Newspaper for Detained Students

The "Gelecek Hapsedilmez" newspaper was published on 26 November in order to support more than 500 students who are currently being detained in Turkish prisons. "The future cannot be jailed" is the meaning of the title of the newspaper prepared by students who are members of the Turkish Communist Party (TKP). It aims to be the voice of all students in detention on behalf of Cüneyt Çakır, TKP member and student of the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) Department of Philosophy, who is being detained at the Sincan F Type Prison.

The "Gelecek Hapsedilmez" contains numerous messages of support from many institutions and student communities. The senders include Nurettin Abacıoğlu, head of the steering board of the University Councils Association; Himmet Şahin, head of the steering board of the ODTÜ Alumni Association; Prof Ahmet İnam from the Çakır University who is a member of staff at the ODTÜ Department of Philosophy and various student communities from ODTÜ.

The World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) issued a statement in the paper and condemned the arrest of students in Turkey and the oppression of the left. The Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) contributed with a compilation of their report on detained students.

The last page of the newspaper was reserved for a call to support the 23 people, among them14 students, at their hearing on 9 December in the context of the protests at Hopa (eastern Black Sea coast) on 31 May. Tragic-comic details of the Hopa indictment are published as well.

What can be the mission of the "Gelecek Hapsedilemez" at a time when custodies and arrests related to certain sections of society are going on in Turkey?

Bosporus University student Engin Karaman who helped in the publication of this paper said that the detained students were isolated and that they aimed at depicting their troubles in the newspaper. In Karaman's opinion, all detained students have in common that they are opposition.

Karaman explained, "These students are struggling for Turkey to advance into another direction. They have projects for a different Turkey and missions for Turkey's future. With the "Gelecek Hapsedilmez" newspaper we tried to say that these detained students are Turkey's future. We thought the paper would function to become partners with our troubles and to talk about our worries. We prepared the newspaper in solidarity with Cüneyt Çakır and to clarify his matter in particular". (EG/HK)