Pervin Buldan: Özgür Gündem’s Doors Have Been Sealed

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TBMM (Grand National Assembly of Turkey) Deputy Chair for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), İstanbul MP Pervin Buldan, requested entry to Özgür Gündem’s building after it had been raided.

After waiting a while to speak with authorities and being unable to get a response, Buldan then attempted to reach the İstanbul governor by phone.

CLİCK - POLICE RAID ON ÖZGÜR GÜNDEM

Unable to reach anyone, Buldan said in a press statement that as a parliament deputy chair she was unable to find anyone who would answer her.

“It’s not the first time Özgür Gündem has been shut down. The pressure has been there for years, but the newspaper was never shut down. After today it won’t shut down either. Özgür Gündem is the newspaper for the oppressed. I think that with the support of these circles, the newspaper will open and those who have been detained will be released.”

"OHAL (State of Emergency) is being implemented"

Buldan continued as follows:

“When they took the law away from the parliament, they said they wouldn’t turn their backs on democracy and human rights. Today, with the raids on HDP’s İstanbul Provincial building and Özgür Gündem, we see that OHAL (State of Emergency) started today. This implementation needs to be reversed as soon as possible. The problems could be solved with more democratic methods. OHAL has forces opposed to Kurds and democratic forces. We saw that again today.”

Buldan finished her speech with the words, “Those who defended the free press on the night of the coup shouldn’t remain silent to the interferences now. Everyone should protect the [news] agenda.”

Passing the police barricade allowed

After waiting a while, Buldan was allowed to pass the police barricade. One of HDP’s founders, Şamil Altan, and HDP Istanbul Provincial Co-Chair Doğan Erba accompanied Buldan.

Just a little while after passing the police barricade, Buldan returned and said that the doors to Özgür Gündem’s building had been sealed.

“The door is closed. It’s been sealed. Because of the blinds we couldn’t see the sheet of paper on it. There’s only a sealed door. Özgür Gündem newspaper’s doors have been sealed.”

When journalists and rights advocates who had come for support continued to wait, the police dispersed them from a police bus. When the requests to see the building made by Özgür Gündem employees who were not detained were denied, the support actions came to a halt.

(BK/HK/KT)

* Photographs and video: Beyza Kural