Major Doubts about Journalist's Death Brought to Parliament

Sevahir Bayındır, MP of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in Şırnak (south-eastern Turkey), brought the suspicious death of Metin Alataş to parliament. The body of 34-year-old Alataş, distributor of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, was found hung in a tree in Adana (south-eastern Turkey) on 4 April.

Bayındır submitted an inquiry to the parliament which is to be answered by Minister of the Interior Beşir Atalay. The BDP MP asked whether any investigation has been launched into crimes committed against media professionals.

Journalist Boltan: Alataş was threatened

Alataş had distributed copies of the Azadiya Welat daily on 3 April. He left the district at around 2.00 pm and was not seen nor heard of afterwards. On the following day, his body was found hung in a tree in the Hadırlı district of Adana. The preliminary autopsy report stated strangulation as the reason of death. The final report from the Forensic Medicine Institute will be issued in about two months time.

Alataş's body was laid to rest in the Karasu quarter of the Seyhan district in Adana. His family held a memorial service in the Gülbahçe quarter on 7 April.

Hakkı Boltan, diplomacy service editor of Azadiya Welat, told bianet that the investigation has not revealed any new findings yet. However, Boltan said that the newspaper employees and Alataş's family members and friends more and more come to the conclusion that this was not an ordinary suicide. The journalist reasoned this opinion as follows:

"When Alataş was found dead, the prosecution did not contact his family first, but the printing house of the newspaper in Adana. Two days prior to the incident, his bicycle was stolen. In the recent past, Alataş had told his colleagues, 'They are observing and threatening me. Something might happen'. No ID was found with the dead body. These are reasons why we have doubts about some things he experienced before his death. None of his family members and friends nor anybody who has spend 24 hours together with him believes he committed suicide"

Nobody believes strangulation-theory

Atalaş's older brother Servet Alataş told the DİHA News Agency, "My brother was not killed by unknown perpetrators. The perpetrators are known. We want the incident to be brought to light as soon as possible".

Newspaper officials reported that Alataş had been subject of an assault four months earlier. Five unidentified people approached him in a car with an Adana number plate and attacked Atalaş when he distributed newspaper copies in front of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) building on 22 December 2009.

Newspaper representative Ali Kalik said at Alataş's funeral that this attack remained unpunished, "The investigation was closed even though the car's number plate was known".

Bayındır asked Minister Atalay in his inquiry whether any action was taken regarding a supposed connection of both incidents and if yes, which results came out of that.

Questions of the inquiry

Which institutions did Metin Alataş complain about, when and for what reasons? Were any precautions taken after his application? If yes, what measures were taken exactly?

How many press employees have been taken into custody between 2007 and 2010? What were the reasons?

Has any investigation been launched on behalf of the ministry related to crimes committed against press professionals? (EÖ/VK)