Kurdish press associations will rally today in Istanbul to demand the release of journalists and reporters who have been under arrest since the so-called KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) operation on 20 December 2011.

The so-called KCK operation on 20 December 2011 ended up with the detention of 46 reporters working for the Kurdish media, among whom 26 have been under arrest ever since. The forth hearing of the case against Kurdish press workers will be held at Istanbul 15th High Criminal Court in Silivri Prison Complex on 22 April.

Workers of Dicle News Agency, Özgür Gündem daily, Fırat Distribution and Democratic Modernity magazine will march from Taksim Tramway Station to Galatasary Square two days before the hearing, on the 20th, to demand the release of their colleagues.

The march will also be supported by journalists and the Platform for Freedom for Journalists. In a written statement on the march, Özgür Gündem daily called for solidarity with workers of the Kurdish media who -it underlined- have been tried as a consequence of AKP government's political preferences that have no legal ground and are against the freedom of thought, expression and organization.