Journalists to take to the streets to protest police violence

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After Agence France-Presse (AFP) photojournalist Bülent Kılıç was detained by police violence with his throat being pressed and the police attempted to detain several other journalists during the 19th İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride March, journalists will protest police violence in three cities.

Saying, "You cannot leave the press breathless," 12 professional press organizations will hold statements for the press in front of the İstanbul, İzmir and Ankara Governor's Offices. While the statement in Ankara will begin at 11 a.m., the statements in İzmir and İstanbul will begin at 2 p.m.

Issuing a press release about the protest as well, the organizations have made a call to all press workers and said:

The public officials who inflict violence on journalists are committing a crime; we need to say 'Stop' to this together.

The undersigned organizations: Press Council, Contemporary Journalists Association, Diplomacy Reporters Association, DİSK Press Union, Economy Reporters Association, Journalists' Association of Turkey, Haber-Sen Union, İzmir Journalists Association, Parliamentary Reporters Association, Samsun Journalists Association, Photojournalists Association of Turkey, Journalists' Union of Turkey and News Cameramen Association of Turkey

The statement of the organizations has stressed that it is journalists' public duty to follow and report on the citizens who take to the streets to demand their rights. "Our colleagues have recently started to be subjected to severe violence while fulfilling these duties in the name of the whole society. The incidents have reached a very dangerous dimension," they have stressed.

Reference to George Floyd

Other highlights from the statement are as follows:

"Several journalists trying to cover the protest demonstration wanted to be held in Taksim were battered, they were faced with attempts of detention, they were prevented from taking pictures and videos and they were forced to delete the images in their cameras.

"But now journalists are face to face with death while doing their job! The last example of this is the violence inflicted on AFP photojournalist Bülent Kılıç, who was following the protests in Taksim.

"Preventing Kılıç from doing his duty in an unjust and unlawful manner, police forced our colleague to lie on the ground and pressed his neck with their knees, displaying violence that might have ended in death.

"While the images showing the death of George Floyd, who was killed by the police with the same method, by pressing his throat, in the US, have caused global outrage, it makes us deeply concerned that the security forces in our country inflict violence as if taking it as an example.

'We protest violence'

"With these moves, security forces prevent people from exercising their right to know the truth; whom they left breathless is not only our colleague, but they have made this right of the people breathless as well.

"The Interior Ministry circular preventing the journalists who cover demonstrations from taking photos and videos has been taken to court because of its unlawfulness. All professional press organizations have protested this circular and a court case has been filed at the Council of State.

"If the aim of this use of violence is to pester and prevent people from doing their duties, we are once again crying out loud that it is not possible to achieve this goal.

"We strongly condemn this unacceptable mindset. To express our reaction, we call on all our colleagues to protest violence in a peaceful way by leaving our cameras and notebooks in front of the three Governor's Offices.

"We will not get used to violence against journalists; we will never accept it! Take your hands off journalists!" (HA/SD)