20 Years of Impunity in Özgür Ülke Newspaper Bombing

Özgür Ülke newspaper technical headquarters located in İstanbul’s Kadırga district, central office in Cağaloğlu and bureau in Ankara have been bombed on December 3, 1994. The incident left transport worker Ersin Yıldız (32) and 23 workers wounded. 

Today, journalists assembled in Kadırga, urging for justice and commemorating those who were affected. 

Keskin: Dirty policies continue 

After the commemoration, a press statement was read by Eren Keskin, editor-in-chief of Özgür Gündem newspaper - then Özgür Ülke newspaper under a different name for judicial purposes. 

Keskin said that the state’s “dirty policies” against the media continued in Turkey.

“We reiterate our promise to follow up on the line of freedom without making any concessions about free press,” she said. 

“There is neither the suspects nor a proper investigation,” she continued. 

Keskin also claimed that the attack continued with the recent killing of  Kadri Bağdu - the distributor of Azadiya Welat newspaper. 

What happened?

On December 3, 2014, Özgür Ülke newspaper technical headquarters located in İstanbul’s Kadırga district, central office in Cağaloğlu and bureau in Ankara have been bombed. 

The incident left transport worker Ersin Yıldız (32) and 23 workers wounded. 

Following the incident, the newspaper could only run with the solidarity of other socialist newspapers with Özgür Ülke staff working in their offices. 

On December 4, 1993, the newspaper was published with 4 pages with the headline “This Fire Could Burn You As Well”. 

Around 15 days after the bombing, Özgür Ülke newspaper published an article about a top secret document signed by then-PM Tansu Çiller. 

The document cited the following with direct reference to the newspaper:

“The activities of media outlets supporting the separatist and annihilating [organizations] has recently turned into an overt threat against the future of the [Turkish] state and its moral values. In order to wipe out this threat against the unity of country and nation, precautions need to be taken…"

Who is Kadri Bağdu?

Kurdish language Azadiya Welat newspaper distributor Kadri Bağdu (46) lost his life on October 14 after being assaulted in Seyhan located in the southern district of Adana. 

The incident took place around 9:20 am local time as unknown individuals in a motorcycle fired at Bağdu during his distribution shift - an incident that reminded many of Turkey’s unclaimed killings during the 1990s. 

While an investigation has been launched, no progress has yet to be made, no suspects detained. (AS/BM)

* Photo credit: Twitter

* Click here to read the article in Turkish.