Turkey: Police Detain Nebiye Arı, Yağmur Kaya, Hilal Işık, Other Journalists Covering Student Protests
Location: Turkey, Ankara
Date: December 13, 2021Available in: 🇹🇷 Türkçe
The police detained Nebiye Arı, Yağmur Kaya, Hilal Işık and other journalists, who were covering a student protest in Ankara on Sunday. The women journalists were shifted to a police van and kept in custody for several hours before they were eventually released around midnight. The police allegedly denied the journalists food, water and other basic needs before taking their statements and permitting them to go. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the arbitrary detention of the journalists and violation of their rights. The police’s actions infringed on the freedom of the press and the right to information.
On Sunday, students from different parts of Turkey arrived in Ankara to protest the deteriorating economic conditions in the country but were met with harsh treatment by the police. The students, who had gathered to protest rising housing prices, amid other necessities fast becoming unaffordable for them, were baton charged by the police as they entered Ankara. At least 90 students were detained, with several injured, after the clash with the police.
The security forces also detained Nebiye, Yağmur, Hilal and other journalists on ground to cover the protest. The police insisted that Nebiye and Hilal show press accreditation issued by the Directorate of Communications and then detained the journalists for not providing government-approved press cards. Meanwhile, Yağmur was physically barred from filming the police’s response to student protestors and taken into custody.
Student unrest in Turkey, especially since the pandemic hit, has been on the rise given escalating inflation. Most students, who go to universities outside of their hometowns, have been struggling to afford housing rents and basic living essentials given the current economic situation in the country. In response to this, the Barınamıyoruz Movement (We Can't Find Shelter) called for protests, with participants planning to spend their nights in parks. However, the protestors were met with a violent and aggressive police force deployed to prevent the protests.
Speaking to the CFWIJ, Yağmur, a reporter employed at Artı Gerçek, said that she had witnessed similar reactions by the police before as well. “As usual, the police impeded us and prevented us from filming the protests and the security forces’ reactions.” Yağmur added that she and her fellow journalists were kept in a police vehicle for hours without access to food or water.
Luckily some lawyers and MPs of the opposition party, Republican People's Party (CHP), managed to interject and saved them, Yağmur told the CFWIJ. “A woman police officer told a student that he doesn’t like the state. But this is not true. These students, and us journalists, respect and love everyone. We strive for everyone’s democratic rights and freedoms with our slogans, and our pens and cameras. A free press cannot be silent.”
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is deeply concerned over the frequent reports of police overreaches against journalists in Turkey. In this year alone, we have documented different cases of at least 18 women journalists obstructed in the field. Many of these women journalists were detained by the police for not holding a government approved press card or were restricted from entering public areas to report on matters of public interest. In several instances, the women journalists were detained and/or had their equipment seized and then charged for “resisting a public official on duty”. We strongly condemn the police’s actions against Nebiye Arı, Yağmur Kaya, Hilal Işık and other journalists. Such practices by state institutions have no place in any democratic country and reflect poorly on the Turkish government. Journalists must be free to report on matters of public interest and to hold power to account without fear of backlash by the government. We call on the Erdoğan government to safeguard the freedom and independence of the press. No democracy can survive without a robust and free press.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism closely monitors the incidents in Turkey with great concern. Since March 8, Women's Day, police violence against women journalists increasingly continues in the country. As the coalition, we urge the Turkish state to provide a free environment for journalists. Following the news is our most fundamental democratic right to report. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues. Journalism is not a crime. Journalism cannot be prevented.
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