The sixth hearing of the trial against 46 journalists (22 of whom are still in prison) resumes today at Istanbul 15th Criminal Court. The 46 media workers were arrested on 20 December 2011 following the so called "KCK" (Kurdistan Communities Union) operation. In essence, the journalists are accused of being part of the so called "urban organisation" set up by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party).

The hearing began with the defense statement of ETHA editor in chief Arzu Demir who spoke Kurdish and explained why she spoke Kurdish despite her mother language being Turkish.

Demir, remarking that she expressed herself in Kurdish for moral, conscientious and political reasons, said that; “I am one of the Turkish suspects tried in this case. I am speaking Kurdish because of the deep pain I felt inside me when I saw that my mother language was being used as a means of torture against some others”.

Demir said she spoke Kurdish also because of the immoral inequality imposed on defendants among whom Kurds are not being allowed to express themselves in their mother tongue. I spoke Kurdish for moral equality, she underlined.

Demir said her speaking Kurdish also had a political reason, underlining that she was a socialist journalist standing against the assimilation policies of the Turkish nation state. She added that she stood by Kurdish people's fair demand to speak their mother tongue.