Investigation Against Bülent Şık Due to His Article on Cancer Research Results

Click to read the article in Turkish

An investigation has been launched against Dr. Lecturer Bülent Şık, who also writes for bianet, due to his article series published on Cumhuriyet daily newspaper.

The investigation has been launched upon a complaint submitted by the Ministry of Health. The reasons for the investigation have been stated as "disclosure of secrets about duty" (Turkish Penal Code Article No. 258); "provision of prohibited information" (Turkish Penal Code Article No. 334); "disclosure of prohibited information" (Turkish Penal Code Article No. 336) and other charges to be filed."

The article series of Bülent Şık were on "the Project on Assessment of Environmental Factors in the Provinces of Kocaeli, Antalya, Tekirdağ, Edirne, Kırklareli and Their Impacts on Health," the findings of which have not been published by the state officials.

The article series entitled "The state has concealed the carcinogen products, we are making them public! Here is the poison list" were published on Cumhuriyet daily newspaper for four days from April 15 to April 18, 2018.

The objective was to identify carcinogen chemicals

The project, whose results were addressed in the article series of Bülent Şık, was carried out by the Ministry of Health, Public Health Agency of Turkey between the years of 2011-2016 with the contribution of a number of scientists from various universities and ministry personnel.

The objective of the project was to identify the carcinogen chemicals in the provinces of Kocaeli, Edirne, Kırklareli and Tekirdağ, where the cases of cancer occur the most in Turkey.

In the project, Dr. Lecturer Bülent Şık, who was discharged from his post at Akdeniz University as per the Statutory Decree dated November 22, 2016, was responsible for organizing the research projects on food and water, carrying out the analyses and writing the final reports.

They were also published on bianet

In his article published on bianet, Bülent Şık wrote that the research was completed to a large extent in 2015 and there remained only the question as to whether there is an exposure in terms of worker health stemming from the workplace conditions.

In another article published on bianet, Şık also questioned the reasons why the findings of the cancer research in Kocaeli and Edirne had not not been made public yet. (HK/SD)