Dicle Fırat Journalists' Association (DFG) released a statement on the occasion of Working Journalists’ Day, celebrated in Turkey on 10 January.

DFG stated that they do not celebrate 10 January but fight to remove the obstacles against the truth due to the ongoing attacks against freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The association pointed out that the government continues its policies to prevent journalists from working, to prevent the spread of news and to obscure the truth.

The statement pointed out that the government in Turkey sought to render journalists unable to work by means of access blocks on the internet, censorship of news reports, physical obstruction of reporters, detentions and arrests.

Regarding the treatment of Kurdish journalists in Turkey, DFG denounced the government’s deadly attacks, citing the killing of Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin in an UCAV attack by the Turkish army in North-East Syria on 19 December.

DFG noted that the government did not respond to the request for the bodies of the two slain journalists to be brought to Turkey where their families live.

On unreasonable grounds, a delegation consisting of families and non-governmental organisations was even prevented from passing through the Habur border crossing into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to retrieve the bodies, the statement noted.

DFG denounced the government’s arbitrary prevention of the right to burial, saying: “It is not possible to talk about freedom of expression and freedom of the press in an environment where the right to burial and mourn, a most fundamental right guaranteed by universal law, cannot be exercised.”

Remarking that repression against journalists in Turkey reached a peak in 2024, DFG stated: “The government is trying to block the activities of all alternative media outlets by means of the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) and the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK). Only last week, both X and Instagram accounts of Mezopotamya Agency, Yeni Yaşam Newspaper and JİNNEWS were arbitrarily blocked. On 9 January, access to 7 socialist agencies and news websites was blocked. The government, which imposes censorship everywhere, does not feel the need to base its grounds for closure on concrete evidence, acting in violation of the law. It instead tries to find a cover for the restrictions on the grounds of ‘national security’. The journalists detained and imprisoned in 2024 were intended to be rendered inactive through trials and sentences.”

The statement concluded: “The main problem in Turkey is the government's hostile attitude towards freedom of the press, but, in essence, towards the truth. Despite all these pressures and attempts to prevent the truth, there are journalists who try to convey the truth to the whole public. In spite of the mentality that tries to kill journalism, we call on all our colleagues who struggle without compromising the truth to fight until we can celebrate this day.”