Claudia Roth, Co-Chair of the German Green Party and member of the European Union Greens, came to Istanbul this week to visit detained journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener at the Silivri Prison on the western outskirts of the megacity. Yet, Roth was eventually denied to meet Şık and Şener who were arrested in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation on 6 March this year.
In a statement made before the visit, Roth announced that she intended to convey Şık and Şener the message that 'journalists like them would not be forgotten'.
"We applied to the German Embassy and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this visit. Unfortunately, we did not receive a clear answer till now. Many journalists in Turkey are in prison; Şık and Şener are examples for me. I want to visit them on behalf of all the other journalists. Arresting journalists for the work they do is a risk factor for democracy in Turkey. I am a friend of Turkey. I hope I will be able to make this visit".
"First yes, then no"
Roth entered the prison and came out one hour later. She said that she was very annoyed about the way she was treated in the prison and explained that she was eventually not allowed to meet journalists Şık and Şener.
"There is a problem in a country where more than 70 journalists are being detained. I am very annoyed with the way I was treated. There is the official application I sent to the Ministry of Justice on 22 July. The German Consulate and the Embassy stepped in several times".
Roth recalled, "Half an hour after I had entered the prison, it was said that the permission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice had been issued. Another 30 minutes later, it was announced that the permission had to be presented in writing. But they still said that we were going to meet. They checked us as if we were criminals. After that, the prosecutor declared that we were not allowed to visit the journalists. According to the regulations, the application apparently has to be submitted ten days before the visit; what a stupid thing. If they had told me I would have come one week later".
"Why can I not hear the reason for arrest from the journalist himself"
Roth announced that she was going to send an official letter to the Ministry of Justice and the Prime Minister upon her return to Germany. "Democracy cannot survive without press freedom and freedom of speech", Roth criticized.
"I am going to ask the Prime Minister a number of questions: What are you afraid of? Why can I not meet a journalist who works for bringing light into the darkness? Why can I not hear the experiences of a detained journalist from the person himself? Why can I not ask them myself about their five months in isolation? Why can I not ask Şık and Şener who are doing journalism against the behind-the-state activities for 20 years directly why they are detained Ergenekon defendants?"
Roth continued, "And I want to tell the Prime Minister that you need bread and water to live and for a democracy to live it needs press freedom and freedom of expression; otherwise it will not survive. I promise that I will continue the struggle for Şık and Şener that they will be able to do free journalism. I will return in October. I hope that Şık and Şener will be doing their jobs freely by then. I am a friend of Turkey. If this is the way Turkey treats its friends, how are its enemies being treated I wonder. How am I going to defend Turkey's membership in the European Union after this?"
Today (28 July) Roth is going to visit the Armenian Agos newspaper. A press statement is expected for 3.00 pm local time to be issued at the Hilton Hotel in central Istanbul. (EKN/NV/ŞA/VK)
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