the uncle of hüseyin deniz. he was a prominent kurdish writer, journalist and intellectual and was assassinated by turkish jitem in september 1992
sayfettin tepe (27) was arrested, tortured and killled by police in august 1995. the police said that he hanged himself with his underwear but he was strangled by the police
many, many more were arrested, tortured and/or killed by turkish state forces.
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