Editor of Kurdish Weekly Xwebûn newspaper detained in raid on home

Nafiye Bal, the editor of the Kurdish-language weekly newspaper Xwebûn, was detained in an afternoon raid on her home.

Bal was brought to the Diyarbakır Provincial Police Department following her detention, Mezopotamya Agency (MA) reported.

After the procedures at the police department, Bal is expected to be transferred to the courthouse for her statement to be taken.

Xwebûn is a Kurdish-language weekly newspaper that started publishing in 2019. It is the only newspaper in Kurdish that is both an internet outlet and also published in papers in Turkey.

Kurdish journalists in Turkey face frequent trials, mostly on charges related to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In July, 17 Kurdish journalists and a media worker went on trial on terrorism charges after spending 13 months in pretrial detention.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Turkey was the fourth-worst jailer of journalists in 2022, with 40 behind bars, more than half of whom were Kurdish journalists.

Bianet Media Monitoring Database

25 September 2023

(TY/VK)