On June 8, Turkish police carried out simultaneous raids in Diyarbakir, closing the offices of two Kurdish media news agencies, Jin News and Medya Haber, as well as detaining 22 journalists, including Serdar Altan, co-chair of Dicle Firat Journalists Foundation (DFG). The reason behind the raids was not initially clear but it was later known to be related to terror charges.
Turkish state-owned TRT Haber reported on Thursday that 16 of the journalists were remanded into custody until their trial begins while the remaining six were released under judicial supervision.
The journalists are accused of having ties to the PKK media, according to TRT Haber. Medya Haber said in a statement on June 8 that the raids followed reports by media outlets in Turkey and the Kurdistan Region allegedly claiming that its journalists are affiliated to the PKK-owned Sterk TV.
PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. However, it is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
Turkey carries out frequent military operations against the PKK at home and in the Kurdistan Region. Ankara has also conducted two offensives against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria (Rojava) since 2018 for alleged ties with the PKK.
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), whose members have also been subjected to numerous crackdowns for years due to alleged links with the PKK, slammed the Thursday ruling against the journalists.
“To date, 77 journalists have been imprisoned for doing their work. Journalism is not a crime, we neither accept, nor let the regime justify imprisonment of journalists. We demand immediate release of all 77 journalists,” HDP’s Europe office said in a tweet.
The Journalists' Union of Turkey also expressed solidarity with the Kurdish journalists, saying that they “will continue to work to ensure that our arrested colleagues are freed.”
“We will not surrender our country to darkness!” the union added.
Botan International, a Kurdish media watchdog which partners with Reporters Without Borders (RSF), slammed the June 8 raids at the time, saying their studio, interview room and newsroom were open for the raided news outlets to continue their work.
RSF placed Turkey 153th out of 180 countries on its Press Freedom Index for 2021.
