Journalists Attacked in Edirne and Malatya
The Head of the South-East European Journalists Association (AGD), Bülent Ayan, Sabah newspaper reporter Murat Savaş and Edirne newspaper reporter Birol Çakan were attacked in the evening of 6 May in Edirne (western Thrace). The AGD, the Edirne Journalists Association (EGD) and the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) condemned the attack on the journalists. They urged the authorities to find the yet unidentified perpetrators.
Ayan is also the general publications manager of the local Hudut newspaper and Savaş reports for the Hudut daily as well. Both journalists were attacked together with Çakan after they had left a restaurant in the evening of 6 May. Two unidentified individuals assaulted them in a side street.
The two attackers approached the journalists from behind. They pushed Savaş and Çakan on the ground and started kicking them. When Ayan tried to get help the aggressors ran away and disappeared into the dark.
"The way the attack was carried out indicates that it was organized"
Savaş and Çakan suffered several injuries in the attack and underwent medical treatment in the Edirne State Hospital. The journalists drew attention to the fact that the attackers leaped to the street from the garden of a Turkish bath.
The journalists said that they did not know the attackers. In their opinion, the way the assault was carried out indicated that it was an organized attack.
The AGD and EGD announced in a joint statement that the reason for the attack has not been understood yet. However, they pointed to the fact that three journalists had been attacked and condemned the incident.
The associations called on the authorities to find the perpetrators and the instigators.
The Turkish Journalists Association declared in a press release, "It is the most important function of journalists to report on topics such as injustice against the public and corruption. We condemn the systematic attacks against our colleagues who fulfil this duty. We want the responsible persons to be brought to court as soon as possible".
Attak against journalist in Malatya after CHP event
Again in the evening of 6 May, journalists in Malatya were attacked after an event organized by the Republican People's Party (CHP). The Malatya (South-East) Youth Commission of the main opposition party had organized an event to commemorate past leftist revolutionaries Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan. The journalists were attacked after the event when they recorded footage of a quarrel that had broken out between members of the Youth Division.
The journalists were imposed to verbal and physical attacks. Güneş TV cameraman Yusuf Aslan was kicked.
Journalist Sultan Kılıç who became the subject of the assault reported to the Etkin News Agency (ETHA), "We are just doing our job. Nobody said anything when we took footage of the event. But when we tried to record the fight that emerged when the group left the venue, they cursed and kicked us".
"Cameraman Aslan was kicked that hard that he collided with a minibus. I could take a few images. When they saw me recording a couple of people turned towards me and attacked me".
Kılıç said that they did not file a complaint at the same day and that they were waiting for an apology from the CHP management. For the time being, there was no response at all, he said.
In April, the police intervened against journalists in Hakkari (South-East) with tear gas when the press people were covering a demonstration. The police threatened the journalists by pointing their weapons at them and tried to run them over with an armoured vehicle. The Hakkari Journalists Association condemned the attack. (EÇ/EÖ/VK)