Turkey: CFWIJ welcomes the release Ayşe Düzkan, after six months in prison.
We at the Coalition For Women In Journalism welcome the recent release of Turkish writer and journalist Ayşe Düzkan. The release on June 11th, 2019, was after Düzkan had been in jail for six months — she was imprisoned on January 29th, 2019 under the accusation of assisting in propaganda for a terrorist organization, although our investigation with sources on the ground reveal that she was not involved in any activity that would validate these accusations. We at CFWIJ found that Duzkan had merely participated in a solidarity campaign with Kurdish media, Özgür Gündem newspaper in 2016.
Özgür Gündem was closed down later in 2016 as part of Turkey’s emergency rule after the July, 15th military coup attempt that year. At the first hearing of the trial in her defense, she stated “I symbolically became the editor-in-chief of Özgür Gündem for only a day in order to lend my support to the newspaper in the face of the pressure they faced at that time. I believe this is not a crime and I request to be released.”
The release was announced with a tweet from her daughter, Haziran Düzkan saying “Hello, my mother Ayşe Düzkan has been released and now she is having a rest in Istanbul. She doesn’t want to respond her phone for some days, but she will be here in a short while. Thank you for your solidarity.”
The release of Ayşe Düzkan is a remarkable step when it comes to freedom of speech in Turkey. The Coalition For Women In Journalism is hopeful these releases of women journalists would continue. We will honor the move by the state that encourages more freedom for a safer atmosphere in the country. This is encourage journalists especially women to do their jobs with confidence and respect. As Düzkan stated in her defense this is not a crime, CFWIJ would like to reiterate, lets not make journalism feel like a crime.
Press Contacts:
<Press@WomenInJournalism.org>
Nida Karra
Turkey and Mena Coordinator
<NKarra@WomenInJournalism.org>
Sulome Anderson
Advocacy Director
<Sulome.Anderson@WomenInJournalism.org>
