İSTANBUL - Journalists, reacting to the fact that their colleagues were released and arrested a day later, and said: "Journalism is making a not to history. We will continue to do that despite all pressures."
Yeni Yaşam Newspaper Editor in Chief Mehmet Ferhat Çelik and Executive Editor Aydın Keser was arrested due to a report published in the newspaper about soldiers dying in Idlib. Journalists reacted to the fact that their colleagues were arrested, demanded their immediate release.
Turkey Journalists' Union (TGS) Chair Gökhan Durmuş, stating that they are trying to hid the facts in Turkey, said Turkey's Syria policy has collapsed and the journalists reflecting this to the public are being targeted.
Durmuş pointing out the situation experienced by the refugees in Edirne is a tragedy, said: "They are trying to hide that from the public. That's why they are arresting journalists who write about it. When we look at the reasons for their arrest, we see that they were all arrested because of their reports. We can see the insistance on arrest. The prosecutor objects to the release decisions of the court. They released our friends and arrested them a day later. What changed in a day? What evidence were gathered in a day and lead to their arrest?"
Durmuş repating that the decision is political, said: "We are facing unlawfulness. Journalists in Turkey have always been targets. Because there were always things the governments wanted to hide. There are 91 journalists in prisons right now. In a country that have that many journalists locked up, we can not talk about the presence of democracy. This also means that in Turkey, the right to recieve news is violated. We need the solidarity of our readers."
POLAT: THEY ARE TRYING TO INTIMIDATE US
Fatih Polat, Executive Editor of Evrensel Newspaper said: "The government decides to wage a war and the journalists are made to pay the price for it. They are trying to intimidate the journalists with these arrests. The opposition must take the message. A strong opoosition is neededn. Journalism is not a crime. Our readers solidarity is very important.
YENİ YAŞAM EMPLOYEES: WE WILL CONTINUE TO WRITE THE TRUTH
Yusuf Gürcüsu, Ecology Editor of Yeni Yaşam Newspaper, stating that there is a policy of oppression on the journalists, said: "Our friends got arrested because we published an article which was already published before. This is a violation of the right for the people to recieve news. You can not do this to our newspaper. We will not back from writing the truth just because you arrested our executive editor and editor in chief. Gürcüsu demanded the immediate release of his colleagues.
Hasan Akbaba, another employee of Yeni Yaşam Newspaper said: "Yeni Yaşam will continue to write the truth no matter what. Journalism is making a not to history. We will continue to do that despite all pressures. We will continue to carry on the torch of Apê Musa."