After the arrest of Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Erol Önderoğlu, and Ahmet Nesin for their participation in the Chief Editor Solidarity Campaign, many journalists declared that they were ready for participating in the campaign.

The journalists made a statement in the Özgür Gündem central bureau and gave the list of journalists willing to join the campaign to the newspaper.

ETHA News Director Önder Öner, Atılım Chief Ediyor Sedat Şenoğlı, and representatives from Agos, Sendika.org, Evrensel, Hayat TV, and Cumhuriyet participated in the meeting.

'WE WILL OVERCOME THE PRESSURES’

ETHA Editor Arzu Demir read the statement prepared by 107 journalists, and recalled that Özgür Gündem started the Chief Editor Solidarity Campaign due to the pressures targeting the free press, and said that the participants of the campaign have also been targeted and prosecuted. Demir stated that the journalists condemn the arrest of on duty chief editors Fincancı, Önderoğlu, and Nesin, and announced that more and more journalists are ready to participate in the campaign and defeat the state attacks on the honor of journalism. At the end of her speech, Demir gave the list and signatures of the journalists willing to participate in the campaign to Özgür Gündem editor Zana Kaya.

'SOLIDARITY GIVES HOPE'

Kaya thanked the journalists for their willingness to participate in the campaign, and described the recent arrests as an attack on journalists, the media, the society’s right to be informed and learn the truth, and democracy itself. Kaya stated that the only way to overcome these attacks is to show solidarity, and reiterated her hope given by the solidarity of her colleagues.

'SOLIDARITY HAS GROWN'

Ayşe Yıldırım from Cumhuriyet newspaper said that the arrests aim to end the solidarity among journalists, but backfired and grew the solidarity instead. Yıldırım added that journalists would not take a step back because of the pressures.

İshak Karakoç from Agos newspaper recalled that Fincancı had received the Hrant Dink Foundation award and the arrest of Ahmet Nesin marked the government’s decision to increase its pressure on the press.

'THEY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PREVENT JOURNALISM’

Association of Free Journalists (ÖGC) Co-President Hakkı Boltan also spoe during the meeting and said that the arrest of Fincancı, Önderoğlu, and Nesin showed that the prosecution of journalists has not succeeded in intimidating the press. Boltan noted that 48 journalists have been arrested so far, and the activity of journalist could not be prevented.