(RSF/IFEX) – In the early morning of 21 June 1998, a bomb exploded at the offices of the pro-Kurdish daily “Ülkede Gündem” in Batman, in south-eastern Turkey. Although no one was injured in the attack, the explosion did cause serious material damage. Background Information Since the newspaper was prevented, in December 1997, from being circulated […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In the early morning of 21 June 1998, a bomb exploded at the
offices of the pro-Kurdish daily “Ülkede Gündem” in Batman, in south-eastern
Turkey. Although no one was injured in the attack, the explosion did cause
serious material damage.
Background Information
Since the newspaper was prevented, in December 1997, from being circulated
in the region, correspondents for “Ülkede Gündem” have been the target of
frequent harassment by police. In March 1998, the Batman correspondent for
the daily, Mevlüt Bozkur, received death threats.
Covering events in the south-east of Turkey is always a challenge for the
media, including foreign correspondents. On 2 March 1997, Stephen Kinzer,
Turkish correspondent for the “New York Times”, was arrested in Batman. He
was held at a police station for ten hours and interrogated for seven hours
on suspicion of being a “PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] spy”. On 24
November, police forced Gunnar Kohne, a German journalist from the Swiss
newspaper “Facts”, and Mark Simon, an American photographer, to stay in
their Batman hotel for 20 hours – allegedly for their own safety. All these
journalists had the necessary official documents to work as foreign
correspondents in Turkey. As well, according to the Journalists Safety
Service, Sayfettin Tepe, Batman correspondent for “Yeni Politika”, died in
police detention on 29 August 1995. Tepe had been detained on 22 August
along with Ramazan Otunc and Aydin Bolkan, respectively Batman
representative and correspondent for the same newspaper. Otunc and Bolkan
were released on the same day. Tepe was kept in detention and taken to the
Bitlis Security Directorate on the morning of 26 August. Tepe died while in
detention at the Directorate on 29 August (see IFEX alerts).
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Appeals To
Murat Basesgioglu
Minister of Interior
Ankara, Turkey
Fax: +90 212 418 17 95
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