Turkey's religious officials smash cameras of journalists from Greece in earthquake zone

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Personnel of Turkey's religious authority seized and broke the equipment of three journalists from Greece who had come to Turkey to cover the earthquakes, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported.

The incident happened on February 16 in Antakya, Hatay, one of the heaviest hit regions from the quakes, during a mass burial.

Soldiers and religious personnel warned journalists Kyriakos Finas, Victoras Antonopoulos ve Konstantinos Zilos not to photograph the burial. However, Zilos did not hear the warning and photographed the grave site.

The journalists were then taken to a building belonging to the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). The Diyanet personnel seized their cameras and other equipment.

After waiting outside the building for about five hours to get their equipment back, the journalists returned to their hotel and contacted Greece's embassy.

A day later, an official with the Presidency Communications Directorate told the journalists that they could get back their equipment from the Diyanet building.

However, the Diyanet personnel had smashed three phones and two cameras worth 4,500 Euro before handing them over to the journalists.

The journalists returned to their country on February 21. The communication attache at Turkey's Embassy in Athens promised them that Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency would "gift" them new equipment.

The journalists said the officials did not keep their promise, in addition to all the footage and photos they had taken were lost. They are now preparing to file a lawsuit.

MLSA Co-Director Veysel Ok, who took up the case, said, "We will both file a lawsuit for compensation for the damage and a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office for the detection and punishment of Diyanet officials who committed this crime."

The earthquakes

On February 6, two earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.7 and 7.6 struck the southern city of Maraş.

The quakes caused destruction in 10 cities in Turkey's south and southeast, as well as Syria's northern parts, where over 5,000 people were killed.

The official death toll from the quakes stands at over 50,000 and is expected to increase further, as over 227,000 buildings were destroyed or severely damaged, according to government figures.

Also, about two million people were displaced after the quakes. (HA/VK)