BirGün newspaper was subjected to a wave of detentions for reporting on the Sabah newspaper's visit to Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek. birgun.net Publication Coordinators Uğur Koç and Berkant Gültekin, along with birgun.net Managing Editor Yaşar Gökdemir, were detained during the night.
Reactions are growing like an avalanche against the detention of BirGün employees, especially since the visit in question was reported by Sabah newspaper itself and other media outlets.
A statement regarding the events also came from the Communication Workers Solidarity Network. In the statement issued by the network, it was noted: "With these detentions, journalistic activity and professional ethics have once again been trampled upon. The background of these detentions is the same as telling journalists 'you have an eyebrow above your eye.' Uğur Koç, Berkant Gültekin, and Yaşar Gökdemir are journalists. We stand with our colleagues."
The full statement is as follows:
"Whoever touches the Chief Prosecutor gets burned!
birgun.net Publication Coordinators Uğur Koç and Berkant Gültekin, and Managing Editor Yaşar Gökdemir were detained for reporting on the visit of Sabah Newspaper News Coordinator Abdurrahman Şimşek to Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor Akın Gürlek, who has signed off on almost all of the files in the recent wave of investigations.
The process once again revealed a tragicomedy. Not only is reporting on the visit in question not a crime, but it was served by Sabah Newspaper itself before BirGün. Moreover, the subject of the visit, Sabah Newspaper News Coordinator Abdurrahman Şimşek, personally shared the visit on his own social media account. However, the same Abdurrahman Şimşek ignored the news from the institution he works for and his own social media post, and openly targeted BirGün newspaper and its employees.
With these detentions, journalistic activity and professional ethics have once again been trampled upon. The background of these detentions is the same as telling journalists 'you have an eyebrow above your eye.' Uğur Koç, Berkant Gültekin, and Yaşar Gökdemir are journalists. We stand with our colleagues."
News Source: 12punto
