​​​​​​​Turkish authorities escalates its policy in silencing opponents

Days before the Turkish elections, the Turkish authorities launched a massive campaign of arrests in 21 cities in Northern Kurdistan and Turkey, and arrested about 150 people, including politicians, lawyers, artists, and activists in civil society institutions, including 11 journalists, on the morning of Tuesday, April 25.

The deputy co-chairmanship of the Peoples' Democratic Party, Tayyip Temel, expressed his dissatisfaction with these arbitrary practices, through a post on his official account, explaining: "The Turkish authorities once again began the campaign of political extermination before the elections, fearing defeat."

And Tayeb Temel confirmed: "All of this will not spare them defeat in the elections."

Silencing opponents

Among those arrested by the Turkish authorities during these raids were "the editor of the Mesopotamia Agency; Abd al-Rahman Kok, and the correspondents of the same agency; Ahmed Kanbal and Muhammad Shah Oruj, the director of writing affairs in the Yeni Yasham newspaper; Osman Akin, the concessionaire in the Khabun newspaper; Kadri Esen, and the editor." At Jin News Agency, Brittan Januser, and journalists, Salih Kalash, Ramzi Akaya, Mehmet Yalgen and Michael Barot.

The issue of persecuting and arresting journalists in preparation for their imprisonment has become commonplace in Turkey, especially after the failed coup attempt in the country in the summer of 2016, which Erdogan took advantage of to tighten his grip on the media and silence and arrest all his opponents.

The journalist from the city of Kobani, Jihad Nabo, explained in an interview with ANHA’s agency: "We are not surprised by such practices, because it is not the first time, as journalists are arrested in particular, in addition to many other violations by the authorities who want to silence all voices that show the truth."

Jihad Nabo asserts that these practices: "are condemned wherever they are. It is unacceptable to arrest journalists because they reveal the truth. Arresting journalists means arresting the truth."

Nabo believes that: "repression of the Turkish authorities seek to escalate their violations and renew its arbitrariness they have practiced over time. We, journalists, condemn this matter and call on organizations protecting journalists' rights to intervene, protect colleagues, force the authorities to release them, and limit such practices."

Jihad Nebo stressed the need for male and female journalists working in Northern Kurdistan to continue working to reveal the facts, because injustice has never triumphed, and he expressed his hope that the detainees would be released as soon as possible.

The media is threatened!

Turkey now ranks 149 out of 180 in the press freedom ranking of Reporters Without Borders (based in Paris), and is one of the countries with the most imprisoned women and men journalists.

The media is also controlled by the state or pro-government corporations, and there is widespread censorship of the work of journalists in general.

Describing Turkey, Reporters Without Borders says: "After tyranny has established its foundations in Turkey, media pluralism is more threatened than ever, as every means and means is resorted to repress and eliminate critics."

And its asserts: "With the approach of the 2023 elections, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime does not hesitate to attack journalists to obscure the country's economic and democratic decline on the one hand, and to strengthen its political base in society on the other hand. There is no semi-systematic censorship of the Internet, nor excessive prosecutions of critical media, nor Turning the courts into a tool in the hands of Erdogan has enabled the latter to regain his popularity so far, knowing that he is involved in a major case related to corruption and political nepotism.

The organization also says that there are 31 journalists currently serving in prison in Turkey, along with another person who cooperates with the media.

In particular, the Turkish authorities are focusing on suppressing Kurdish journalists and politicians, within the framework of what has become widely known as "campaigns of political extermination," a common description given to Turkey's all-out war against the Kurdish presence inside Turkey.

T/ Satt.

ANHA