19 Oct 18 | Global Journalist (Spanish), Journalism Toolbox Spanish, Spain
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Poco después de que la policía turca antidisturbios irrumpiera en la redacción de Zaman Media Group en marzo de 2016, Sevgi Akarçeşme se dio cuenta de que solo tenía dos opciones.
Akarçeşme, editora jefe de Today’s Zaman, el principal diario en lengua inglesa del país, podía convertirse en periodista favorable al Gobierno y pasarse los días publicando artículos que alabaran al régimen cada vez más autoritario del presidente Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
O podía huir del país y tratar de denunciar la situación desde el exilio. En menos de 48 horas, Akarçeşme embarcaba en un avión a Bruselas para librarse de un encarcelamiento inminente.
«No quería convertirme en una periodista progobierno y perder mi integridad», dice en una entrevista con Global Journalist. «Todo lo demás lo perdí, pero mi integridad, no».
La toma por parte del Gobierno de Zaman Group, una compañía de comunicación favorable a Hizmet —movimiento de oposición liderado por el clérigo exiliado Fetullah Gülen—, presagiaba la dura ofensiva de gran alcance contra los medios de comunicación y la sociedad civil, entre otros, que siguió al golpe fallido contra Erdogan dos meses después. En 2016, Turquía detuvo a más de 140 periodistas y cientos más perdieron sus empleos, según un informe sobre derechos humanos del Departamento de Estado de EE. UU. Hubo casi 4.000 personas acusadas de insultar al presidente, al Primer Ministro o a las instituciones del Estado. Según el Comité por la Protección de los Periodistas, Turquía tenía 73 periodistas en prisión en diciembre de 2017: más que cualquier otro país en el mundo.
De hecho, Akarçeşme no había abandonado aún el país y la administración de Erdogan ya había convertido la edición turca de Zaman en un altavoz progobierno.
Ya antes de la redada en la oficina de Zaman, Akarçeşme se había enfrentado a presiones legales por parte del Gobierno. A principios de 2015 la llevaron a juicio por «insultar» al entonces Primer Ministro, Ahmet Davutoğlu, en un tuit en el que lo acusaba de encubrir un escándalo de corrupción que involucraba a familiares de altos cargos.
Pero no fue hasta la clausura de Zaman en 2016 cuando quedó claro que el Gobierno de Erdogan no iba a tolerar más medios independientes. Incluso después de que Akarçeşme se marchase a Bélgica, el gobierno turco continuó tomando medidas punitivas contra ella: allanaron su apartamento de Estambul y le anularon el pasaporte. Akarçeşme, ahora de 39 años de edad, pasó más de un año en Bélgica antes de llegar a EE. UU. en mayo de 2017.
Ahora vive en Estados Unidos, donde trabaja como periodista independiente y está buscando un trabajo a tiempo completo. Habló con Lily Cusack, de Global Journalist, sobre su exilio.
Global Journalist: ¿Por qué decidiste marcharte de Turquía?
Akarçeşme: Como podrás imaginar, es una larga historia, porque Turquía no se convirtió en una dictadura de la noche a la mañana. Así que, como todo, fue un proceso. Un proceso rápido, pero un proceso igualmente.
Fue el 6 de marzo de 2016 [cuando] abandoné Estambul de improviso. Dos días antes de mi marcha, el gobierno de Erdogan nos confiscó el periódico acusándonos de cosas ridículas, por supuesto, como terrorismo y apoyo al terrorismo. Y yo, al ser la líder ejecutiva del diario en inglés, Today’s Zamam, sabía que era cuestión de tiempo que me persiguieran también.
Cuatro meses antes, en diciembre de 2015, me condenaron a prisión con suspensión de la pena por mis tuits. De hecho, ni siquiera fueron mis propios tuits. Fue por unos comentarios que pusieron debajo de mi tuit. El Primer Ministro de entonces me puso una demanda y a mí me cayó prisión con suspensión de la pena.
Así que ya había opresión, y sabía que Turquía nunca ha tenido una trayectoria de la que enorgullecerse en lo que a libertad de prensa se refiere. Pero cada vez iba a peor, y el Gobierno se centró principalmente en nuestro grupo mediático. Era casi evidente que sería cuestión de tiempo.
Fue una decisión difícil, dejar tu país con solo dos maletas… de repente, sin notificárselo a nadie, porque entonces igual te detenían en la frontera. Hay muchísima gente que tiene prohibido viajar al extranjero. Así que estaba nerviosa por si me impedían viajar, pero, por suerte, pude irme. Echando la vista atrás, me doy cuenta de que fue la mejor decisión de mi vida, porque de lo contrario ahora mismo estaría en la cárcel, como mis colegas.
GJ: ¿Recibiste amenazas a título personal?
A: Por redes sociales, sí. Igual que mis colegas, dejé de tuitear en turco. Ahora solo tuiteo en inglés de vez en cuando. Cualquier crítico te puede hablar del ejército de trolls que se dedica a identificar y acosar a gente.
GJ: ¿Cómo llegaste a la conclusión de que tenías que marcharte?
A: Fue una decisión súbita. En los dos días desde el asalto de la policía [4 de marzo de 2016] hasta que me marché, solo hablé con [Abdulhamit Bilici], editor jefe del grupo mediático al completo. A él también lo habían despedido, y también corría peligro. Pero no quería irse inmediatamente. Él creía que tenía que quedarse para apoyar a la gente que estaba en puestos de menos experiencia. Pero yo pensé que, en caso de arresto, no podría soportar las condiciones de las prisiones turcas. Así que me dije que tenía que marcharme.
Me puse bastante nerviosa en el aeropuerto, porque no sabía si me habían anulado el pasaporte. Fue un momento memorable. Solo recuerdo pasar aduanas y la revisión de pasaportes y sentirme extremadamente nerviosa. Fue gracioso, porque soy una simple periodista. Sabía que no había hecho nada malo, pero también que eso no bastaba para librarme de una posible persecución o de que evitaran mi marcha. Fue un alivio [cuando] aterrizamos en Bruselas.
En julio, cuando me fui de Bruselas y estaba de camino a EE. UU., me sacaron del avión porque me dijeron que mi pasaporte no era válido. Así que al final sí que ocurrió, pero por suerte fue después de irme de Turquía.
GJ: ¿Qué sentiste al tener que abandonar Turquía tan de repente?
A: Era una sensación terriblemente inquietante. En cierto modo cortas vínculos con tu propio país. El día que decidí marcharme, ya sentía que Turquía era un caso perdido y que allí no había futuro para mí.
Estos últimos dos años me he sentido extremadamente desilusionada [con] mi tierra natal y mi sociedad, porque [la gente] en su mayoría ha callado frente a la opresión. Incluso están a favor de Erdogan.
Así que siento que ya no es mi casa, aunque aún tenga seres queridos [allí]. Mi corazón y mis pensamientos están con todos estos prisioneros, especialmente las víctimas de purgas, decenas de miles de personas, no solo periodistas, personas de toda clase y condición.
GJ: ¿Albergas alguna esperanza de volver?
A: No tengo esperanzas. No va a mejorar. Cada día el Gobierno se hace con más y más medios de difusión. Ya no hay medios libres… Salvo por un par de [canales] de televisión web y los periódicos en el exilio, no queda ningún medio con alcance para el periodismo independiente. El discurso está totalmente controlado por el Gobierno. Así que, por desgracia, soy muy pesimista. No le veo ninguna salida a corto plazo.
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02 Jul 18 | Global Journalist, Media Freedom, News and features, Turkey
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This article is part of Index on Censorship partner Global Journalist’s Project Exile series, which has published interviews with exiled journalists from around the world.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”101086″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes”][vc_column_text]Shortly after Turkish police in riot gear raided the headquarters of Zaman Media Group on 4 March 2016, Sevgi Akarçeşme saw that she had just two choices.
Akarçeşme, the editor-in-chief of Today’s Zaman, the country’s largest English-language daily, could become a pro-government journalist and spend her days publishing articles lauding the increasingly authoritarian regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Or she could flee the country and try to speak out in exile. Less than 48 hours later, Akarcesme was boarding a plane for Brussels to escape impending imprisonment.
“I didn’t want to turn into a pro-government journalist and lost my integrity,” she says in an interview with Global Journalist. “I lost everything else, but not my integrity.”
The government seizure of Zaman Group, a media company sympathetic to the Hizmet opposition movement led by exiled cleric Fetullah Gülen, presaged a far-reaching crackdown on media, civil society and others following a failed coup against Erdogan two months later. In all of 2016, Turkey detained more than 140 journalists and hundreds more lost their jobs, according to a US State Department human rights report. Nearly 4,000 people were indicted for insulting the president, the prime minister or state institutions. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey had 73 journalists in prison in December 2017 – the most of any country in the world.
Indeed even as Akarcesme was leaving the country, Erdogan’s administration had already transformed the Turkish edition of Zaman into a pro-government mouthpiece.
Yet even before the storming of Zaman’s offices, Akarçeşme had faced legal pressure from the government. In early 2015, she was put on trial for “insulting” then-prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in a tweet in which she accused Davutoğlu of covering up a corruption scandal involving family members of senior officials.
But it wasn’t until the closure of Zaman in 2016 that it became clear that Erdogan’s government would no longer tolerate independent media. Even after Akarçeşme left for Belgium, the Turkish government continued to take punitive measures against her, raiding her apartment in Istanbul and cancelling her passport. Akarçeşme, now 39, spent more than a year in Belgium before coming to the US in May 2017.
Now living in the US, where she works as a freelance journalist and is looking for a full-time job, she spoke with Global Journalist’s Lily Cusack about her exile.
Global Journalist: How did you end up leaving Turkey?
Akarçeşme: As you can imagine, it’s a long story because Turkey did not become a dictatorship overnight. So like everything else, it was a process. It was a fast process, but still a process.
It was March 6, 2016 [when] I left Istanbul suddenly. Two days before my departure, the government led by Erdogan seized our newspaper over charges, of course ridiculous charges, of terrorism and terrorist support. And because I was the leading executive of the English daily, Today’s Zaman, I knew that it was a matter of time for them to persecute me as well.
Four months before that, in December 2015, I received a suspended prison [sentence] because of my tweets. Actually, not even my own tweets. It was some comments left under my tweet. The prime minister at the time sued me, and I received suspended imprisonment.
So there was already ongoing oppression, and I knew that Turkey has never had a proud record of freedom in terms of journalism. But it was getting worse and worse, and the government primarily targeted our media group. It was almost evident that it would be a matter of time.
It was a difficult decision to leave your country with only two bags…suddenly, without notifying anyone because you might be stopped at the border. So many people were banned from travelling abroad. So I was nervous about being banned from travelling abroad, but fortunately, I was able to leave. In retrospect, I realise it was the best decision of my life because I would be imprisoned right now, like my colleagues.
GJ: Did you personally receive threats?
Akarçeşme: Over social media, yes I did, just like my colleagues I quit tweeting in Turkish, I only tweet in English from time to time. Any critic could tell you that an army of trolls target and harass you.
GJ: How did you reach the conclusion that you had to leave?
Akarçeşme: It was a very sudden decision. In the two days from the police raid [March 4, 2016] until I left, I only talked to [Abdulhamit Bilici], editor-in-chief of the larger media group. He was also dismissed, and he was also at risk. But he did not want to leave immediately. He thought that he needed to stay to support junior level people. But I just thought that in the case of an arrest, I could not stand the conditions of prison in Turkey. I told myself that I had to leave.
So I was very nervous at the airport because I didn’t know whether my passport was cancelled. It was a memorable moment. I just remember walking across customs and passport check and feeling extremely nervous. It was funny because I was only a journalist. I knew that I did nothing wrong, but I knew that wasn’t enough to save me from a possible persecution or prevent my departure. I was relieved [when] we landed in Brussels.
In July, when I left Belgium and was on may to the US, I was taken off the plane because I was told that my passport was not valid. So it actually happened, but fortunately it happened after I left Turkey.
GJ: How did it feel having to leave Turkey so suddenly?
Akarçeşme: It was a terribly uneasy feeling. You kind of become alienated from your own country. The day I decided to leave, I already felt that Turkey was a hopeless case and there was no future for me in Turkey.
Over the last two years, I have been extremely disillusioned [about] my home country and my home society because [people] have been predominantly remaining silent in the face of oppression. They have even been supporting Erdogan.
So I feel that it’s not home anymore, even though I still have loved ones [there]. My heart and mind are still with all these prisoners, especially purge victims, tens of thousands of people, not only journalists, people from all walks of life.
GJ: Do you have any hope of returning?
Akarçeşme: I have no hope. It will not improve. The government has been seizing more and more media outlets every day. There is no free media… except a couple of web-based TV [channels] and newspapers from exile, there’s nothing mainstream left for independent journalism. The whole narrative is being controlled by the government. So unfortunately I’m very pessimistic. I see no way out in the short-run.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/tOxGaGKy6fo”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship partner Global Journalist is a website that features global press freedom and international news stories as well as a weekly radio program that airs on KBIA, mid-Missouri’s NPR affiliate, and partner stations in six other states. The website and radio show are produced jointly by professional staff and student journalists at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, the oldest school of journalism in the United States. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook). We’ll send you our weekly newsletter, our monthly events update and periodic updates about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share, sell or transfer your personal information to anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content”][vc_column][three_column_post title=”Global Journalist / Project Exile” full_width_heading=”true” category_id=”22142″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
22 May 18 | News and features, Turkey
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”81952″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]While the scale of Turkey’s crackdown on freedom of expression in the post-coup-attempt emergency rule era has been intense, the assault on dissenting voices predated the failed putsch.
Whether it they were Kurdish writers at the turn of the decade, or worked for Feza Publications just months before the night elements of the military betrayed their fellow Turks, journalists that offered alternative viewpoints were long in president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crosshairs.
In the case of Feza’s popular publications — among them Zaman and the English-language Zaman Daily — which had been raided and its employees arrested on several occasions since 2014 as the shakey rule of law eroded in Turkey. In a March 2016 move that was condemned internationally, Feza Publications was targeted with the imposition of government-appointed trustees. This resulted in the termination of hundreds of media professionals from journalists to advertising reps and the literally overnight change from independent and critical outlets to government propaganda sheets.
An appeal on the takeover of Feza was made to the European Court of Human Rights to address a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression, among others. Yet the application was rejected on what was seen as questionable grounds, becoming one of the many disappointing decisions taken by the international court.
Takeover
The assault on Feza Publications was ordered by the Istanbul 6th Criminal Court of the Peace on Friday 4 March 2016. By nightfall, the police had raided the Zaman newspaper office, using tear gas and water cannons on the protestors outside. The Saturday edition of Zaman was the last version of a free newspaper. The front page headline declared “the constitution suspended” and noted that Turkish press had seen one of its “darkest days”. The Sunday edition, under new ownership, was a disconcerting contrast. The front page showed a smiling president Erdogan holding hands with an elderly woman, coupled with an announcement that was he hosting a Women’s Day event. The main headline was “Historic excitement about the bridge”, a reference to a span being built across the Bosphorus with state funding.
Newly appointed government trustees immediately interfered with editorial decisions. A staff member commented that: “Before the takeover, our deadline was 7:30pm. The trustees moved that deadline to 4:30pm, and in the remaining three hours they censored and changed the paper to fit their new ‘line’.” The new management had also banned staff access to the newspapers’ archives.
The police who had raided the office on the Friday, stayed on to check staff IDs and prevent groups of three or more from assembling. Hundreds of Feza Publications employees were then dismissed under Article 25 of the Turkish labour law which lays out that contracts can be annulled without prior notice if an employee displays “immoral, dishonourable or malicious conduct”. Those dismissed have recounted how they received a generic letter which gave no explanation the accusations.
Considered enemies of the state, former Feza Publications employees found it difficult to obtain new jobs. They were left to survive on little to no income; Article 25 outlines that those dismissed are not eligible for redundancy packages or other compensation And recruiters were right to be weary; four-and-a-half months after the takeover, the July 16th coup attempt occurred, and purges began on a massive scale. Thousands of journalists were dismissed, and dozens were detained on terrorism-related charges. Feza Publications, already marked as Gulen-linked and thus terrorist – without the presumption of innocence – during the takeover, was a prime target. Thirty-one Zaman employees are currently standing trial, with nine, including Şahin Alpay, facing life sentences. In January 2018, Turkey’s constitutional court ordered that Şahin Alpay, alongside journalist Mehmet Altan, be released from pre-trial detention.
After the lower courts refused to comply, the ECtHR ruled that their detention was unlawful and that they should each be compensated €21,500.
The other journalists, unable to garner the same international support, have remained in pre-trial detention. Zaman’s Ankara chief Mustafa Ünal, arrested purely because of his newspaper columns and facing the same circumstances as Alpay, has also applied to the ECtHR. But his application was rejected, and after almost two years behind bars he expresses in despair “my scream for justice has faded away in a bottomless pit”. He is not alone, with the ECtHR and international community doing little in light of the Feza Publications debacle and abolishment of the freedom of expression in Turkey.
Appeal to the ECtHR
The Feza Publications takeover and ensuing rights violations, on top of individual pleas for justice, has led to appeals for the entity itself. Two shareholders of Feza Gazetecİlİk A.Ş. (the Feza stock company) took the matter of government-appointed trustees to the Turkish constitutional court. When this appeal failed, they applied to the ECtHR regarding violations of: Article 10, right to freedom of expression; Protocol Article 1, right to property; Article 7 and 6.2, no punishment without law and presumption of innocence; and Article 8, respect for private and family life. Dated 29 July 2016, the application was rejected by ECtHR Judge Nebojsa Vucinic on 14 December 2017 with reference to the Köksal v. Turkey decision.
The decision is reference to a case surrounding Gökhan Köksal, a teacher and one of over 150,000 dismissed from their jobs after the coup attempt. The ECtHR had rejected his appeal on the basis that he must first apply to the Turkish State of Emergency Commission, i.e., first exhaust all domestic avenues. The Köksal decision was problematic. The State of Emergency Commission was established in January 2017 for appeals against dismissals and closures assumed under the state of emergency imposed since 20 July 2016. To date, the Commission has only approved 310 out of 10,010 finalised cases, a 3% success rate. There are almost 100,000 cases still under examination. Many consider the mechanism to be inefficient, and its impartiality questionable. It should not be considered a reliable domestic avenue. Reference to the State of Emergency Commission in relation to Feza Publications poses a further problem; the appointment of government trustees occurred four-and-a-half months before the state of emergency was implemented.
The ECtHR decision is completely inadequate. Although some Feza employees were dismissed under state of emergency decrees, other dismissals and violations pertaining to the Human Rights Convention commenced well before. Although all Feza media outlets (Zaman and Zaman Daily, the Cihan News Agency, Aksiyon magazine, and the Zaman Kitap publishing house) were closed via emergency decree in July 2016, Feza shareholders are not entitled to apply to the State of Emergency Commission. Only persons in charge of the legal entities or institutions at the time of closure – by that point, the government appointed trustees – have the right to apply. Such a situation is implausible, leaving the ECtHR as the only option. Besides, it has been shown that regardless, neither the State of Emergency Commission nor the Turkish judicial system should be considered viable domestic avenues to appeal rights violations.
This ECtHR decision, one in a long line of disappointing rulings for Turkish victims, is seriously flawed. The ECtHR must reconsider the Feza Publications application, alongside those such as Köksal v. Turkey which only pave the way for future rejections. Without adequate ECtHR rulings there is little hope for the upholding of human rights, such as freedom of expression, in Turkey.
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12 Feb 18 | Global Journalist, Media Freedom, News and features, Turkey, Turkey Uncensored
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]This article is part of Index on Censorship partner Global Journalist’s Project Exile series, which has published interviews with exiled journalists from around the world.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”97954″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]In hindsight, there were many clues that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government was making preparations to eliminate Turkey’s independent media even before it launched a massive crackdown in July 2016. But perhaps the biggest tip-off was the March 2016 police raid and seizure of Zaman, Turkey’s largest daily newspaper.
At the time, Abdullah Bozkurt was bureau chief in the capital Ankara for the paper’s English-language edition, Today’s Zaman. On March 4 of that year, Bozkurt found himself struggling to put out the newspaper’s final edition – even as he watched on live television as police in riot gear fired tear gas and water cannons on protesters and stormed Zaman’s headquarters 220 miles (350 km) to the west in Istanbul.
Shortly before court-appointed trustees seized control of the newspaper’s computer system, Bozkurt wrote the headline for the last cover of Today’s Zaman. “Shameful Day for Free Press in Turkey,” it read. “Zaman Media Group Seized.”
Zaman had been in Erdogan’s crosshairs for some time for its sympathies with the Gülen movement, an opposition group affiliated with a U.S.-based Islamic cleric that Erdogan has branded a “terrorist” organization. It had particularly angered the government for its aggressive coverage of a 2013 corruption investigation that led to the arrests of three sons of ministers in then-prime minister Erdogan’s government, Bozkurt says.
“Initially, they started calling in public rallies [for people] not to purchase our newspaper,” says Bozkurt, in an interview with Global Journalist. “Amazingly, at the time our circulation went up because we were one of the few media outlets in Turkey that were still covering the corruption investigation…later they started putting pressure on advertisers. That didn’t work out either because our circulation was quite high.”
After Zaman’s closure, Bozkurt briefly opened his own news agency. A few weeks later, on July 15, 2016, a faction of the military attempted to overthrow Erdogan. The coup was put down in a matter of hours. But in its aftermath, Erdogan unleashed a nationwide purge.
Over 100,000 government workers were fired and 47,000 people were jailed on suspicion of terrorism, according to a tally by Human Rights Watch. An additional 150 journalists and media workers were also jailed, giving Turkey the highest number of jailed journalists in the world. Many others fled the country.
Bozkurt was among those who chose to flee rather than face arrest. Ten days after the failed coup, he left for Sweden. The day after he left, the offices of his fledgling news agency were raided by police. Police later searched the home of Bozkurt’s 79-year-old mother and detained her for a day. Bozkurt’s wife and three children later followed him.
In Sweden, Bozkurt received threats via social media and a Wild West-style ‘wanted photo’ of him was published by pro-Erdogan newspapers and the state-run news agency. The government has brought anti-state charges against 30 of his former Zaman colleagues, seeking as much as three life sentences in jail.
Bozkurt, 47, now writes regular columns for the news site Turkishminute.com and works at the Stockholm Center for Freedom, a rights group focused on Turkey. He spoke with Global Journalist’s Denitsa Tsekova about his last weeks in Turkey and his exile. Below, an edited version of their interview:
Bozkurt: I was based in the capital, Ankara, but our newspaper’s headquarters was in Istanbul. The storming of our newspaper happened in Istanbul, we were watching on TV. We were on the phone talking to our colleagues in Istanbul, trying to find what’s going on, what we can do. The police were coming into our Istanbul’s newsrooms, ransacking the place, and shutting the internet service. It was up to me and my colleagues in the Ankara office to write the stories. We were actually printing the last edition of Zaman from Ankara. I was the one who drew the headline in the English edition and we managed to get out the last free edition. In the Turkish edition, we managed to finish and print the first one, but the second and the third edition couldn’t make it to the printing place. It was interrupted by the police and the government caretakers who took over the company.
GJ: There were protests after the closure of Zaman. What happened?
Bozkurt: It was on the day when the takeover judgment by the court was publicized. We didn’t call our readers to come and protest.
We knew it might be very dangerous because the government uses very harsh measures often rubber bullets, pepper spray and pressurized water against peaceful protesters. We didn’t want to put them on the risk.
Around 400 people showed up and they were beaten and targeted brutally by the police who stormed the building.
GJ: What was the last article you wrote for Today’s Zaman?
Bozkurt: It was about prisons. When I wrote that article I didn’t know the government was taking over the company, it was written a day before.
I talked to many people in the government and some from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. Something was very, very off because the government planned to build a lot of prisons in Turkey under the disguise of a modernization plan.
However, when you look at the numbers, it didn’t really match. We didn’t need that many new prisons in Turkey, but the government was making a projection that the prison population would increase.
When the European officials asked the justice ministry on what basis were they making this projection, they did not have a response.
In hindsight, I could understand it was because they were preparing a new mass prosecution in Turkey and they needed more prisons to put these people away. Even the prisons we have now are not enough; people are living in very crowded cells. After the coup, the government even granted amnesty for some 40,000 convicted felons… just to make space for the political prisoners and journalists.
GJ: How did you decide to leave?
Bozkurt: I actually hung around for a while after the failed coup, because I thought eventually things will settle down, and I wasn’t planning to move out of Turkey at all.
[Ten days] after the coup, the government issued an arrest warrant against 42 journalists on a single day. I realized this is going to get worse, and I said it’s time for me to move out of Turkey.
It was a rash decision, I didn’t even know to which country I would go, so I had to go to Germany first and then to Sweden.
My mother was getting old, she has some health issues and I wanted to be there for her. But it wasn’t up to me. Sweden was a stopover for me, I wasn’t planning on staying permanently.
The day after I left Turkey, the police raided my office in Ankara, so it was the right decision. If I was there I would have been detained and dragged to jail.
GJ: Were you getting threats?
Bozkurt: I was getting threats all the time. If you are a critical and independent journalist, you will get them. That’s the price you pay for it. Sometimes you try to be vigilant, you try to be careful and you just ignore that kind of threats or pressure from the government or pro-government circles.
But after the massive crackdown after the coup attempt, I thought it’s no longer safe for me. I moved out alone, I didn’t even take my family, because I thought they will stay in Turkey and I can hang around abroad and then come back to Turkey. That was my plan.
After a while, the Turkish government started going after the family members of the journalists. Bülent Korucu was a chief editor of a national daily [Yarına Bakıs], which was also shut down by the government, and he was facing an arrest warrant. The police couldn’t find him and they arrested his wife, Hacer Korucu. She stayed in prison for a month on account of her husband. At that moment, I thought my family is no longer safe either, so I decided to extract them out of the country.
GJ: Was your family directly threatened?
Bozkurt: When I moved out of Turkey I kept writing about what’s going on in Turkey. I guess they felt uncomfortable with my writings.
It was part of the intimidation campaign to go after family members, including my mother. She is a 79-year-old, she lives alone but sometimes my sister helps her out. Police raided her home in my hometown of Bandirma in December 2016, searched the house and placed her in detention for a day. She was questioned about me.
Why does she deserve that? They want me to shut up, to be silent even though I feel safe abroad.
GJ: What will happen if you go back to Turkey?
Bozkurt: Of course I will get arrested. They even posted a “wanted” picture of me, and it was run in the pro-government dailies and in the state news agency. It’s like in the old Western movies: there is a picture of me and where I live. I have no prediction when I can go back to Turkey. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/tOxGaGKy6fo”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship partner Global Journalist is a website that features global press freedom and international news stories as well as a weekly radio program that airs on KBIA, mid-Missouri’s NPR affiliate, and partner stations in six other states. The website and radio show are produced jointly by professional staff and student journalists at the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, the oldest school of journalism in the United States. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”6″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”2″ element_width=”12″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1517591299623-14a913d2-eca2-3″ taxonomies=”22142″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
