Journalist Yalçın: Why is it a crime to say 'Kurdish should be the red line of the Kurds'?

2023-05-16 20:36:47


	 

	ANKARA- Stating that news about Kurdish on World Mother Language Day was included in the file, Hakan Yalçın said: “We said that Kurdish should be the red line of the Kurds. They linked this news to the KCK. They are doing a job, but they can't make it up."

	 

	The trial of 12 journalists, including Mezopotamya Agency (MA) Editor-in-Chief Diren Yurtsever, at the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court continues with the defense of Hakan Yalçın and Hamdullah Bayram.

	 

	'THE PRISON WHERE WE STAYED IS AGGRAVATED LIFE SENTENCE'

	 

	Yalçın continued: “The prison we stayed in is an aggravated life sentence. We're staying here in single cells. We are the first prisoners to enter the prison, the others were convicts. In what other country would a journalist be picked up in the middle of the night, arrested and taken to prison in this way? I was taken into custody from Van and brought here. While Ankara TEM was putting me in the vehicle, he held a gun to my head. I was subjected to verbal insults until I was brought to safety from Esenboğa. It is out of the question for a policeperson to abuse his powers according to his own mind. He shouldn't be in an entertainer-like situation.”

	 

	WE SAID "KURDISH IS THE RED LINE OF THE KURD"

	 

	Pointing out that sharing the news published by the Mezopotamya Agency on his social media cannot be the subject of a crime, Yalçın said: “I made a news story with a Kurdish language instructor on the Kurdish Language Day on February 22, 2022. We said in Kurdish that the Kurds should be the red line. It is right for a Kurd to receive education in their mother tongue, just like their main right. They linked this news to the KCK. They are doing a job, but they can't make it up."

	 

	'I WAS INTERESTED AFTER ANTER'S MURDERING'

	 

	Then Hamdullah Bayram took the floor and started his defense. Expressing his interest in journalism after the murder of Musa Anter, Bayram said: "This is why I started distributing journalists. Addresses that do not belong to me are accepted as my address and I do not accept the evidence obtained from here. I can send money to any friend, I can send a loan. I was sending this to the organization. I do not accept this. I had my debit card from 2017 to 2019. At that time, they said that he was "sending money to the organization". I have not used an account after 2019. This time, they said, "He is sending them to the organization on the basis of confidentiality."

	 

	Speaking about the secret witness statements about him, Bayram stated that he did not accept the statements and demanded his release.