Tuncer Bakr Khan: Stop the war against Kurdish journalism

According to KurdPress, Tuncer Bakr Khan met with representatives of the Mesopotamian Women Journalists Association (MKG), Gene News, Mesopotamia News Agency (MA), Kurdish Valat News Agency and Yeni Yaşam newspaper at the Tigris-Euphrates Journalists Association (DFG) building in Diyarbakir.

Salman Çiçek, co-chair of the Tigris-Euphrates Journalists Association, Roza Matina, chairwoman of the Mesopotamian Women Journalists Association, Serhat Eren, a member of the parliament, Hacı Bultan, a journalist and representative of the Basinış union affiliated with DİSK, and a number of Kurdish media reporters attended the meeting.The meeting discussed judicial and political pressures on the media, censorship, arrests of journalists, blocking of websites and media accounts, and ways to jointly confront these restrictions.

Journalists: Pressures continue despite the start of the peace process

Media representatives at the meeting said that despite the start of the peace process and a democratic society, pressure, censorship, arrests, and digital restrictions against journalists and media institutions continue.

They also pointed to the pressures on women journalists and said that they will not back down from their efforts to reflect women's voices and defend society's right to access information.According to the attendees, the continuation of restrictions on critical media is not compatible with the space needed for the peace process to progress, and confronting this situation requires extensive cooperation between media, civil and political institutions.

Bakr Khan: Free press has not backed down from telling the truth

In his speech, Tuncer Bakr Khan emphasized the need for media freedom and said: “Despite all the pressures, the free press has not backed down from telling the truth.”

Referring to the pressures that Kurdish journalists have faced in different periods, he added: “In the past, journalists were targeted with bombings and murders; today, pressure and censorship have replaced those methods.”

The co-chair of the Dem Party said: “In the process where we talk about peace, the way must be opened for real journalism. The war against journalism must stop.»

Emphasis on joint fight against censorship

Bakr Khan considered the government’s approach to the press as one of the criteria for measuring its commitment to the peace process, and said that continued attacks on the media would make it difficult to progress.

He emphasized the need to form a joint fight against censorship and pressure, saying: “We will fight together and eliminate these pressures. We will be the voice of truth.”

At the end of the meeting, the participants exchanged views on strengthening cooperation between the media, trade unions and political forces and finding joint solutions to defend press freedom.