"Yürüyüş" Magazine Banned for One Month

The Istanbul 13^th High Criminal Court imposed a publication ban on the weekly Emperyalizme ve Oligarşiye Karşı Yürüyüş ('Marching against Imperialism and Oligarchy') magazine ("Yürüyüş" magazine in short) because of alleged "propaganda for an illegal organization" on the grounds of the article entitled "We are on the way to Kızıldere". The article refers to the massacre in the village of Kızıldere which happened 38 years ago.

Court Judge Ömer Diken furthermore decided on 4 April to confiscate the current issue of the magazine published on the very same day.

In 1972, ten young men had kidnapped two British and one Canadian citizen in an attempt to prevent the execution of three student leaders. In the Kızıldere massacre in the Tokat province in northern Anatolia, special forces raided the village on 30 March 1972. The ten kidnappers and their three hostages were killed.

Writing about a journey considered a crime

Besides the mentioned article, the 22^nd issue's cover reads "Kızıldere, we are coming". The court decreed for "spreading propaganda for a terror organization" based on both headlines. However, the name of the organization is not defined.

The article describes the journey from Istanbul to Kızıldere. The journey sets out at the Gazi district of Istanbul at the grave of Dursun Karataş, leader of the Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People (DHKP-C) who died on 12 August 2008. Karataş is remembered as the "uncle" by members of the People's Front.

"It is not a criminal offence to write about Kızıldere"

The publication of the magazine was banned for one month according to article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY), the confiscation decision was based on article 25/2 of the Press Law. The court announced that an investigation was launched by the Public Chief Prosecutor into magazine owner and editorial manager Metin Bulut.

Magazine officials said in a written statement, "Of course we write about the people around Mahir that died. [Mahir Çayan is one of the founders of DHKP-C.] It is not a crime to write about Kızıldere and about the revolutionary manifesto created at Kızıdere. The real crime is the attempt to silence the voices of the revolutionists".

And as if this was not enough, magazine offices are being raided, magazine distributors are being detained, beaten in the middle of the street and even killed. So, this is the democracy of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), this is AKP's freedom of press and their concept of freedom of thought. (EÖ/VK)