The state's disinformation kills in Turkey

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Last month, together with seven people from bianet, Gazete Duvar, Sendika.org and Mesopotamia Agency in Turkey, we attended a workshop in Montenegro addressing the issues of "Models and media of propaganda and hate, the property of hate media, hate narratives, disinformation and propaganda, accuracy of news and distrust." While listening to the problems of our colleagues in the Balkans, we had feelings hard to describe. I remember thinking at one point that "Your problems are where we are trying to get to."

During the workshop, journalist Ognen Janeski, who hosts a discussion program on TV24 in North Macedonia, described a situation where he was threatened with his home address and car's license plate being revealed on social media. After this incident, he said, he had immediately visited the Minister of Interior and received the response, "Don't worry. Nothing is talked about more than a few days on social media. It will be forgotten in a few days. It is not possible for me to provide protection for you." Meanwhile, we, journalists in Turkey who are accused by the Minister of Interior of false allegations every day, could not focus too much on the transience on social media or the careless attitude of the minister, which were Janeski's main complaints. Our reality was totally different. We were fighting the disinformation spread by the state and the mainstream media every day and punished for speaking the truths.

I will try to explain disinformation spread by the state and its effects within the framework of one event where two villagers in Van were detained and thrown from a helicopter by soldiers in September-October last year, which had also become a talking point in the world, and the following events.

How did it start?

The Mesopotamia Agency (MA), wrote in a report dated September 13, 2020, that citizens named Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban were detained in rural areas in Van's Çatak district on September 11 by soldiers who carried out an operation. The two detained Kurdish villagers could only be heard of two days later when the Mesopotamia Agency revealed that both of them were at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Van. Meeting Şiban's brother to get information about the issue the very next day, MA learned the soldiers had come while they were working in the field, they had taken Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut to a military helicopter that was kept near and they were in pretty good condition when they got into the helicopter.

"He was safe and sound when they took him"

In the interview he gave to MA, Cengiz Şiban said, "Osman was taken into custody in front of me. He had come here from Mersin five months ago to work in the village. Servet Turgut was detained in the morning on September 11 while he was collecting hay in their field and was brought to our village. They took Osman as well and took him to the helicopter. We couldn't go anywhere because there was an operation, we couldn't get information, either. Because we couldn't hear from either of them for a long time, I went to the city center and called the military. They told me that my brother was in intensive care. I told them that my brother was safe and sound when they took him and asked them what happened to him, but they didn't answer me. My brother was fine when they detained him and took him to the helicopter. We don't know whether or not they tortured him in the helicopter. While they were going, they had pointed the barrel of the weapon towards Servet's back. When the soldiers brought Servet, he had no wounds on his body. This is what I saw. I saw these with my own eyes."

A petition was submitted

On September 19, families of Şiban and Turgut applied to the Van Bar Association Human Rights Violations Commission. Attorneys of the families filed petitions with the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on the charges of"wilful injury," "attempt to wilful murder," "abuse of office" and "torture." The petition submitted by the lawyers included very important witness statements.

Witnesses tell

In the petitions, witnesses said the soldiers, who came to the rural neighborhood by helicopter, gathered the people of the village on the square and performed an ID check while villagers'  and battered two villagers. The petition included soldiers' threats like "We are mourning. Of course, we'll take it out on you. We'll burn your village" and said 15 soldiers came back to the neighborhood on the same day, this time detaining Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut.

In the petition, which was based on witness statements, it was said the soldiers told the villagers, "We'll shoot at you" when they reacted to the detention of Şiban and Turgut. It was added, "The villagers, who were kept on their knees while Şiban and Turgut were being taken, went up to the hill to see where they were being taken when the soldiers left, and saw that Turgut and Şiban were put on a military helicopter."

The report of "falling from a height"

Meanwhile, the Van Public Prosecutor's Office, for an unknown reason, lifted the detention warrant for the two villagers who had been in a situation to be placed in intensive care. As a result of its investigation, MA obtained the report of the battery of Osman Şiban, with the report published on September 16. Obtaining Servet Turgut's report of battery on September 17, MA reported it was written in Turgut's report that, "The anonymous patient was brought because of falling from a height."

On the same day, MA obtained a photograph of Osman Şiban with bloodshot eyes. Şiban had a memory loss because of the torture he was subjected to. Despite it had been one week since the incident occurred, no state institution had made a statement about why these two people had been detained.

MA obtained the hospital's epicrisis report on September 20. The report confirmed both people had fallen from "a height."

Statement of the governor's office

It had been 10 days since the incident and the mainstream media and the state were still silent. On September 21, 2020, the People's Democratic Party (HDP) brought the issue to the parliamentary agenda, filing a parliamentary question. In the parliamentary question submitted to Minister of Interior Sülyman Soylu, it asked why these two citizens had been detained, whether they had been really detained or not, where they had been taken to if they were detained and who had taken them to the hospital. The HDP also asked in its motion when a statement would be made about the allegations.

The mainstream media become interested

As a result of the documentation of torture with the epicrisis report, the alternative press had started to show interest in the issue. On the same day, the Van Governorate had to make a statement. The Governor's Office claimed that Turgut did not comply with the soldiers' "stop warning", that he "fell off a cliff while fleeing" and that he "keeping a watch in an area where a terrorist was neutralized and displayed suspicious behavior." However, dozens of people who witnessed the detention of Turgut and Şiban said that both men were healthy when they were put on the helicopter.

MA reporters, who went to the scene after the statement of the governor's office, found that there were no cliffs in the area where the two citizens were taken into custody. The governor's office claimed that Şiban had been "aiding and abetting" and he had been detained "in line with the procedures." It was written in the hospital reports that Şiban had been tortured and the photograph in which his eyes were bloodshot was published in the press but the governor's office did not mention how Şiban was injured while he was being taken into custody "in line with the procedures."

Reported in the international press

On September 25, the issue was reported in the international press and the Amnesty International called for an investigation into the allegations of torture. Despite that, the state authorities insisted on not doing any other statement than the one they did on September 21. The parliamentary questions and calls from international organizations were ignored.

Turgut died

On September 20, Turgut died as a result of the torture was subjected to. The next day, the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued a confidentiality order and a broadcast and publication ban regarding the investigation.

MA office in Van raided

Five days after the confidentiality order and the publication ban, on October 6, our office that was following the news, the Van office, was raided by police. During the raid, four journalists who were following up the news since the first day, MA reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi, and journalist Nazan Sala were detained. With the agency, the homes of the four journalists were also raided and searched high and low and cameras, video cameras, and technical equipment were confiscated.

HDP Ağrı MP Abdullah Koç filed a parliamentary question with Minister of Justice Abdullah Gül and asked, "Will the people who are suspected of having allegedly tortured or mistreated Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut be put on trial?", "Are there any public officials who are investigated in relation to the issue?" and "Do you think there is torture and negligence in the death of Servet Turgut?"

False information

This parliamentary question, like many others, was not answered. State and institutions and the media were maintaining silence. The public was not aware of the incident. The incident was reported in the mainstream media only at the level of the statement of the governor's office, and people who followed the news on the mainstream media had completely false information about the incident. Those who followed the incident on the mainstream media knew that Şiban and Turgut were noticed by soldiers while keeping a watch in the area where "terrorists" were neutralized; they did not obey the stop warning and fell from the cliff while running.

Meanwhile, four journalists following up on the news and Yeni Yaşam newspaper distributors were still in custody and why they were detained was not known because the prosecutor who issued the detention order also issued a confidentiality order on the file. Interestingly, the prosecutor who was handling the file of the journalists was also the prosecutor carrying out the investigation into the law enforcement officers in the case of Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban.

Journalists were arrested

The journalists who were arrested for reporting were Adnan Bilen, Şehriban Abi, Nazan Sala and Cemil Uğur.

The mainstream media, which ignored the incident from when it happened on September 11 to October 6 when the journalists were detained, reported the footage taken by the police at the moments when the journalists were being detained as an "operation against the organization."

Referred to the court on October 9 with a request of arrest, MA reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi and journalist Nazan Sala were detained. The journalists were accused of "reporting on public incidents in favor of the PKK/KCK armed organization and against the state."

Confidentiality continues

Meanwhile, the chair of the Parliamentary Human Rights Investigation Committee, Hakan Çavuşoğlu, who rejected the opposition's request to establish a sub-committee to investigate the incident of two citizens being thrown from a helicopter in Van, said that they would wait for the results of the administrative and judicial investigations opened into the incident. The Ministry of Interior, which ordered the operation, had not yet made a statement about the issue.

The incident was still not openly examined in the mainstream media, and both the citizens who were subjected to torture and the citizens arrested for reporting on it continued to be criminalized. Both Şiban and Turgut's attorneys and the attorneys of the journalists continued to apply for their clients within the scope of domestic law.

On November 4, attorneys of Şiban and Turgut applied to the Constitutional Court on the grounds that "their right to freedom to seek their rights and fair trial" was prevented. In the application, the lawyers stated that although they were the complainants, their freedom of seeking rights was restricted due to the decision of restriction on the investigation file. Meanwhile, the confidentiality order on the investigation file was still in effect.

Soylu's statement

When it had been two and a half months since the incident, Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu broke his silence about the issue and made a statement at the General Assembly of the Parliament during the 2021 Central Budget Negotiations. According to the video of the news published on the website of Anadolu Agency on November 27, Soylu was asked why he had not made a statement until that moment, and gave the following answer to the journalist who asked the question:

"I was sick. This issue came to my agenda for the first time now." According to the AA's report, Soylu said the following: At the time, as part of the Thunder-10 Norduz Operation, we obtained the information that Mirali Yılmaz, the so-called Kato Jirka front public relations officer, was in Van's Çatak district. Security forces were monitoring the hamlet with UAVs. According to the photos taken by UAVs, three terrorists came to the house of Şiban. Şiban has only a single attribute. He comes to his house in the summer and stays 3-4 months. He is a militia for terrorists. As soon as these terrorists go to the rocks, the operation starts with UCAVs and close air support. We consider that these were neutralized.  Then, Lieutenant Colonel Muammer (Özdil), Captain Mahmut Top, Sezer Uçar and Yusuf Uyar, whose heroism is told by everyone, do not leave their commanders alone; they enter the cave. They see that both of them were neutralized. Here, a terrorist martyrs three of them. This terrorist goes out of the cave. Our people chase him, they have a clash and he dies. Servet Turgut was where the incident happened, 200-300 meters close. There is a chase and light beating. He then says, 'It wasn't me. It's Osman Şiban who hosts these guys.' He first gave the name of Osman Şiban. Then [soldiers] take Osman Şiban. Finally, the terrorist, Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban are transferred in by helicopter. This is how I reveal an issue where it is clear that they (Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut) are militia and aided and abetted them. Look, I didn't give a verdict about the aftermath of the incident. I'm saying what I know. I'm not making it up. We have all the records that Osman Şiban was involved in this business."

Is it a lie?

After this statement, which was highly contradictory to the statement made by the governor's office about the incident, on December 9, there was again a discussion between the AKP and the HDP about the issue. AKP Manisa MP İsmail Bilen, who took the floor after CHP İstanbul MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu asked about the torture allegations, said they did not have any evidence and called the incident "rumors." HDP Ağrı MP Dilan Dirayet Taşdemir, in response to Bilen, who refuted the allegations, criticized Bilen's statement, saying, "The minister of interior admits. Do you think Minister of Interior Soylu is lying?"

At that time, no investigation was being conducted against Şiban and Turgut, who were described as militia by Soylu. Despite all the material evidence obtained by journalists, such as hospital reports, epicrisis reports, field investigation, witness statements, disinformation continued recklessly. Those who spoke the truth found themselves in prison.

One more journalist was detained

While the state denied the incident with all its mechanisms and spread false information through the mainstream media, four journalists who tried to convey the truth to the public were still in detention. As if this weren't enough, journalist Zeynep Durgut, who had worked in the Van office for a long time, was detained by being handcuffed behind the back while she was following the news in Cizre, and was taken to Van. Durgut, who was also asked about the helicopter story, was released on the condition of judicial control after being held in custody for four days.

No documents and evidence!

On December 28, 2020, CHP Istanbul MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu stated on his YouTube channel that he received a reponse from Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar to his parliamentary question on Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut. According to the information given by Tanrıkulu, Akar answered Tanrıkulu's question with one sentence, "There is no information, document, or evidence." Even in the first week of the incident, the information, documents and evidence published by the Mesopotamia Agency had not appeared in the mainstream media for three months, and the incident was denied by the state authorities. Not a word had yet been given by the state authorities about how Şiban, who was detained "in line with the procedures," was injured so badly that he lost his memory, or how Turgut died.

Şiban, whose arrest warrant was lifted while he was in intensive care and who wasn't charged with any offense afterwards, was detained when his home was raided on January 12. Şiban was detained at his home in Mersin within the scope of the new investigation by the Van Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, and was wanted to be taken to Van to testify. Şiban was released after the doctor's report that his health was not suitable for travel. Meanwhile, the arrested journalists had been in prison for 100 days and an indictment was still not prepared.

The trial of journalists continues

On February 16, 2021, 130 days after their arrest, an indictment was prepared about the journalists. Along with "being a member of an illegal organization" and "propaganda," the journalists were, surprisingly, accused of the agency they worked for not reporting sports and celebrity news.

Finally, appearing before a judge on April 2, the four journalists were released on the condition of judicial control at the end of the sixth month of their detention. The footage of the journalists' detention was published in the mainstream media and the journalists, before appearing before a court and while there was no court ruling about them, were accused of being members of a terrorist organization. The trial of journalists continues.

Şiban's statement

Osman Şiban, who had serious health problems after the incident, was finally able to testify on June 11, 2021. In his statement, Şiban said the following:

"On 11.09.2020, I got up for breakfast at my own house in Sürik hamlet at 8-9 a.m., and I heard the sounds of helicopters. I was doing my daily stuff. I saw Servet Turgut filling water when I got up in the morning, I did not see him again. In the afternoon, the soldiers landed in the village by helicopters. They asked Hamit Şiban, Dahan Turgut and Cengiz Şiban from the village about the way to the plateau. After they described the way to the plateau, the soldiers moved away from where we were. The helicopter took off. Around 17:00 in the evening, while I was sitting with some villagers and my relatives, about 10-15 soldiers came towards our area with Servet Turgut. One of the soldiers asked Servet Turgut, 'Who is Osman Şiban? When he asked, Servet Turgut pointed to me. Some of the soldiers took my ID. I said to my children, 'I will testify and come back'. Soldiers held my right and left arm. Someone held a gun against my head from behind and they began to take me away. They were bringing Servet Turgut ahead of me.

"After we were 100-150 meters away from the house, I was kicked in the back by a soldier whose face I could not see. I fell facedown on the ground. They lifted me up. Someone pulled my head down. I could not look left and right. However, more than one person I could not see kicked and punched me from left, right, and behind. Servet Turgut was in front of me and I was 50 meters behind him. We were taken by two groups of soldiers to the place where Servet Turgut's sacks were located. There were around 100 soldiers at the place where we arrived. There were one or more people on the ground, whose number I do not remember. I was dragged. One of my shoes came off while I was being dragged. Then they put me on the helicopter. When we got on the helicopter, we saw that there were two bodies in the helicopter. The bodies were not of the soldiers. They were hitting me in the face and saying 'Don't look left or right'. They were talking to someone on the radio. The order coming from the radio was 'Bring them to the barracks.' When we approached the place they called 'barracks,' they said on the radio that 'There is a terrorist in the helicopter.' After saying that, the other party said 'Bring him down.' Thereupon, they first threw the bodies, then they threw us from the helicopter. After we fell to the ground, the soldiers gathered around us. I heard one of them saying 'The terrorist is still alive' and then I remember that they attacked us. I don't remember what happened next."

Şiban, who is claimed to be a militia, said that he fainted near the helicopter as a result of being beaten and that he did not remember what happened next. Şiban, who did not accept the accusations, filed a complaint about the soldiers who beat him. After his statement was taken, Şiban was released with an international travel ban.

Examples of disinformation

As a result of the shield of impunity over law enforcement officers in Turkey, the torture of two villagers in custody, the arrest of journalists who reported this torture, the death of one of the two detained villagers and the fact that one still suffers from physical and psychological problems are just one example of the disinformation spread by the state and the mainstream media in Turkey. Even though every journalist arrested in Turkey is asked questions about the reports they write, the reason for their arrest is recorded as "being a member of a terrorist organization" and/or "propagandizing for an organization."

From the Kobanê trial to Kemal Kurkut, an university student who was shot in the back during the Diyarbakır Newroz celebrations by being accused of a suicide bomber despite being stripped to the waist, from Deniz Poyraz, who was shot in the İzmir HDP Provincial building as a result of the HDP being criminalized by the state authorities and the mainstream media to the Dedeoğlulları family, who were massacred in Konya, and to Kurds being accused of starting the fires that affected various parts of Turkey in the summer, disinformation continues to take lives in Turkey.

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(GÇÖ/NÖ/VK)