HDP deputy chair of the Press and Propaganda Commission, Tayip Temel, made a written statement on the occasion of the anniversary of the killing of journalist Metin Göktepe.

"We commemorate with respect and gratitude the 26th anniversary of the murder of Evrensel Newspaper journalist, Metin Göktepe, who was detained and murdered by police in Ümraniye, Istanbul while he was following a news," said Temel.

The statement added: "Metin and hundreds of journalists have been murdered in these lands because they wanted to murder the principles of truth, free press and journalism. All the governments that tried to survive by harbouring hostility to the truth and establishing a world based on lies, always and first of all targeted free journalists. Unfortunately, the murder of Metin. It was neither the first nor the last."

The statement continued: "Journalists in Turkey were trying to be silenced and turned into tools of government policies yesterday as well as today. However, regarding the attacks on the free press and journalists who adhere to the principles of journalism, the AKP is proving worse than all previous administrations! Turkey is going through one of the darkest periods in its history in what refers to attacks on the press. On the one hand, journalists who try to do justice to their profession are murdered, arrested, intimidated with threats and lawsuits; on the other hand, hitmen posing as journalists are released.

Despite all these attacks, the free press tradition in Turkey and the heirs of this tradition, journalists, like Metin and Apê Musa, do not hesitate to convey the truth to the public, and continue to use their pens for freedom and humanity."

Temel ended his statement with the following remarks: "We commemorate the martyrs of the free press who sacrificed their lives to bring the truth to the public. We salute Metin Göktepe, Gurbetelli Ersöz, Hrant Dink and Apê Musa, and all free press workers who insist on journalism and truth by carrying on their legacy."