* Photograph: Mezopotamya Agency
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Kurdish journalist and writer Musa Anter, widely known as Apê Musa, was commemorated on the spot where he was murdered in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakır 27 years ago today (September 20).
The commemoration ceremony held in front of Musa Anter Monument was attended by several people including journalists and politicians.
* Video: HDP / Twitter
The ceremony was organized by the Free Journalists Initiative (OGİ). The ones who attended the commemoration carried the photographs of Anter as well as other murdered Kurdish journalists in their hands.
Police officers announced that they would not let the people carry the photos of other killed Kurdish journalists; however, the police permitted the photos upon the insistence of journalists.
Boltan: His voice has come to these days
Making a brief statement on behalf of the ÖGİ, Spokesperson Hakkı Boltan reiterated that more than 100 journalists including Musa Anter were massacred and added, "The murderers of several of them have been still unknown. There is a highly planned attack against free press from past to present. These attacks are increasing day by day."
"The ones who massacred Apê Musa aimed to kill his struggle as well. They thought that they could silence him by killing him. However, when they massacred Apê Musa, we saw that they could not bury his struggle and that of the free press. The voice that he raised in those years has come to these days. This voice has also risen for free press in the world, in Kurdistan."
Mızraklı: I was unlucky, I met them late
Indicating that he found the opportunity to öeet Musa Anter and Vedat Aydın at the General Assembly of Human Rights Association (İHD) in 1990, dismissed Metropolitan Mayor of Diyarbakır Selçuk Mızraklı said, "I met them late, I was unlucky for that reason. I wish I could still benefit more from the values, the words, the language that they left behind."
Ceylan: They will not get away with it
Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır Provincial Co-Chair Zeyyat Ceylan indicated that Musa Anter was a philosopher of Kurds and added that dark forces have massacred the philosopher of peace and freedom.
"They have massacred him, but his hundreds of friends are following his footsteps and continue struggling. Those who did it thought that they would get away with that. But, no, they will not get away with it, they will be condemned in people's conscience", Ceylan stated further.
Group set off for Mardin to visit his grave
After the speeches, the ones who attended the commemoration walked to the point where Anter was shot to death by chanting the slogan "Free press cannot be silenced". Laying carnations there, they also observed a moment of silence. Anter will also be commemorated at his grave in Mardin.
About Musa Anter
Born in Mardin in 1920, Musa Anter completed his secondary and high school education in Adana and studied law at İstanbul University. It was during Dersim Revolt that he was taken into custody for the first time. He was among the founders of Revolutionary Eastern Culture Hearths, the Labor Party of People, Mezopotamya Cultural Center and İstanbul Kurdish Institute. After leaving the Faculty of Law in the third year, Musa Anter started writing for Şark Postası and Dicle Kaynağı. He was imprisoned in 1959 because of his Kurdish poem "Qimil/Kımıl" published on İleri Yurt newspaper. Anter was also faced with life imprisonment in the lawsuit known as 49s. He was arrested in 1963, sent to exile in 1967 and imprisoned after the military coups in 1971 and 1980. Throughout his life, Anter wrote for İleri Yurt, Dicle-Fırat, Barış Dünyası, Deng, Yön, Azadiye Welat, Yeni Ülke, Özgür Gündem, Rewşen and Tewlo. He also published seven books and one Kurdish-Turkish Dictionary. On September 20, 1992, Musa Anter attended the Culture-Art Festival in Diyarbakır, signed his books. An armed attack was launched against Anter and his nephew journalist-writer Orhan Miroğlu in Cumhuriyet Neighborhood. Anter died, Miroğlu was wounded. The attack was allegedly conducted by Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Organization (JİTEM), a controversial wing and intelligence agency of the gendarmerie. |
(HA/SD)
