(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF report: VIOLATIONS OF PRESS FREEDOM IN TURKEY June 2000 Six journalists attacked On 1 June 2000, in Antalya, in southern Turkey, Hakki Sargin, reporter for the daily Aksam, and Volkan Gürak, from the news agency Dogan, were attacked by two men, one of whom, Sebgatullah Seydaoglu, is a […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an RSF report:
VIOLATIONS OF PRESS FREEDOM IN TURKEY
June 2000
Six journalists attacked
On 1 June 2000, in Antalya, in southern Turkey, Hakki Sargin, reporter for the daily Aksam, and Volkan Gürak, from the news agency Dogan, were attacked by two men, one of whom, Sebgatullah Seydaoglu, is a councillor and member of the ANAP (Motherland Party). The journalists were taking photos of the two men in the company of three women outside a discotheque. Hakki Sargin was unable to work for three days afterwards, due to his injuries.
During a demonstration in front of Istanbul University on 6 June, Demet Bilge, a journalist with the daily Radikal, was manhandled by the police. A few minutes earlier, a senior police official ordered his officers to arrest other journalists covering the demonstration.
On 10 June, Irfan Hosafçioglu, former chairman of the Journalists Association in Cankiri in central Turkey and editor-in-chief of the local periodical Dogruyol Gazetesi, was attacked in the street by unidentified assailants.
On 16 June, just after the trial of police accused of torture, Mehmet Hüseyin Zorkun, correspondent for the news agency Ihlas (IHA), was manhandled by police outside the court while filming them arresting people.
On 20 June, on the occasion of Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit’s visit, Hikmet Tekemen, cameraman with the private channel Show TV, and Kadir Celikcan, with the daily Star, were hit by security agents at Sanliurfa airport in south-western Turkey. Two reporters with the news agency Dogan (DHA), Bülent Okutan and Ramazan Yavuz, were prevented by police from entering the airport.
Two journalists arrested
Hayrettin Celik, correspondent for the pro-Kurd daily Yeni Gündem in the southern town of Adana, was arrested by police on 14 June 2000 and taken to the anti-terrorist section of the security police. This arrest seems to be related to a past prosecution, when the journalist was acquitted. Celik was released the next day.
On 24 June, Kamil Tekin Sürek, editorialist with the extreme left-wing daily Yeni Evrensel and advocate for the family of journalist Metin Göktepe (killed by police in 1996), was arrested by Ankara police. He was released two days later.
Journalist threatened
The editor-in-chief of the regional fortnightly Firtina, Ilyas Gür, was threatened on 8 June 2000 by the former mayor of Iyidere in northern Turkey: “Watch out or I’ll cut your legs off. Then we’ll see how you walk around the town”. Since late 1999 the editorial staff of this magazine have been threatened and pressured by local authorities because of articles they published on corruption, implicating the prefect of the town.
Two newspapers seized
On 28 June, the state prosecutor of the Istanbul state security court no. 5 ordered the seizure of the Islamist daily Akit for “inciting hatred and hostility through racial, religious and regional discrimination”, in accordance with Article 312 of the Turkish penal code. The incriminating article criticised the homage paid by part of the media to Güven Erkaya, a member of the army who, in 1997, violently attacked Islamist milieus.
An issue of the pro-Kurd weekly Roja Teze was seized by the prosecutor of Istanbul state security court no. 3 on 24 June, because of two articles containing the terms “Kurdish movement”, “Kurdistan”, “independent Kurdistan” and “Kurdish national movement”.
Attack against the premises of a daily
On the morning of 27 June, unidentified persons shot at the head office of the Istanbul daily Sabah. Istanbul police have opened an inquiry.
Journalist sentenced
The Izmir magistrate’s court no. 2 gave Fikret Ilkiz, editor-in-chief of the Kemalist daily Cumhuriyet, a suspended fine of 140 million Turkish pounds (230 euros). In October 1999, the journalist had published an article on a press conference given by human rights activists protesting against the police’s attitude towards the families of political prisoners. Fikret Ilkiz was accused of “hindering the course of justice”. His initial sentence of one month and five days’ imprisonment was commuted to a suspended fine.
Reporters Sans Frontières continues to demand the immediate and unconditional release of journalists Yalçin Küçük, of the left-wing weekly Hepileri, arrested on 29 October 1998, and Hasan Özgün, of the far left-wing daily Özgur Gündem, arrested on 10 December 1993.
The organisation demands a fair and impartial trial for journalists Asiye Zeybek Güzel, of the far left-wing weeklies Isçinin Yolu and Atilim, arrested on 22 February 1997, and Nureddin Sirin, of the Islamist weekly Selam, arrested on 6 February 1997.
