Wednesday, April 4, 2012
High school student expelled from school for his protest of cafeteria food
GIT - North America had earlier reported on the criminalization of a high school protest that was directed against the food served in the school cafeteria. Yesterday it was reported that one of the student protesters, Abdülmelik Yalçın, an 11th grader, was expelled from his school. According to the daily Radikal's reporting, seventeen students were subjected to a disciplinary investigation. Yalçın's expulsion is based on the disciplinary regulations of the Turkish "National Ministry of Education," which govern "conducting a press conference for providing information about the school without the permission of the school's directorate, issuing statements, circulating them; organizing conferences, plays, ceremonies, panels, forums, and the like, and playing an active role [in them]." You can read the full report on Radikal, or watch a video recording of an interview with Yalçın on CNN Turk.
The Minister's Threat to Academic Research and the Environment
According to the report on the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, Minister of Forestry and Waterworks Veysel Eroglu made significant remarks upon his visit to the newspaper's premises. Yet again, his statements form a great example of the state's criminalization of academic research and publication:
Stating that one of the leading problems of Turkey is its dependence on foreign energy, Eroglu elucidated that Turkey's need of energy is increasing by up to 8% a year, while the global energy dependency raises 2-3%. Putting the scientific researchers on target, Eroglu claimed those scientists to be "itinerant groups" manipulated by the outside forces of energy companies.
Eroglu affirmed that they have identified the academics, who work on projects involving environmental damage and who support the actions of environmentalists. He added: "Actually, I have personally taken down the name of one, from this university, who have made a statement full of mistakes and even fabrications. His statements were far from being scientific and utterly ignorant. He told people 'your water will get contaminated,' 'they sold your water,' etc. We will file a criminal complaint against him. This will be our first time taking something to the attorney general. We will take it, simultaneously, to the office of the attorney general, the Higher Council of Education (YOK) and the university. I am sorry, but such a scientist is just unacceptable."
To read the full report in Turkish, visit Cumhuriyet portal online here.
Stating that one of the leading problems of Turkey is its dependence on foreign energy, Eroglu elucidated that Turkey's need of energy is increasing by up to 8% a year, while the global energy dependency raises 2-3%. Putting the scientific researchers on target, Eroglu claimed those scientists to be "itinerant groups" manipulated by the outside forces of energy companies.
Eroglu affirmed that they have identified the academics, who work on projects involving environmental damage and who support the actions of environmentalists. He added: "Actually, I have personally taken down the name of one, from this university, who have made a statement full of mistakes and even fabrications. His statements were far from being scientific and utterly ignorant. He told people 'your water will get contaminated,' 'they sold your water,' etc. We will file a criminal complaint against him. This will be our first time taking something to the attorney general. We will take it, simultaneously, to the office of the attorney general, the Higher Council of Education (YOK) and the university. I am sorry, but such a scientist is just unacceptable."
To read the full report in Turkish, visit Cumhuriyet portal online here.
Turkey's Scientists Stripped of Autonomy
An op-ed piece by Julia Harte on the state of academic liberty and research institutions in Turkey under the AKP government: "While the AKP has certainly become more outspoken about its intent to assert influence over Turkey's academic institutions, it has been doing so behind the scenes for several years now." To read the full piece visit Bianet here.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Newsfeed - April 1
To sign the inaugural declaration of GIT, please send an e-mail to diana.gonzalez2@wanadoo.fr -- to join GIT - North America, e-mail gitamerica@yahoo.com
GIT - North America is an independent organization, supported solely by the volunteered time dedicated by its members who are faculty and graduate students working on Turkey.
GIT - North America is an independent organization, supported solely by the volunteered time dedicated by its members who are faculty and graduate students working on Turkey.
Three
Women Journalists on the Outside Tell Their Stories
At present 105
journalists, and 35 members of the press are under arrest in Turkey. 100 of
these are members of the Kurdish media. During the investigation known as "KCK"s
“journalist campaign”, 35 people were arrested in one day. Arzu Demir, Evrim
Kepenek and Hatice Bozkurt, three female journalists were among those who were
arrested as part of this investigation. Now they have been released from
custody. Read their thoughts on the uneasy state of affairs in Turkey via GIT - North America.
Journalist Ahmet Şık's
Speech in Brussels and the Distorted Version by Gulen's “Zaman”
Upon the invitation of the Liberals and Democrats in the European
Parliament, Ahmet Şık, the Turkish investigative journalist and author recently
released from prison, briefed MEPs in Brussels on March 28. Interestingly,
Gulen movement's media flagship Today's Zaman’s coverage was imbued with
misinformation and it was "mysteriously" modified between March 28 and
March 30 from a more openly biased idiom to that of a more contained and
better-tailored subjective piece. Read the details via GIT – North America.
4+4+4: The
toll of the Long-Debated Education Bill
The
long-debated education bill, also known as 4+4+4, passed on March 30. Among
other things, the bill foresaw a twelve-year compulsory education (broken down
to three tiers of four years each), the introduction of optional Quranic studies
courses in the second four years, and a lowering down of the age of first grade
primary school students from seven to six years of age. Read via GIT - North America.
A
Poem in Latin to Abolish the Barriers in front of Education in Mother Tongue"
Sırrı Sureyya Onder, BDP deputy, read a poem in Latin in parliamentary general assembly on 4+4+4 education package. When he finished reading, MP Onder said "empathize with this and abolish the barriers in front of education in mother tongue". Read and watch the video via GIT - North America.
Sırrı Sureyya Onder, BDP deputy, read a poem in Latin in parliamentary general assembly on 4+4+4 education package. When he finished reading, MP Onder said "empathize with this and abolish the barriers in front of education in mother tongue". Read and watch the video via GIT - North America.
Three Women Journalists on the Outside Tell Their Stories
Three Women Journalists on the Outside Tell Their Stories by Nilay Vardar[1]
Kepenek, Demir and Bozkurt, three female journalists that were arrested as part of the investigation known as the “KCK Operation” have been released from custody, and are here to share their thoughts on the uneasy state of affairs in Turkey.
At present 105 journalists, and 35 members of the press are under arrest in Turkey. 100 of these are members of the Kurdish media. During KCK’s “journalist campaign” 35 people were arrested in one day.
Arzu Demir, Evrim Kepenek and Hatice Bozkurt were arrested during this operation, and were recently released. Nearly three months have passed; what were the charges brought against them, how were they involved in the media, how do they feel today?
Three women journalists on the outside tell their stories. All three emphatically express the conviction that they “feel responsible to the journalists who are [still] inside.”
She Had Been Monitored Since She Started Working at DIHA #
Evrim Kepenek has been an amateur reporter since elementary school. Due to her devotion to working as a reporter, she has yet to find time to complete her degree in International Relations at Bilgi University. She has been a contributor to the daily newspapers Cumhuriyet, Taraf, Birgün, and to the news blog Bianet.
For the past two years Kepenek has been working at DIHA. During her time under arrest, she was made aware that her activities and telephone conversations had been monitored subsequent to her starting to work at the agency. When she went to Van to report on the 2011 earthquake, she was told by colleagues, “You are from Rize, you won’t be able to endure the cold in Van”. She was able to withstand the cold, but one morning she was arrested in front of the tent reserved for the press. Her friends from the Black Sea region protested in front of the police department, holding up signs that said “Evrim is the brotherhood of nations.” In the news, the press tent in which Evrim Kepenek was staying was characterized as the “terrorist tent;” and on Facebook she was referred to as “PKK supporter from Hemşin.”
“I am going, I am coming” [Cideyurum, Celiyirum]
During her interrogation at the local police station, they didn’t believe that Evrim Kepenek was from Rize. They kept asking her why she was involved with DIHA. Saying,“My family has been in Rize for several generations,” was not enough, but they finally believed her when she spoke the words, “I am going, I am coming,” with an accent characteristic of the Black Sea region. Although she was unable to convince the interrogating officers in Van why she was involved in a politically controversial organization, she describes her reasons in the following way. “My whole life I never belonged to any group. For me, photographing and reporting a newsworthy event, whether it be attended by Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Laz, Circassian people is more important than any form of political rhetoric. Sometimes when I go to press conferences, I find that I am the only reporter there. If we aren’t there to represent the press, there may not be a place for us there the next time around.”
“They told me to get married and have kids”
Among the questions asked to Kepenek during her interrogation was one about a sit-in protest concerning the October 2011 assault on Turkish military forces in Cukurca. During the protest in the Taksim neighborhood of Istanbul that was attended by members of the BDP, Kepenek was photographed among other members of the press with her camera. “They showed me a picture of myself with my camera. What could I say, the deputies of the BDP were there, thousands of people are participating in a sit-in, and I was reporting the news. What if they had taken my picture without my camera or what if it had not been visible in the frame, what would have happened then? It’s a scary thought, but I am certain there are such photos of me as well, and when the time comes they will be brought up.”
Kepenek doesn’t know why she was released from custody. “They probably couldn’t find a suitable role for me in this narrative.” “At the police department [in Van] they told me that their expectation of me for the future was to stop working at DIHA; go get married, have kids and stop doing this kind of work.” They also said, “There can’t be any traitors from Rize, can there be?”
After her release, she was shocked to see the reports in the papers. “I was afraid of myself, I thought, ‘what did we do here?’ What was really strange is that I am constantly brushing elbows with reporters who work at those organizations. I was afraid that when I returned home to Rize, I would be chastised for all of this. But my family was always at my side; my father even wrote a press statement that he would read if I were to be arrested. It would read, “When my daughter was young I taught her humanity, and now she is working in a humane capacity at DIHA. What is wrong with that, Mr. Prime Minister?”
With the excitement of the news you forget, but then when you come home...”
“I am uneasy,” Kepenek says.
“With the excitement of the news you forget everything, but then when you come home at night, the reality of being followed, of your conversations being monitored, and the fear of the possibility of being arrested again affects your mental state. It’s a far shot, but I’ve even considered this: Somewhere a bomb will go off, they have a sample of my hair, and I will be blamed with the bombing.”
“I don’t do anything except report news, but the fact that the [Turkish] government is unsettled by an individual such as myself is truly unsettling. But whatever happens, how could I give up my vocation after having dedicated so many years to it?”
“The price of solidarity with the Kurdish media”
Arzu Demir got her degree in environmental engineering from Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul. She has been a journalist for 13 years; and has never practiced as an engineer.
She has worked at Özgür Radyo, Özgür Gündem and Demokrat Radyo; for the past five years she has been reporting for the Fırat News Agency; and she has been working as a reporter-editor at Etkin News Agency for the past one year.
Demir who was born on the Marmara Adası says, “Before starting college [in Istanbul] I had no idea what was going on in the world. After that I started to worry about the world, and journalism became my way of conveying communicating this.”
Demir explains her arrest in the following way, “They called to account those of us who showed solidarity with the Kurdish media.”
“I share news with ANF and ROJ, and I have a socialist identity. I have always cooperated with the Kurdish media, and I was called to account for this [by the authorities that arrested me] by their making a connection between me and a [terrorist] organization.”
“During my interrogation at police headquarters, which was called a ‘conversation,’ the first thing I was told was that I was responsible for setting a fire truck in Tarlabaşı on fire. With this, I saw the scale of the conspiracy they were capable of contriving. Nobody inquired into this accusation at the office of the public prosecutor. It was clear that the aim of this accusation was to intimidate.”
“An explosive bit of news”
Demir says that at the prosecutor’s office she wasn’t asked about anything other than what was reported on the news, and that she interpreted this as “the interrogation of journalism itself.”
“They asked me about my interview with the Middle East expert Haluk Gerger. I say, ‘Yes, I did the interview. My name is on it.’ According to the fiction they have created we were taking order from KCK, and reporting on what they told us to. I have interviewed those on the radical right as well as those on the left, I have interviewed Hezbollah supporters. They chose to focus on the one interview that suited their needs.”
A tragicomic situation took place while Demir’s phone was being tapped; As Demir was talking to DIHA reporter Çağdaş Kaplan about a news item that turned out to be false, she made a joke that she was going to “blow up” a big story.
At the prosecutor’s office she was “What bomb were you going to blow up?”
In her own words, Demir was released “by chance,” but her colleague Kaplan was arrested. That’s why “I feel responsible to those who are still inside. There should not be any cause to assume that I am not culpable or that my colleague is.”
“She will take those that labeled her a terrorist to the European Court Human Court”
While the [journalists] were in custody, fellow journalists protested for their release, but there were some who published editorials and news stories that questions the [arrested journalists’] competence as journalists and labelled them ‘terrorists.’ Demir tried to bring a suit against these persons and institutions, but her claims were not considered within the scope of hindering freedom of expression.
When Demir exhausts domestic legal recourse, she will go to the European Court of Human Rights. “I want this to be a precedent,” she says. “If, while I am being held in custody with no explanation, another journalist who writes for a pro-government newspaper labels me a ‘terrorist’ and shows me as a target, who is responsible for my safety?”
“I was shaken, but it strengthened my resolve”
Demir says that she feels well. She says, “Neither of us is brave or heroic, of course we experience anxiety and fear. I may be watched and listened to, but I am not doing anything that is against the law.”
“Being arrested was devastating for me. The government reminded me that it was there. But this strengthened my resolve, renewed my desire to continue. I feel good; even when I am old and walking around with a cane, I will continue to be a journalist.”
“I can’t imagine journalism independently of the Kurdish reality”
Hatice Bozkurt never completed her Tourism degree at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University [in Van]. She was imprisoned for five years due to political reasons. As soon as she was released she began working as a reporter for Özgür Gündem; she has yet to complete her first year on the job. While under arrest, Bozkurt was only asked where she had met her colleagues on the paper. She was the first to be released from custody. Later she was arrested again in connection with the explosives found in the Başakşehir [district of Istanbul]. She was released from custody once again. She describes her reasons for going into journalism after spending five years in prison in the following terms:
“Everyone expresses their stance in life in a different manner. Some go into politics, others make art. I had written for newspapers here and there in the past, and now it has become the way I express my stand.”
She explains that her latest arrest cannot be considered as unrelated to ‘the whole.’ “They want to give the message that we weren’t sufficiently rehabilitated in prison,” she says. “If I had not been a journalist but had been a lawyer or an artist instead I would still be under pressure.” She continues, “At this time, legally speaking, many modes of self-expression are being equated with terrorism and associated with criminality.”
Bozkurt says that she “can’t imagine a journalism independent of her political convictions.” She explains, “I can’t be a reporter from a neutral point outside of the reality of the Kurdish community. I have a moral and historical obligation to this community.”
“[The scandal at] Pozantı [Juvenile Detention Center] should be exposed at all cost”
Showing us photographs of Özgür Gündem reporters and workers who were killed in the news room, Bozkurt says, “We have inherited the past of a newspaper that was published with the help of murdered journalists.”
“In the 90s, [these journalists] exposed the cruelty and oppression wrought on Kurdish communities [in Turkey], and they paid for this with their lives. Today those who expose the Roboski Massacre# and the Pozantı Scandal# are being arrested; nothing has changed. If there were no free press, how would these events come to light?”
Bozkurt says that in spite of the fact that she is a newby, “my interest in reporting is catching, and now has turned into a full-blown habit.”
“After the arrest many people came to [Özgür Gündem] to give us their support. An old woman asked insistently how she could help. In the end, she decided to subscribe to the paper, saying, ‘I am illiterate, but I’d like to have the paper around the house.’”
Bozkurt says, “Being afraid is a very human reaction. But even if I were to be arrested ten times, exposing the realities such as the violence at Pozantı would be worth it.”
Kepenek, Demir and Bozkurt, three female journalists that were arrested as part of the investigation known as the “KCK Operation” have been released from custody, and are here to share their thoughts on the uneasy state of affairs in Turkey.
At present 105 journalists, and 35 members of the press are under arrest in Turkey. 100 of these are members of the Kurdish media. During KCK’s “journalist campaign” 35 people were arrested in one day.
Arzu Demir, Evrim Kepenek and Hatice Bozkurt were arrested during this operation, and were recently released. Nearly three months have passed; what were the charges brought against them, how were they involved in the media, how do they feel today?
Three women journalists on the outside tell their stories. All three emphatically express the conviction that they “feel responsible to the journalists who are [still] inside.”
She Had Been Monitored Since She Started Working at DIHA #
Evrim Kepenek has been an amateur reporter since elementary school. Due to her devotion to working as a reporter, she has yet to find time to complete her degree in International Relations at Bilgi University. She has been a contributor to the daily newspapers Cumhuriyet, Taraf, Birgün, and to the news blog Bianet.
For the past two years Kepenek has been working at DIHA. During her time under arrest, she was made aware that her activities and telephone conversations had been monitored subsequent to her starting to work at the agency. When she went to Van to report on the 2011 earthquake, she was told by colleagues, “You are from Rize, you won’t be able to endure the cold in Van”. She was able to withstand the cold, but one morning she was arrested in front of the tent reserved for the press. Her friends from the Black Sea region protested in front of the police department, holding up signs that said “Evrim is the brotherhood of nations.” In the news, the press tent in which Evrim Kepenek was staying was characterized as the “terrorist tent;” and on Facebook she was referred to as “PKK supporter from Hemşin.”
“I am going, I am coming” [Cideyurum, Celiyirum]
During her interrogation at the local police station, they didn’t believe that Evrim Kepenek was from Rize. They kept asking her why she was involved with DIHA. Saying,“My family has been in Rize for several generations,” was not enough, but they finally believed her when she spoke the words, “I am going, I am coming,” with an accent characteristic of the Black Sea region. Although she was unable to convince the interrogating officers in Van why she was involved in a politically controversial organization, she describes her reasons in the following way. “My whole life I never belonged to any group. For me, photographing and reporting a newsworthy event, whether it be attended by Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Laz, Circassian people is more important than any form of political rhetoric. Sometimes when I go to press conferences, I find that I am the only reporter there. If we aren’t there to represent the press, there may not be a place for us there the next time around.”
“They told me to get married and have kids”
Among the questions asked to Kepenek during her interrogation was one about a sit-in protest concerning the October 2011 assault on Turkish military forces in Cukurca. During the protest in the Taksim neighborhood of Istanbul that was attended by members of the BDP, Kepenek was photographed among other members of the press with her camera. “They showed me a picture of myself with my camera. What could I say, the deputies of the BDP were there, thousands of people are participating in a sit-in, and I was reporting the news. What if they had taken my picture without my camera or what if it had not been visible in the frame, what would have happened then? It’s a scary thought, but I am certain there are such photos of me as well, and when the time comes they will be brought up.”
Kepenek doesn’t know why she was released from custody. “They probably couldn’t find a suitable role for me in this narrative.” “At the police department [in Van] they told me that their expectation of me for the future was to stop working at DIHA; go get married, have kids and stop doing this kind of work.” They also said, “There can’t be any traitors from Rize, can there be?”
After her release, she was shocked to see the reports in the papers. “I was afraid of myself, I thought, ‘what did we do here?’ What was really strange is that I am constantly brushing elbows with reporters who work at those organizations. I was afraid that when I returned home to Rize, I would be chastised for all of this. But my family was always at my side; my father even wrote a press statement that he would read if I were to be arrested. It would read, “When my daughter was young I taught her humanity, and now she is working in a humane capacity at DIHA. What is wrong with that, Mr. Prime Minister?”
With the excitement of the news you forget, but then when you come home...”
“I am uneasy,” Kepenek says.
“With the excitement of the news you forget everything, but then when you come home at night, the reality of being followed, of your conversations being monitored, and the fear of the possibility of being arrested again affects your mental state. It’s a far shot, but I’ve even considered this: Somewhere a bomb will go off, they have a sample of my hair, and I will be blamed with the bombing.”
“I don’t do anything except report news, but the fact that the [Turkish] government is unsettled by an individual such as myself is truly unsettling. But whatever happens, how could I give up my vocation after having dedicated so many years to it?”
“The price of solidarity with the Kurdish media”
Arzu Demir got her degree in environmental engineering from Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul. She has been a journalist for 13 years; and has never practiced as an engineer.
She has worked at Özgür Radyo, Özgür Gündem and Demokrat Radyo; for the past five years she has been reporting for the Fırat News Agency; and she has been working as a reporter-editor at Etkin News Agency for the past one year.
Demir who was born on the Marmara Adası says, “Before starting college [in Istanbul] I had no idea what was going on in the world. After that I started to worry about the world, and journalism became my way of conveying communicating this.”
Demir explains her arrest in the following way, “They called to account those of us who showed solidarity with the Kurdish media.”
“I share news with ANF and ROJ, and I have a socialist identity. I have always cooperated with the Kurdish media, and I was called to account for this [by the authorities that arrested me] by their making a connection between me and a [terrorist] organization.”
“During my interrogation at police headquarters, which was called a ‘conversation,’ the first thing I was told was that I was responsible for setting a fire truck in Tarlabaşı on fire. With this, I saw the scale of the conspiracy they were capable of contriving. Nobody inquired into this accusation at the office of the public prosecutor. It was clear that the aim of this accusation was to intimidate.”
“An explosive bit of news”
Demir says that at the prosecutor’s office she wasn’t asked about anything other than what was reported on the news, and that she interpreted this as “the interrogation of journalism itself.”
“They asked me about my interview with the Middle East expert Haluk Gerger. I say, ‘Yes, I did the interview. My name is on it.’ According to the fiction they have created we were taking order from KCK, and reporting on what they told us to. I have interviewed those on the radical right as well as those on the left, I have interviewed Hezbollah supporters. They chose to focus on the one interview that suited their needs.”
A tragicomic situation took place while Demir’s phone was being tapped; As Demir was talking to DIHA reporter Çağdaş Kaplan about a news item that turned out to be false, she made a joke that she was going to “blow up” a big story.
At the prosecutor’s office she was “What bomb were you going to blow up?”
In her own words, Demir was released “by chance,” but her colleague Kaplan was arrested. That’s why “I feel responsible to those who are still inside. There should not be any cause to assume that I am not culpable or that my colleague is.”
“She will take those that labeled her a terrorist to the European Court Human Court”
While the [journalists] were in custody, fellow journalists protested for their release, but there were some who published editorials and news stories that questions the [arrested journalists’] competence as journalists and labelled them ‘terrorists.’ Demir tried to bring a suit against these persons and institutions, but her claims were not considered within the scope of hindering freedom of expression.
When Demir exhausts domestic legal recourse, she will go to the European Court of Human Rights. “I want this to be a precedent,” she says. “If, while I am being held in custody with no explanation, another journalist who writes for a pro-government newspaper labels me a ‘terrorist’ and shows me as a target, who is responsible for my safety?”
“I was shaken, but it strengthened my resolve”
Demir says that she feels well. She says, “Neither of us is brave or heroic, of course we experience anxiety and fear. I may be watched and listened to, but I am not doing anything that is against the law.”
“Being arrested was devastating for me. The government reminded me that it was there. But this strengthened my resolve, renewed my desire to continue. I feel good; even when I am old and walking around with a cane, I will continue to be a journalist.”
“I can’t imagine journalism independently of the Kurdish reality”
Hatice Bozkurt never completed her Tourism degree at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University [in Van]. She was imprisoned for five years due to political reasons. As soon as she was released she began working as a reporter for Özgür Gündem; she has yet to complete her first year on the job. While under arrest, Bozkurt was only asked where she had met her colleagues on the paper. She was the first to be released from custody. Later she was arrested again in connection with the explosives found in the Başakşehir [district of Istanbul]. She was released from custody once again. She describes her reasons for going into journalism after spending five years in prison in the following terms:
“Everyone expresses their stance in life in a different manner. Some go into politics, others make art. I had written for newspapers here and there in the past, and now it has become the way I express my stand.”
She explains that her latest arrest cannot be considered as unrelated to ‘the whole.’ “They want to give the message that we weren’t sufficiently rehabilitated in prison,” she says. “If I had not been a journalist but had been a lawyer or an artist instead I would still be under pressure.” She continues, “At this time, legally speaking, many modes of self-expression are being equated with terrorism and associated with criminality.”
Bozkurt says that she “can’t imagine a journalism independent of her political convictions.” She explains, “I can’t be a reporter from a neutral point outside of the reality of the Kurdish community. I have a moral and historical obligation to this community.”
“[The scandal at] Pozantı [Juvenile Detention Center] should be exposed at all cost”
Showing us photographs of Özgür Gündem reporters and workers who were killed in the news room, Bozkurt says, “We have inherited the past of a newspaper that was published with the help of murdered journalists.”
“In the 90s, [these journalists] exposed the cruelty and oppression wrought on Kurdish communities [in Turkey], and they paid for this with their lives. Today those who expose the Roboski Massacre# and the Pozantı Scandal# are being arrested; nothing has changed. If there were no free press, how would these events come to light?”
Bozkurt says that in spite of the fact that she is a newby, “my interest in reporting is catching, and now has turned into a full-blown habit.”
“After the arrest many people came to [Özgür Gündem] to give us their support. An old woman asked insistently how she could help. In the end, she decided to subscribe to the paper, saying, ‘I am illiterate, but I’d like to have the paper around the house.’”
Bozkurt says, “Being afraid is a very human reaction. But even if I were to be arrested ten times, exposing the realities such as the violence at Pozantı would be worth it.”
Journalist Ahmet Şık's Speech in Brussels and A(nother) Case of Scandalous Misinformation by Gulen's media flagship daily Zaman
Upon the invitation of the Liberals and Democrats in the European
Parliament, Ahmet Şık, the Turkish investigative journalist and the author
recently released from prison, briefed
MEPs in Brussels on March 28.
According to the report in Hurriyet daily, "Şık cited the names of Ruşen Çakır, Nuray Mert, Çiğdem Anad and Mehmet Altan as some of the journalists who were fired after slight criticisms, and went further to elaborate on the elusive nature of the Gülen community. “The Gülen community is a phantom. They are everywhere but nowhere. They are the cause of fear in society because they control the police,” he said. [...] The ongoing Ergenekon probe and other related trials are also nothing but a farce intended to prosecute individuals and institutions targeted by the Gülen community, according to Şık. Şık also rebuffed claims that journalists jailed in Turkey are not under arrest for their professional activities, and said the prosecutors and judges who questioned them primarily asked about their journalistic activities and sources."
Interestingly, Gulen movement's media flagship Today's Zaman covered mainly the few remarks on the Turkish government and the Gulen movement that Sik received after his speech [and distorted them]. Today's Zaman's coverage was not only imbued with misinformation, but also "mysteriously" was modified between March 28 and March 30 from a more openly biased idiom to that of a more contained and better-tailored subjective piece . In addition to those changes, the comments from the Q&A session exclusively covered in the Today's Zaman article appear to have been distorted when compared with the actual footage from the briefing and the Q&A that followed (in English translation) here.
According to the report in Hurriyet daily, "Şık cited the names of Ruşen Çakır, Nuray Mert, Çiğdem Anad and Mehmet Altan as some of the journalists who were fired after slight criticisms, and went further to elaborate on the elusive nature of the Gülen community. “The Gülen community is a phantom. They are everywhere but nowhere. They are the cause of fear in society because they control the police,” he said. [...] The ongoing Ergenekon probe and other related trials are also nothing but a farce intended to prosecute individuals and institutions targeted by the Gülen community, according to Şık. Şık also rebuffed claims that journalists jailed in Turkey are not under arrest for their professional activities, and said the prosecutors and judges who questioned them primarily asked about their journalistic activities and sources."
Interestingly, Gulen movement's media flagship Today's Zaman covered mainly the few remarks on the Turkish government and the Gulen movement that Sik received after his speech [and distorted them]. Today's Zaman's coverage was not only imbued with misinformation, but also "mysteriously" was modified between March 28 and March 30 from a more openly biased idiom to that of a more contained and better-tailored subjective piece . In addition to those changes, the comments from the Q&A session exclusively covered in the Today's Zaman article appear to have been distorted when compared with the actual footage from the briefing and the Q&A that followed (in English translation) here.
In the original article by Zaman, EP Liberal Group Deputy Chairman
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff is quoted as saying: “the Gülen movement is conveying
messages of tolerance and dialogue to the world. One could only be its
defender.” In fact, Lambsdorff, rather than defending the Gülen movement by
declaring it to be a movement to be defended, was actually asking a question to
Şık: “Gülen Community is a bit of a mysterious entity. The leader talks about
peace and harmony in an Islamic way; these are not the things we are opposed
to. What, do you believe, are they their real intentions?” After this
preposterous distortion of Lambsdorff's words, Zaman later edited its version
to “Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said the Gülen movement claimed to be doing good
things by conveying messages of tolerance and dialogue to the world and asked
Şık to comment.” The question remains: where does Gülen's media flagship's
audacity to distort a public statement come, and, who do they think they are
fooling by changing their initial statement?
Secondly, EP Liberal Group Andrew Duff, who is claimed to have “slammed”
Şık in the original version of the Today's Zaman article (later changed into
“criticized”), for his critical arguments against the Turkish government,
appears not to have criticized Şık, let alone “slam” him in his response.
Duff's comments seem rather to focus on AKP’s other activities (those directly
targeting the militarist networks and the Kemalist rule) and inquiring about
the tensions between the Gulenist movement and the AKP government. His
statement is as follows: “AKP government has tackled with the old military in a
direct way and no previous Kemalist government has dared to do so. The formal
position of the old military is still to protect the state from the citizen.
But constitutional reform process that is now in train is seeking to reverse
that, it is correct.” Duff's comment is not an unconditional support for AKP
government but the support is given as long as AKP’s is in concert with EU’s
political values and principles. It is not surprising to hear a parliament
member to celebrate government's attempts to deepen democracy in Turkey.
Apart from manipulating Lambsdorff's and Duff's words, Today's Zaman's
third deception is on Şık's response to a parliamentarian's incessant questions
about Gülen Movement's real intentions. In Today's Zaman, Şık's response
appears as follows:
"Asked about the Gülen movement’s true intentions, Şık said he also
doesn’t know and that he is only speculating as to what the movement is trying
to do. He added that he is trying to find an answer to the question of why a
civil society organization seeks to organize in the way it does."
What Şık actually said is the following:
"I am as curious as you are about Gülen community. I think, also,
that they are very mysterious, and I am one of the persons who is trying to
investigate into this mystery; that is why I found myself in prison. I always
said that I wasn't in prison because I wrote a book or I was a journalist, but
there is another question I have to ask you. Would I have been put into prison
if I hadn't written that book? Now AKP is in power, it is a single party in
power but it has an invisible partner, a ghost partner in coalition, that is,
the Gülen Foundation (community). They are like phantoms, they are everywhere
but they are nowhere. They are intimidators; they are the sources of fear in
the society. They are in control of the police. I am not talking about this in
rough words; I am a person who has always advocated the facts that I know. If
Gülen Community had been doing good things I would have praised them. But there
are still questions that need answers. Why would an NGO want to organize itself
in two of the most important bodies, the army and the police, in the
government? They need to provide answers to these questions and justify
them."
It seems like Today's Zaman chose to interpret the word
"mysterious" in a way to suggest that Şık said he did not know about
the movement's real aims and that he was speculating about it. However, Şık is
quite clear in his answers and in his “facts.”
For the full text of Sik's speech in Turkish, visit here.
The original version of the article in Today's Zaman as it appeared on 28 March 2012 is as follows:
Ahmet Şık speaks about Turkish media in Brussels
Journalist Ahmet Şık, who was recently released pending trial in a coup
plot case, has spoke about Turkish media in Brussels and accused Turkish
government of trying journalism, not journalists, urging authorities to stop
trying to silence members of the Turkish media.
Speaking at a panel discussions in Brussels on the
invitation of European Parliament’s Liberal and Democrats Group, Şık said his
arrest was “helpful” in terms of revealing problems the media faces in Turkey. Şık also
accused the Turkish government and faith-based Gülen movement of attempting to
intimidate journalists in Turkey.
Şık is among four journalists who were jailed pending trial in the OdaTV
case, launched as part of a probe into Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal
network accused of plotting to overthrow the government. Thirteen suspects are
facing charges of involvement in the media wing of Ergenekon. Şık and three
other journalists implicated in the case were released after the 11th hearing
of the OdaTV trial at the İstanbul 16th High Criminal Court two weeks ago.
Şık claimed that the Ergenekon probe is not about shedding light on Turkey’s dark history
and discredited investigations of the Sept.
12, 1981 coup and unsolved murders as deception. He stressed
that he is not defending the tutelage system in Turkey and added that
he doesn’t believe that sharia rule is being brought about in the country.
Speaking at the panel discussion after Şık, EP Liberal Group Deputy
Chairman Alexander Graf Lambsdorff said the Gülen movement is conveying
messages of tolerance and dialogue to the world. “One could only be its
defender,” Lambsdorff said.
Asked about the Gülen movement’s true intentions, Şık said he also
doesn’t know and that he is only speculating as to what the movement is trying
to do. He added that he is trying to find an answer to the question of why a
civil society organization seeks to organize in the way it does.
English member of the EP Liberal Group Andrew Duff slammed Şık for his
critical arguments against the Turkish government and said there is a need to
view issues through other prisms. Duff said the government has taken courageous
steps to bring about an end to military tutelage -- something previous Kemalist
governments have failed to do.
He also claimed that the current government is trying to ensure that in
the new constitution people will be protected from the state, not the other way
around. “The EP supports these kinds of positive reforms in Turkey,” Duff said.”
____
GIT North America possesses the two versions of Today's Zaman's articles
for the interested parties.
4+4+4: Reading a poem in Latin, MP Onder said "empathize with this and abolish the barriers in front of education in mother tongue"
Sırrı Sureyya Onder, BDP deputy, read a poem in Latin in parliamentary general assembly on 4+4+4 education package.
After the poem he said “this is what hundreds and thousands of Kurdishand Arab students face at the first day of school, they don’t understand more [from Turkish] than you do from [the Latin of] this poem.” He lamented “try to empathize with this andabolish the barriers in front of education in mother tongue. In hisparliamentary address he also underlined the consequences of thisdiscriminatory practice, referring to the nationwide held school entranceexaminations he said “don’t put the Kurdish kids in the same race with theirTurkish friends in a language other then their own”
The toll of the long-debated education bill, also known as 4+4+4
The long-debated education bill, also known as 4+4+4, passed on
March 30. Among other things, the bill foresaw a twelve-year compulsory
education (broken down to three tiers of four years each), the introduction of
optional Quranic studies courses in the second four years, and a lowering down
of the age of first grade primary school students from seven to six years of
age. As reported in the Hurriyet
Daily News, "[a]fter four years of primary education, students
could chose vocational schools, among them the imam-hatip religious schools
which are currently open to secondary school graduates. The bill provides the
option of home study in the third tier -- a contentious measure that critics
say would encourage patriarchal families to take their daughters from school
and marry them off." "The bill overturned a 1997 law forced through
by the military that stopped children aged under 15 attending religious
"imam hatip" schools. The schools were originally set up to train
Islamic clerics," wrote BBC News, also
underscoring the fist fight that MPs got involved in during the debate on the
bill. GIT North America had previously published a
post on the question of gender segregation as part of the educational reform.
Members of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees (KESK) who opposed the bill and took to the streets to protest against and tried to travel from different parts of the country to the capital Ankara were met with violence from the police and custody en masse. Bianet reported that "85 KESK members who came to Ankara from Adana on Tuesday evening were taken into police custody. Entry to the capital was denied to groups from Izmir, Aydın, Balıkesir, Manisa, Kocaeli, Bursa, Malatya, Batman, Urfa, Konya, Hatay, Zonguldak and Tokat." Images of the protest in Ankara provide a chilling account of the heavy-handed response of the police force, armed with tanks, tear gas, and water cannons, to a peaceful protest by education workers. Prior to the passing of the bill, Bianet had also published a comprehensive piece on the specifics of the (then draft) bill, reporting that "[...] a study conducted by the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), the annual budget for this educational year would have to be increased by a minimum of 54 percent if the draft bill was going to pass into law. The cost of the educational year would increase by TL 20.7 billion in order to secure and improve the quality of education."
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Newsfeed - March 28
Gender segregation in Turkish schools might be the next "reform" in Turkish K-12 education
While Turkey is in the midst of debates about the educational reform plans of AKP (see the third item on today's Newsfeed), there are signs of another "reform" on the way; find out what it is on GIT - North America.
Margaret Spiegelman's teaching experience in Gülenist Çağ Fatih College
Read Margaret Spiegelman's teaching experience in a Gülenist school in suburban Istanbul via GIT - North America to find out about the conditions of women in a Gülenist school.
4+4+4: Will this formula be a ticket to establish state-led religious schools?
Read Andrew Finkel's analysis of the AKP educational reform via GIT - North America.
The weekly Atılım seized three times in a month
Read about the Adana High Criminal Court decision about the seizure of the weekly Atılım on Bianet.
While Turkey is in the midst of debates about the educational reform plans of AKP (see the third item on today's Newsfeed), there are signs of another "reform" on the way; find out what it is on GIT - North America.
Margaret Spiegelman's teaching experience in Gülenist Çağ Fatih College
Read Margaret Spiegelman's teaching experience in a Gülenist school in suburban Istanbul via GIT - North America to find out about the conditions of women in a Gülenist school.
4+4+4: Will this formula be a ticket to establish state-led religious schools?
Read Andrew Finkel's analysis of the AKP educational reform via GIT - North America.
The weekly Atılım seized three times in a month
Read about the Adana High Criminal Court decision about the seizure of the weekly Atılım on Bianet.
Gender segregation in Turkish schools might be the next reform in education
While Turkey is in the midst of debates about the educational reform plan of AKP, which passed the parliamentary commission debates thanks to the physical force applied by AKP MPs (member of parliament) on opposition MPs when the latter tried to filibuster the discussion of the AKP proposal (you can read more about this interesting episode of Turkish parliamentary history here, and watch a video of the spectacle here), Pınar Öğünç, a columnist for the Turkish daily Radikal, wonders whether there will be some more "reforms" on the way.
On her column dated March 16, Öğünç published an article entitled "An educational system in accordance with the brain of a Mrs." In this piece, she first reminds her readers of the fact that Eğitim-Bir-Sen (Eğitimciler Birliği Sendikası, the Syndicate of the Union of Educators), a conservative labor union in education, proposed an earlier version of the AKP educational reform back in November 2010 at the 18. National Education Consultative Assembly (Milli Eğitim Şurası), and that the union more recently provided the Parliament with its supportive views of the AKP proposal as well.
Then Öğünç withdraws our attention to the most recent issue of Bakış, a quarterly publication of the Eğitim-Bir-Sen. The January-March 2012 issue of the journal is focused on a single theme: mixed-sex education. Given the importance of the union as an indicator of future AKP policies in education, Öğünç wonders whether increasing opportunities for gender segregated education will be the next AKP educational reform that Turkey will witness in near future.
Out of the fourteen articles devoted to mixed-sex education in the most recent issue of Bakış, thirteen are about the harm co-education causes and the benefits of single-sex education. In the introductory piece of the issue, Ahmet Gündoğdu, the president of Eğitim-Bir-Sen, states that "there are a lot of things to do in the educational system that aims to turn our children into little ideologues. One of these things is the requirement of co-education that is still applied in our schools."
You can read the full Turkish text of Pınar Öğünç's column on Radikal.
On her column dated March 16, Öğünç published an article entitled "An educational system in accordance with the brain of a Mrs." In this piece, she first reminds her readers of the fact that Eğitim-Bir-Sen (Eğitimciler Birliği Sendikası, the Syndicate of the Union of Educators), a conservative labor union in education, proposed an earlier version of the AKP educational reform back in November 2010 at the 18. National Education Consultative Assembly (Milli Eğitim Şurası), and that the union more recently provided the Parliament with its supportive views of the AKP proposal as well.
Then Öğünç withdraws our attention to the most recent issue of Bakış, a quarterly publication of the Eğitim-Bir-Sen. The January-March 2012 issue of the journal is focused on a single theme: mixed-sex education. Given the importance of the union as an indicator of future AKP policies in education, Öğünç wonders whether increasing opportunities for gender segregated education will be the next AKP educational reform that Turkey will witness in near future.
Out of the fourteen articles devoted to mixed-sex education in the most recent issue of Bakış, thirteen are about the harm co-education causes and the benefits of single-sex education. In the introductory piece of the issue, Ahmet Gündoğdu, the president of Eğitim-Bir-Sen, states that "there are a lot of things to do in the educational system that aims to turn our children into little ideologues. One of these things is the requirement of co-education that is still applied in our schools."
You can read the full Turkish text of Pınar Öğünç's column on Radikal.
Margaret Spiegelman's teaching experience in Gulenist Cag Fatih College
Margaret Spiegelman shares her teaching experience in a Gulenist Cag Fatih College in suburban Istanbul. She evaluates conditions of women in work place, and criticizes Gulen Movement's approach to female teachers in their schools.
She says
“Every day, during and after school, teachers at Fatih College are modeling – largely without question – a society where women's behavior is closely monitored, and where they have no voice in leadership. Many Turks were just as surprised as I was to find this happening in a middle-class, Istanbul suburb. When I described the school to a Turkish friend, an Istanbul University professor in his 40s, he told me, “This is not Islam. This is new. This is Cemaat.” If there's no place for women leaders at top-performing schools in Istanbul, where will they be squeezed out next? Do women have a place in Fethullah Gülen’s vision for a fast-changing Turkey?”
To read the entire story visit Women in the World’s page here
“Every day, during and after school, teachers at Fatih College are modeling – largely without question – a society where women's behavior is closely monitored, and where they have no voice in leadership. Many Turks were just as surprised as I was to find this happening in a middle-class, Istanbul suburb. When I described the school to a Turkish friend, an Istanbul University professor in his 40s, he told me, “This is not Islam. This is new. This is Cemaat.” If there's no place for women leaders at top-performing schools in Istanbul, where will they be squeezed out next? Do women have a place in Fethullah Gülen’s vision for a fast-changing Turkey?”
To read the entire story visit Women in the World’s page here
4+4+4: Will this formula be a ticket to establish state led religious schools?
Turkish primary and secondary education system has grave problems, and it needs urgent reform. Despite that once again Turkey was recently drawn into a 4+4+4 muddle about its education system. AKP introduced its education bill to the assembly, planing to complete its voting by Friday.
AKP government’s proposed formula creates a lot of suspicion about its intentions. With this formula does the AKP government strive to improve Turkish education system or will it use the reform as a ticket for state led Sunni religious education for kids (at the age of 12-13) right after primary schools?
To read the details of the reform from Andrew Finkel in International Herald Tribune visit here
AKP government’s proposed formula creates a lot of suspicion about its intentions. With this formula does the AKP government strive to improve Turkish education system or will it use the reform as a ticket for state led Sunni religious education for kids (at the age of 12-13) right after primary schools?
To read the details of the reform from Andrew Finkel in International Herald Tribune visit here
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Newsfeed - March 25
To sign the inaugural declaration of GIT, please send an e-mail to diana.gonzalez2@wanadoo.fr -- to join GIT - North America, e-mail gitamerica@yahoo.com
GIT - North America is an independent organization, supported solely by the volunteered time dedicated by its members who are faculty and graduate students working on Turkey.
The daily Özgür Gündem closed for a month
Read about the police raid and the court-ordered closure of the Turkish daily Özgür Gündem on GIT - North America.
Selver's letter from prison
Read a letter from Selver İspir, formerly a college sophomore, currently an inmate at the Bakırköy Women's Prison, on our Witness Accounts page.
Student Cihan Kırmızıgül released after 25 months
Read about the release of Cihan Kırmızıgül, the Galatasaray University student who was subjected to pre-trial detention because of his keffiyeh, via GIT - North America.
The map of unnamed students
Find out about the map of "unnamed students" released by the Initiative for Solidarity with Arrested Students (TODI--Tutuklu Öğrencilerle Dayanışma İnisiyatifi) via GIT - North America.
GIT - North America is an independent organization, supported solely by the volunteered time dedicated by its members who are faculty and graduate students working on Turkey.
The daily Özgür Gündem closed for a month
Read about the police raid and the court-ordered closure of the Turkish daily Özgür Gündem on GIT - North America.
Selver's letter from prison
Read a letter from Selver İspir, formerly a college sophomore, currently an inmate at the Bakırköy Women's Prison, on our Witness Accounts page.
Student Cihan Kırmızıgül released after 25 months
Read about the release of Cihan Kırmızıgül, the Galatasaray University student who was subjected to pre-trial detention because of his keffiyeh, via GIT - North America.
The map of unnamed students
Find out about the map of "unnamed students" released by the Initiative for Solidarity with Arrested Students (TODI--Tutuklu Öğrencilerle Dayanışma İnisiyatifi) via GIT - North America.
The daily Özgür Gündem closed for a month
The printing press where the Turkish daily Özgür Gündem (Free Agenda) is printed was raided by the police yesterday (Saturday, March 24). During the raid, the copies of the paper printed for today (Sunday, March 25) were confiscated. The newspaper is closed for a month by court order because the court decided that the news, photographs, and commentaries published on the first, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th pages of the paper published yesterday were making propaganda for a [terrorist] organization.This gross violation of press freedom is unfortunately not the first one that the daily Özgür Gündem experienced in its history. The first issue of Özgür Gündem was published on May 30, 1992. Seventy-six of its employees, including thirty reporters, had been killed within two years as it became the target of attacks due to its reporting of murders perpetrated by the Turkish Hizbullah and the "deep state" of Turkey. The newspaper had been closed in April 1994 and re-opened under the name of Özgür Ülke [Free Country]. After eight months, in December 1994, three offices of Özgür Ülke were bombed, which resulted in the death of one of its employees in addition to 21 wounded.
Özgür Gündem was re-opened almost a year ago on April 4, 2011. You can read more about the closure of Özgür Gündem on its website. The front page of today's confiscated Özgür Gündem is reproduced on the left.
Student Cihan Kirmizigul Released after 25 Months Behind Bars
Galatasaray University student Cihan Kirmizigul, who had gotten arrested while waiting for the bus because he allegedly attended a demonstration, was released on March 23, pending trial at the eighth hearing of his case. The evidence shown for his arrest had been the keffiyeh he had wrapped around his neck. Kirmizigul spent 25 months behind bars, and was unable to continue his studies because his request for permission to take his exams in the prison were declined by the prison management. He will now be tried without arrest.
To read the report on Bianet visit here. To watch the video that friends of Cihan had made shortly before he was released and to read the English subtitles through GIT North America, visit here.
To read the report on Bianet visit here. To watch the video that friends of Cihan had made shortly before he was released and to read the English subtitles through GIT North America, visit here.
Map of Unnamed Students
The Initiative for Solidarity with Arrested Students (TODI--Tutuklu Öğrencilerle Dayanışma İnisiyatifi), the statement of whom was previously published by GIT North America, have released, what they called, the "Map of Unnamed Students". According to the report in Bianet:
With this project, the initiative wants to create awareness for judicial and administrative rights violations encountered by students and to make these violations visible. The map also aims at keeping track of the situations of the arrested students.
"The effectiveness and success of this initiative is based on contributing to an information flow. The map is a news channel for people related to rights violations faced by students", the initiative announced. They call on everybody to notify the initiative about situations like students in custody or arrest, convictions, rights violations in prisons, disciplinary investigations and penalties in schools in order to be able to improve the map. People who are able to document one of the above mentioned situations can inform the initiative on their website, the initiative's twitter account or via an e-mail to tutukluogrencilerledayanisma@gmail.com.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Newsfeed - March 21
To sign the inaugural declaration of GIT, please send an e-mail to diana.gonzalez2@wanadoo.fr -- to join GIT - North America, e-mail gitamerica@yahoo.com
"When do you think YOU will get arrested?"
Shocking Indictment for Academic Ersanli and Publisher Zarakolu
"When do you think YOU will get arrested?"
Galatasaray University student Kırmızıgül was arrested while waiting for the bus because he allegedly attended a demonstration. The evidence shown for his arrest was the Keffiyeh he had wrapped around his neck. Cihan's friends at Galatasaray University answered the question "When do you think you will get arrested?" right before the demonstration and the press release on the second year of his arrest. Read the English transcription of the video with their answers and more via GIT - North America.
Shocking Indictment for Academic Ersanli and Publisher Zarakolu
Academic Ersanlı is facing prison terms of between 15 to 22.5 years. For Zarakolu, owner of the Sel Publishing Company, the indictment seeks a prison sentence of between 7.5 and 15 years under allegations of "knowingly and willingly aiding an illegal organization without being a member of that organization." Read via GIT - North America.
Sener and Sik threatened on twitter and Sik faces new investigation
A blog post by Reporters Without Borders on March 19 reported an alarming threat that they witnesses through twitter targeting the two newly released investigative journalists Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener. Read more on GIT - North America.
“Students are forced not to be oppositional”
The students, the friends of whom had been arrested, spoke to the HaberVs team about the “climate of fear and control” that they are living in during the panel titled "Fear, Control, Punishment" held at Bogazici University on March 14th. Read more on GIT - North America.
"When do you think YOU will get arrested?"
Galatasaray University student Kırmızıgül was arrested while waiting for the bus because he allegedly attended a demonstration. The evidence shown for his arrest was the Keffiyeh he had wrapped around his neck. Kırmızıgül has been imprisoned for two years now. During this time he was unable to continue his studies and his request for permission to take his exams in the prison were declined by the prison management.Read more on Bianet.
On 20th of February 2012, Cihan's friends at Galatasaray University answered the question "When do you think you will get arrested?" preceding the demonstration and the press release on the second anniversary of his arrest in this video.
Here is the English transcription of how they answered:
On 20th of February 2012, Cihan's friends at Galatasaray University answered the question "When do you think you will get arrested?" preceding the demonstration and the press release on the second anniversary of his arrest in this video.
Here is the English transcription of how they answered:
-When am I thinking to get arrested?
-I am thinking of getting arrested at the earliest possible time.
-I see an undercover [policeman] coming this way, I can get arrested any minute now.
-Um, when do I think I will get arrested…As long as the policies of the government continue to be oppressive as they are now, as long as the current law of anti-terrorism,law of criminal procedure and the courts with exclusive authority continue to operate, we may get arrested at any given moment. It can be during this activity now, or it can be tomorrow or the day after. We’ll wait and see…
-When do I think I will get arrested: Maybe tomorrow…Or maybe even sooner than tomorrow.
-I am thinking of getting arrested right now. You can take me right away. Please go ahead. I mean, take me away.
-Honestly I don’t think that I will get arrested at all, because I have burnt all of the lecture notes, books, journals, plastic tubes. I have destroyed them all, and so I believe I will not be arrested. Thank you. My kind regards.
-I am waiting to get arrested very soon. I am a student at Galatasaray University. You are welcome to come take me, too.
-I am thinking of getting arrested at the nearest time possible –though even if I don’t think of it, I am sure they are thinking of it. It would suffice for them to check my city of origin during the next GBT [acronym for General Information Gathering, a regular practice undertaken by the police]scan.
-Once I start[reading] the Russian classics.
-There is no definitive time frame in my mind as of yet. My door is open to them whenever they feel like visiting. Although it would be nice if they do not prefer hours that are too early in the morning. I am a little keen on my morning sleep. I would like to have gotten enough sleep at least.
-I am in my preparatory year at the university. I think that when I finish this year, I mean when I will have actually learned French and will be starting my studies,is when I will get arrested.
-To be honest, I am only thinking of getting arrested because I feel obliged to do so. Frankly speaking, it is only recently that I have especially started considering it--because everybody’s inside and it is beginning to feel to lonely outside.
-When do I think I will get arrested? I think I will get arrested sooner than later while eating pork.
-Fascism may be ruling the country in a year or two, anyway. And so, I think we will get arrested in the couple of years that follow. I don’t know for what, though, and I hope it won’t be due to Ergenekon or some such.
-God knows, is all I can say.
-Tonight. In fact, I may have gotten arrested yesterday.
-One can never stop expecting the impossible from this country.
-Given that there is no justice, I think we will get arrested whenever the lottery falls onus. We will keep running as much as we can in the meantime.
-I am not thinking of getting arrested, but if they do arrest me, they are welcome to do so. Thank you.
-When do I think I may get arrested…We may get arrested when the government is annoyed by our presence. When we stop being well-behaved children and start asking for our rights we can get arrested. And this does not require a long time, we can get arrested this coming Tuesday, for example.
-I am not thinking I will get arrested any time soon. Were Cihan or other students thinking that they would get arrested?
-I think they will arrest me in the nearest future. At the end of the day I have short hair and I wear a kaffiyeh. I read books, too. So I am confident that it won’t take long.
-I have no idea under what pretext we will get arrested today by the oppressing parties. Could it be for asking for free education or pointing to mistakes that we see around us and suggesting alternatives? Or can it be because we read books? Why do we get arrested? I do not understand at all. Cihan or other, or I, for that matter, could get arrested anytime. But we continue fighting to change that.
-Well, I think we can get arrested for things that we cay in class, for example. It could also be because of the publications we make. I do not wish, precisely, but we do not that it is a possibility.
-It has long been asked to me: If you are a real philosopher then why are you not imprisoned the way Socrates was once imprisoned? That’s why I am waiting to get arrested one day as the proper ending to my philosophy career.
-I killed a progressive writer yesterday, but I don’t think I will get arrested.
-I listed to the band Grup Yorum, which means I will get arrested soon.
-I also think that it is highly likely that I will get arrested. Because I did pretty much all the things that those friends of ours who got arrested.
-While walking on the street, when I see a policeman, or when I see a police wagon I always feel the chilling breath of that fear [of getting arrested].
Shocking Indictment for Academic Ersanli and Publisher Zarakolu
"Special Authority Istanbul Public Prosecutor Adnan Çimen prepared the indictment on the trial related to the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK), an organization founded by Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
According to the indictment, Prof Büşra Ersanlı from the Marmara University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Science is being charged with "leading an illegal organization" while Nobel Peace candidate Ragıp Zarakolu stands accused of "aiding and abetting an illegal organization".
Academic Ersanlı is facing prison terms of between 15 to 22.5 years. For Zarakolu, owner of the Sel Publishing Company, the indictment seeks a prison sentence of between 7.5 and 15 years under allegations of "knowingly and willingly aiding an illegal organization without being a member of that organization."
[...]
"The 2,400-page indictment includes a total of 193 defendants, 147 of whom are detained."
To read the full report on Bianet, visit here.
Sener and Sik threatened on twitter and Sik faces new investigation
A blog post by Reporters Without Borders on March 19 reported an alarming threat that they witnessed through twitter targeting the two newly released investigative journalists Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener. Reporters Without Borders expressed that they were "very disturbed by a message posted on Twitter on the night of 16 March about an alleged plot by the shadowy ultranationalist network Ergenekon to murder Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, two investigative journalists who were released conditionally on 12 March after a year in detention.
'It is not alarmist to say that these threats should be taken seriously', Reporters Without Borders said. 'The source of this Tweet, which is still unknown, needs to be investigated thoroughly. We call on the Turkish authorities to launch an investigation at once in other to shed light on this matter'.”
When he heard about this, Ahmet Sik is reported to say that should anything happen to him, it is those who are responsible for his imprisonment because of the conspiracy they built against him that would be responsible for it.
On the same day as the post by Reporters Without Borders, Sabah Daily of Turkey published the news that the Special Authority Public Chief Prosecutor Muammer Akkas launched a new investigation on Sik because of the public statements that Sik had made upon his release from the Silivri Prison on March 12. According to the news article, the allegations that Akkas held against Sik included "threatening and identifying judges and prosecutors as targets to terrorist organizations."
"Incomplete justice is not going to bring justice and democracy. About one hundred journalists are still in prison, just related to my trial there are five detainees. The issue of freedom of expression is not only a problem of journalists. There are approximately 600 students. We are going to continue the struggle. The police officers, prosecutors and judges who plotted and carried out this complot will go to prison. Justice will come when they enter this prison"
He also said it is the judges, prosecutors, and others at the service of the Gülen movement that are responsible for this conspiracy and that they act as an organization and that because of their illegal acts, they are the ones who will eventually end up in prison. The investigation is supposedly against these statements.
To read the full post by Reporters Without Borders visit here. To reach a selection of articles on the release of Nedim, Sener visit our newsfeed from March 18. More on the release of four journalists (and more than a hundred who remain behind bars) from the Economist and the Washington Times.
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