RSF: Attacks against journalists resume

In a 16 October 2001 letter to Minister of the Interior Rüstü Kazim Yücelen, RSF protested the police attacks on Ramazan Kur, a cameraman with the Ulusal Kanal station, Hüseyin Likoglu, a reporter from the daily"Yeni Safak", Alper Yurtsever, a photojournalist from the daily "Star", and Ahmet Sik, a reporter from the daily "Radikal", whom police also tried to arrest. The journalists were covering demonstrations against the air raids in Afghanistan, on 12 and 14 October, in Istanbul.

Constant Gap

"There is a constant gap between Turkey's promises in the context of itsapplication to join the European Union and the practices of its policeforces," stated Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general.

"Attacks on journalists had decreased, but the current international situation gives the government a pretext to repress certain liberties moreharshly, especially press freedom," added Ménard.

According to information collected by RSF, on 12 October, severaljournalists, including Yurtsever and Sik, were assaulted by police officersat Beyazit Square, in Istanbul. The journalists were there to cover ademonstration by Muslims, who were protesting the strikes in Afghanistanoutside the Beyazit Mosque. Sik was manhandled by police officers andresisted their attempts to arrest him. He was released following theintervention of several of his colleagues.

Moreover, Kur and Likoglu wereassaulted by police officers in the Kadiköy neighbourhood of Istanbul, whereleft-wing opposition parties, including the ÖDP (Freedom and SolidarityParty), the EMEP (Workers' Party) and the SIP (Party for Socialist Power),demonstrated on 14 October, demanding an end to air strikes in Afghanistan.

RSF recalled that in its most recent "Regular Report ... on [Turkey's]Progress towards Accession", the European Commission considered that "thesituation with respect to freedom of expression remains of concern," and that the rapprochement between Turkey and the European Union was linked to Turkey's honouring of its commitments with respect to human rights, notablyas concerns Article 10 of the European Convention, which guarantees freedomof expression, the right to inform and to be informed."