Journalist covering Enes Kara’s death removed from office as managing editor

* A screenshot of the removed news report

Click to read the article in Turkish

Local journalist Faik Akgün, who reported on the suicide of university student Enes Kara after posting a video about the pressure he faced at the dorm of a religious community, has been removed from office as the managing editor and the news report has been removed from the website.

As reported by Fırat Fıstık from Gerçek Gündem news website, local newspaper Günışığı in Turkey's eastern province of Elazığ published the news report titled "Unable to withstand religious community's pressure, he committed suicide" on its website. However, the news report about Enes Kara's passing has been removed from the news website.

Faik Akgün, the Managing Editor of the newspaper, was summoned to a meeting by the newspaper's owner Nafiz Koca. The journalist was criticized by both Koca and other people at the newspaper during the meeting. Akgün has been removed from office as the managing editor. He has been told that the reason is his "inability to achieve the desired performance."

Still working at the newspaper, Akgün has said that he received threatening calls when the news was online, adding that some of the people introduced themselves as the members of the religious community.

What happened?

Enes Kara (20), a sophomore at the Fırat University Faculty of Medicine in Turkey's eastern province of Elazığ, talked about his anxiety about the future and the oppression that he faced at the dormitory of a religious community; Kara took his own life afterwards.

The video that he posted nearly a month before the incident was widely shared on social media after his passing. Leaving a suicide note as well, Kara said that though he was not a Muslim, the dorm where he was staying was forcing him to perform daily prayers, attend the classes of the religious community and do daily chores such as cooking and cleaning.

"I have lost my entire joy for life and enthusiasm in the situation that I have found myself in," he said in the video. (AÖ/SD)