The difficult but determined adventure of Kurdish media
The difficult but determined adventure of Kurdish media
It is not easy to be an alternative media in a world where repression and intimidation as well as manipulation are lived constantly. As ANF team we have been trying to be a free media since October 2005. We are doing that under circumstances that do not reveal the high pressure we are facing everyday.
Indeed, our alternative media history goes back to more than a few years. Since the early 1990’s we have a media tradition that oppresses the paper's offices, kills journalists on the streets and has many of them subjected to heavy tortures and long terms in prisons. On 3 December 1994, the central office of the paper Özgür Ülke ( Free Land) was blasted following the order by the Prime Minister of the time, Tansu Çiller. An employee died and 23 journalists were injured in the blast. That time Kurdish journalists were killed on the streets, violence being a 'trend' against media workers. Despite all bombings, pressure and closures, tens of papers have continued to be published by Kurds over and over again.
In European countries the pressures and repression of Kurdish media were linked to the economical and political benefits that Europe had with Turkey. Before ANF, Kurds had the Germany-based Mesopotamia News Agency (MHA). MHA was established in 2001 and had to be closed due to the raid by German police in 2005. This raid was illegal and indeed nobody ever gave any justification for it and the case was later abated.
Today ANF do not experience difficulties as hard as before, nevertheless we are under a more manipulative aggression. It is not so easy to create an alternative, open and correct news channel for people while the power-media relation is having control on everything. The closure of papers and the pressure on the media exist even in the so-called most democratic times. One of the clearest example can be seen in Turkey that is always said to be “developing” by western powers.
62 TIMES CLOSURE OF 26 JOURNALS IN 4 YEARS
For example, in 2009 papers were banned 13 times while 35 journalists had to spend the New Year in jail because of their opinions. Internet prohibition lasted years; courts pronounced scandalous verdicts against freedom of the press. Under the AKP mandate between 4 December 2006 and 2009 December 26 Kurdish papers were closed a total of 62 times. These bans have continued also since the beginning of 2010.
All these were lived in a country which aspires to enter the European Union and which declares to have initiated a process of democratisation named “Kurdish initiative”. According to the report of the Solidarity Platform with Imprisoned Journalists, in Turkey still 36 journalists, authors and broadcasters are under arrest.
525 YEARS OF PRISON ASKED FOR A SINGLE JOURNALIST
The first and only daily Kurdish newspaper, “Azadiya Welat” has received 7 closure fines since its foundation on 15 August 2006. Each closure period was of one month. While a 525 years prison sentence was asked for the paper's former editor Vedat Kurþun, a total of 166 years and 6 months sentence was handed down on Kursun last week. The daily paper had to change 6 editors since its foundation, because of the constant trials and persecution. Azadiya Welat’s Adana responsible Metin Alataþ went missing on 3 April and was found hanged on a tree a few days later.
Turkey was condemned 12 times at the European Court of Human Right in 2009 in freedom of expression cases. Furthermore the 15 percent of ECHR decisions since 1959 are related to Turkey.
AN ANF JOURNALIST WAS KILLED
ANF is trying to tell the facts in a country that is called “democratic”, “reformist” and “developing”. However it still can’t perform its works properly in Turkey. This however is not peculiar to Turkey: ANF cannot work properly in Syria, Iraq and Iran. In other words, where Kurds live. ANF reporter Ayfer Serçe was killed by the Iranian Revolution Guards as she was trying to enter in East Kurdistan to report about women burning themselves. After many years, her corpse has not yet been given to her family. ANF internet site has to reach its readers with new retensions due to the often bans it is subjected to in these countries.
TRILINGUAL BROADCAST
Having started to broadcast with restricted possibilities and firstly in Turkish, ANF widened its works by opening the Kurdish language webpage on 5 April 2010. We tried many times before but until now we had not been able to establish a second agency. A short time ago we made a research about the possibilities for a Kurdish broadcast in some various regions of Europe and Kurdistan. We have new members joining us and trained them. We faced many problems like electric and internet access. In some regions we faced the impossibility of coordinating the work because of bans on ANF. As the results of these limitations, we organized a three-sided work in Europe, Kurdistan and Turkey.
The agency is now starting the English broadcast again under difficult circumstances, a low budget and limited number of workers. It is our pleasure and aim to offer our free journalism to a wider mass, also in foreign languages. We would like to state that despite heavy circumstances, this work’s productions are worth seeing and they give us more strength. We must make a great effort, be careful and patient to be alternative. We feel that we must write the facts not only under pressure, but also in a world that is clearly influenced by the power-media relation and in a world where manipulations are direct to the public in parallel with the benefits of capitalism.
Translation: Berna Ozgencil
Indeed, our alternative media history goes back to more than a few years. Since the early 1990’s we have a media tradition that oppresses the paper's offices, kills journalists on the streets and has many of them subjected to heavy tortures and long terms in prisons. On 3 December 1994, the central office of the paper Özgür Ülke ( Free Land) was blasted following the order by the Prime Minister of the time, Tansu Çiller. An employee died and 23 journalists were injured in the blast. That time Kurdish journalists were killed on the streets, violence being a 'trend' against media workers. Despite all bombings, pressure and closures, tens of papers have continued to be published by Kurds over and over again.
In European countries the pressures and repression of Kurdish media were linked to the economical and political benefits that Europe had with Turkey. Before ANF, Kurds had the Germany-based Mesopotamia News Agency (MHA). MHA was established in 2001 and had to be closed due to the raid by German police in 2005. This raid was illegal and indeed nobody ever gave any justification for it and the case was later abated.
Today ANF do not experience difficulties as hard as before, nevertheless we are under a more manipulative aggression. It is not so easy to create an alternative, open and correct news channel for people while the power-media relation is having control on everything. The closure of papers and the pressure on the media exist even in the so-called most democratic times. One of the clearest example can be seen in Turkey that is always said to be “developing” by western powers.
62 TIMES CLOSURE OF 26 JOURNALS IN 4 YEARS
For example, in 2009 papers were banned 13 times while 35 journalists had to spend the New Year in jail because of their opinions. Internet prohibition lasted years; courts pronounced scandalous verdicts against freedom of the press. Under the AKP mandate between 4 December 2006 and 2009 December 26 Kurdish papers were closed a total of 62 times. These bans have continued also since the beginning of 2010.
All these were lived in a country which aspires to enter the European Union and which declares to have initiated a process of democratisation named “Kurdish initiative”. According to the report of the Solidarity Platform with Imprisoned Journalists, in Turkey still 36 journalists, authors and broadcasters are under arrest.
525 YEARS OF PRISON ASKED FOR A SINGLE JOURNALIST
The first and only daily Kurdish newspaper, “Azadiya Welat” has received 7 closure fines since its foundation on 15 August 2006. Each closure period was of one month. While a 525 years prison sentence was asked for the paper's former editor Vedat Kurþun, a total of 166 years and 6 months sentence was handed down on Kursun last week. The daily paper had to change 6 editors since its foundation, because of the constant trials and persecution. Azadiya Welat’s Adana responsible Metin Alataþ went missing on 3 April and was found hanged on a tree a few days later.
Turkey was condemned 12 times at the European Court of Human Right in 2009 in freedom of expression cases. Furthermore the 15 percent of ECHR decisions since 1959 are related to Turkey.
AN ANF JOURNALIST WAS KILLED
ANF is trying to tell the facts in a country that is called “democratic”, “reformist” and “developing”. However it still can’t perform its works properly in Turkey. This however is not peculiar to Turkey: ANF cannot work properly in Syria, Iraq and Iran. In other words, where Kurds live. ANF reporter Ayfer Serçe was killed by the Iranian Revolution Guards as she was trying to enter in East Kurdistan to report about women burning themselves. After many years, her corpse has not yet been given to her family. ANF internet site has to reach its readers with new retensions due to the often bans it is subjected to in these countries.
TRILINGUAL BROADCAST
Having started to broadcast with restricted possibilities and firstly in Turkish, ANF widened its works by opening the Kurdish language webpage on 5 April 2010. We tried many times before but until now we had not been able to establish a second agency. A short time ago we made a research about the possibilities for a Kurdish broadcast in some various regions of Europe and Kurdistan. We have new members joining us and trained them. We faced many problems like electric and internet access. In some regions we faced the impossibility of coordinating the work because of bans on ANF. As the results of these limitations, we organized a three-sided work in Europe, Kurdistan and Turkey.
The agency is now starting the English broadcast again under difficult circumstances, a low budget and limited number of workers. It is our pleasure and aim to offer our free journalism to a wider mass, also in foreign languages. We would like to state that despite heavy circumstances, this work’s productions are worth seeing and they give us more strength. We must make a great effort, be careful and patient to be alternative. We feel that we must write the facts not only under pressure, but also in a world that is clearly influenced by the power-media relation and in a world where manipulations are direct to the public in parallel with the benefits of capitalism.
Translation: Berna Ozgencil
