Kurdish journalists arrested in Turkey, police raids also in Belgium

In Turkey, the repression of Kurdish journalists is on the rise again. Nine journalists have been arrested in Istanbul and Ankara. A recurring pattern in Turkey after the ruling AKP lost the elections. It is striking that police raids also took place at the same time in pro-Kurdish news stations in Belgium. This is what the Turkish news site reports Bianet.

The arrested journalists all work for opposition and/or pro-Kurdish newspapers, such as Yeni Yasam, Özgür Politika and Mezopotamya Agency. In Turkey, only the pro-Kurdish party DEM condemned the arrests.

DEM also did not leave out the raid in Denderleeuw, Belgium. ‘The studios of Sterk TV and Medya Haber TV were raided without a search warrant’ and the Belgian police reportedly seized office supplies and documentation. ‘This is an attack on press freedom. Journalism is not a crime,” the pro-Kurdish party said in a statement.

According to the Belgian VRT News, it concerns a ‘foreign investigation into the financing of a terrorist movement’. In other words: the financing of the Kurdish PKK, which is on the terrorist list of Turkey, but also the US and the EU.

In Turkey, the accusation of ‘terror’ is systematically used for press briefings by Kurdish and other opposition media. In Europe, where many Kurdish journalists have fled and where there is a large diaspora community, this is rare.

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the related accession process of Sweden and Norway, Turkey is increasingly asserting its influence in Europe and wants Europe to take stricter action against the Kurdish movement.