Journalists mark 26th anniversary of Özgür Ülke newspaper bombing

Photos: MA

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Journalists and politicians have marked the 26th anniversary of the bombing of the offices of Özgür Ülke, a Kurdish issue-focused newspaper published in the 1990s.

A transport worker, Ersin Yıldız, was killed and 23 others were wounded in the bombings on December 3, 1994.

Journalists from Yeni Yaşam newspaper and members of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Human Rights Association (İHD) attended the event in İstanbul's Kadırga quarter, where one of the bombed offices is located.

Zekine Türkeri, who was one of the reporters of Özgür Ülke at the time, said in the event that "Tansu Çiller [then PM) gave the order for this assault. The purpose was to inflict a bit more damage. But they didn't achieve their goal. This newspaper and its successors are continuing on their path."

Speaking after Türkeri, Yeni Yaşam's newspaper's editor-in-chief, Ferhat Çelik, said, "We were living in the days when dozens of our journalist and distributor friends, most notably Ape Musa, were murdered on the street."

CLICK - 20 Years of Impunity in Özgür Ülke Newspaper Bombing

"In the morning on December 3, we were in pain, angry but not surprised. We knew why they attacked us, why those bombs exploded and we all said only one thing: This newspaper will be published tomorrow. And it did," said Çelik.

İHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin recalled that she was an attorney for the newspaper at the time and said the order for the attack was given by the army's "Special Warfare Department" while HDP İstanbul Provincial Chair Elif Bulut said the parliament should investigate the bombings.

After the speeches, carnations were laid in front of the newspaper's office.

What happened?

On December 3, 1994, Özgür Ülke newspaper's technical headquarters in İstanbul's Kadırga quarter, central office in Cağaloğlu quarter and office in the capital city of Ankara were bombed.

Transport worker Ersin Yıldız (32) and 23 workers were wounded.

Following the incident, the newspaper could only run with the help of other newspapers, which let Özgür Ülke staff work in their offices.

On December 4, 1993, the newspaper was published with four pages with the headline "This Fire Could Burn You As Well".

About 15 days after the bombing, Özgür Ülke newspaper published an article about a top-secret document signed by then-PM Tansu Çiller.

The document cited the following with direct reference to the newspaper:

"The activities of media outlets supporting the separatist and annihilating [organizations] has recently turned into an overt threat against the future of the [Turkish] state and its moral values. In order to wipe out this threat against the unity of country and nation, precautions need to be taken..." (EMK/VK)