Columnist Resigns from Pro-Government Daily Not Publishing her Article on Kaftancıoğlu

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The latest article of Özlem Albayrak, a columnist for the pro-government daily Yeni Şafak, has not been published by the newspaper.

Sharing the incident with the public on her social media account, Albayrak has announced that she has resigned from the daily.

Özlem Albayrak has been penning articles for the newspaper for the past 10 years. In her latest article, the columnist criticized the prison sentence of 9 years and 8 months given to main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul Provincial Organization Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu due to her social media messages from six years ago.

CLICK - Kaftancıoğlu Sentenced to 9 Years, 8 Months in Prison

Announcing her resignation on Twitter, Özlem Albayrak said,

"The attached article that I sent to the newspaper yesterday has not been published. It was the last ring of the chain of contradictions between the publication policy of the newspaper and my opinions. As it is no longer possible to continue under these conditions, I am putting an end to my articles and parting ways with Yeni Şafak. Announced."

In her Twitter message, the former Yeni Şafak columnist also shared the full text of her unpublished article on Kaftancıoğlu.

'Is the government taking revenge on its loss?'

Some highlights from her unpublished article are as follows:

"Two of the tweets causing Kaftancıoğlu to be sentenced to prison were posted in 2016, one of them in 2014 and the other one in 2012.

"And, naturally, the fact that social media posts from seven, five and three years ago became judicial matters just after [the municipal administration] of İstanbul has passed to the CHP bring other questions to mind. For instance: Is it how the government is taking revenge for losing İstanbul 25 years later?

"I really do not know whether there exists a legal principle that could explain why a tweet posted in 2012 has become the subject of a lawsuit today."

'Freedom of expression is a must for democratic order'

Underlining that the judgement on Kaftancıoğlu "has once again opened the politicization of the judiciary to debate", Albayrak also speculated that if Kaftancıoğlu had posted a tweet from 2016 during the Resolution Process of the Kurdish question between the years of 2009 and 2013, "it would probably not even become a matter in dispute."

"Secondly, there are no criteria, rules or principles as to how the social media posts subject to lawsuit are chosen", Albayrak has highlighted and added, "In fact, as long as the related contents do not incite violence or propagandize for a terrorist organization, social media messages are considered within the scope of freedom of expression. It is a must for the democratic state order."

'It is not a duty of courts to discipline citizens'

Referring to the verdict on Canan Kaftancıoğlu as "meaningful and controversial", the columnist concluded,

"To be honest, I believe that even the ones who do not agree with messages of Kaftansıoğlu, find these messages wrong and condemn them should also object to this verdict. Because, a crime praising violence or supporting terrorism and criticism are two different things. And the duty of the courts is not to discipline the citizens uttering reprehensive remarks, but to punish the ones committing crimes - full stop." (HA/SD)