A volley of fire at the pen and microphone

Yesterday morning, as we were arriving at work and attending the news conference, we tried to plan which news items to cover, while unfortunately experiencing the unpleasantness of our colleagues being the "top story." On BirGün TV 's live broadcast, we tried to understand the situation of the colleagues who were detained yesterday morning, but were instead taken away with a nonsensical explanation such as "they weren't detained, but were taken from their homes at the police's invitation and with the police for questioning."

My dear colleague, Birgun.net's Publishing Coordinator Uğur Koç , whom I hosted live on air to discuss this issue, had just arrived from the Çağlayan Courthouse. He entered the studio with his feet dusted off, brandishing a court order "fresh off the courtroom printer" in his hand.

He then first recounted another " anti-media" verdict, for which he had previously been tried and overturned, but for which he had been sentenced following a retrial. We also discussed how, like many BirGün members and other colleagues, they were repeatedly sentenced to a near-perpetual " penalty of being dragged along by the regime" within the "police station-prosecutor's office-courtroom" triangle, accused solely of "making news," that is, of doing what journalism requires.

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We are doing our job under such bombardment.

They don't hesitate to fire (metaphorically) at our pens, keyboards, microphones, and cameras 24/7. Sometimes, our very bodies are targeted, both physically and physically. We can't even count how many of our colleagues have been laid to rest, injured, and targeted by blind bullets, clubs, brass knuckles, and fists in blind ambushes simply for doing their job—and, of course, for doing it properly, for refusing to bow down, swear allegiance, and compromise their independent stance.

The target is clear. It's not our humble personalities or bodies. They're concerned with the material of our work, the things we write about, the news.

They want nothing to be written or said.

In fact, even re-reporting what others, such as their supporters, wrote constitutes a crime (!) for them.

The most recent example is: A reporter from the pro-government Sabah Newspaper took a "selfie" of his visit to a prosecutor. The trial and (even) conviction of BirGün journalists for reporting on a news item published in their own newspaper, under the charge of "publishing the prosecutor's picture and making him a target." They are trying to create such an atmosphere of pressure and fear that in this day and age, even seeing or hearing a word uttered by politicians in newspaper pages, on TV screens, or on websites, in other words, even "reporting" it as a requirement of journalism, has become a crime.

There is no need to even explain how making comments and analyses, criticizing certain things with our free will, seeking the rights of the victimized people and standing up for their problems are considered "serious crimes" .

They do not refrain from multiplying the tragicomic examples of how we are being made to crawl and intimidate in the corridors of the courthouse every day.

For example, under a post I made on Twitter (now known as X) last year, a poor pro-government whistleblower can write the following and report it: "This guy is such a coward. He's actually targeting our President with what he wrote. But because he's a coward, he can't say it openly."

Let's say the poor informant was desperately trying to impress others. The prosecutor's office simply "copy-pastes" what the informant wrote and prepares an indictment. I'll go and stand trial.

Would you laugh or cry?

As in the example of Furkan Karabay , one of our colleagues is accused of "targeting" simply because he mentioned certain members of the judiciary.

People like Fatih Altaylı will be tried for a crime such as attacking and threatening the President, even though they are merely "recalling historical facts."

Ercüment Akdeniz , who was released a while ago, was unjustly kept in prison for 8 months under the guise of a non-existent "armed terrorist organization."

TELE1 Editor-in-ChiefMerdan Yanardağ was arrested two weeks ago in the context of a mind-boggling "espionage investigation" , and the TMSF (Savings Deposit Insurance Fund) suddenly "collapsed" the TV channel he managed.

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What happened to our colleagues targeted in yesterday morning's journalist operation is something of a legal record. We witnessed some of them being told, "You're free," after being questioned by the police, only to be summoned back inside right on the doorstep, yelling, "Just a minute! Just a minute!" Their phones were then returned, only to be reclaimed, only to be abandoned again.

We are watching with astonishment how our colleagues working in the local press, not only in our big cities but also in the countryside, are oppressed and pushed around, simply for doing journalism , with excuses like "you took a breath."

They ruthlessly target any publication in the mainstream media, the internet, YouTube, and other social media platforms that "displeases the powerful and disturbs those in power" with punishments and threats.

In summary...

We are under fire.

But we never abandon our positions. We draw our strength from our righteousness, the truth, our love of journalism, and the oath we took to serve society.

The bullets and missiles you fire do not scare us in the slightest.

We proudly present it.