Harsh intervention by Müsavat Dervişoğlu's bodyguards against journalists

İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu met with party members at a meeting held in Çorum yesterday evening (December 15).

During the meeting, an argument broke out between members of the press, who wanted to film the protocol and participants, and Dervişoğlu's bodyguards. The journalists, who were being forcibly removed during the argument, reacted to the situation.

Following this, a scuffle broke out between the journalists who were being removed from the hall and the bodyguards. The bodyguards did not allow the journalists to film the scuffle. The journalists stated that the bodyguards insulted and assaulted them.

Çorum Mayor Halil İbrahim Aşgın, who made a post condemning the incident, said, "I have learned with deep sadness that our local press members in Çorum, whose only goal was to do their jobs during İYİ Party Chairman Müsavat Dervişoğlu's visit to Çorum, were insulted and assaulted. I condemn this unacceptable incident against press freedom, which we express at every opportunity and which is of great value to us, as well as those who caused it; I convey my best wishes for a speedy recovery to all our press members who were subjected to insults and mistreatment."

Global Journalists Council (KGK) Çorum Provincial Representative and Headquarters Board Member Hacı Odabaş also strongly condemned the harsh attack by the bodyguards against the members of the press.

In a statement made by the Çorum Journalists Association, it was stated that it is absolutely unacceptable for journalists to be subjected to such treatment in an environment they attended as invitees.