The European group the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ),
the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today
condemned the arrest of Rag?p Zarakolu, Turkish columnist and writer.
"The arrest of a journalist and well-known intellectual under the
pretext of terroristic activities is clearly arbitrary and abusive," said EFJ
President Arne König. "It shows how eager the government is to muzzle any
critical voice by using anti-democratic methods. Unless there is clear evidence
showing the allegations of the Turkish authorities, we call for the immediate
release of Mr. Zarakolu and of all other Turkish journalists currently detained
in jail".
Mr. Ragip Zarakolu was arrested on
Friday 28 October with 40 other people during a vast "anti-terrorism" operation
conducted by units of Turkish special forces.
Mr. Zarakolu's son, Deniz Zarakolu, editor of the Belge Publishing House, had been arrested earlier on 4 October.
Mr. Rag?p Zarakolu is a writer, a publisher
and a columnist at Evrensel daily. In
addition to newspapers' articles, Mr. Ragip Zarakolu has also published
several books on the Armenian genocide and how it is treated in modern Turkey, including
under the angle of freedom of expression.
The EFJ affiliate, the Türkiye
Gazeteciler Sendikas? (TGS - Journalists' Union of Turkey) also
strongly condemned the arrest of Zarakolu.
Together
with the TGS, the EFJ has launched an international postcard campaign to
express solidarity with jailed Turkish journalists. The campaign calls on
people to send on the Turkish national holiday, the Bairam, a greeting card with best wishes to the 66 colleagues
currently in Turkish prisons, asking again for the immediate and unconditional
release. Everyone is invited to join this solidarity campaign for Turkish journalists
in jail by sending a postcard before 6th November to one or several
journalists whose names are available here: http://europe.ifj.org/en/pages/turkey-campaign-set-journalists-free
The
EFJ will also conduct a special fact finding mission on press freedom in
Istanbul on 22-24 November.
For more information contact the EFJ at 32 2
235 2200
The EFJ represents over 260,000
journalists in over than 30 countries worldwide.
