With the central slogan “Freedom of expression is our honor” and “Freedom of the press is freedom of life” but also posters with messages such as “free press, free society”, “You can not teach me my job”, “Agents, “Foreign fingers, collaborators, we are not”, “The free press can not be blocked”, hundreds of workers in the Turkish media, but also others who support their protest, marched in occupied Nicosia in the afternoon.
The protest march entitled “We are marching because we are not afraid” was organized by the press workers 'union, Basın Sen, and the journalists' association, KTGB. The rally was attended by RTK Secretary General Erdogan Sorakin, the party's “MP” Dogus Deria, KKD leader Cemal Ozgit, Nicosia “mayor” Mehmet Harmanci and other politicians and trade unionists.
They walked on a main street of occupied Nicosia, sometimes shouting slogans such as “We will not be silent”, “Silence today is my turn, tomorrow is yours” and “We will resist and we will win” and sometimes applauding, until the end of the boulevard where they did sedentary protest.
The presence of the “police” was discreet.
The joint statement of the two organizations of journalists and media workers was read by the journalist of the private channel Ghent, Muazez Gazihan, who had been attacked live on her show by Erhan Arikli, “Minister of Economy and Energy” and responded with what happened. tonight's “You Can't Teach Me My Work”.
“Increasing violence against us, the workers in the press, who have no other purpose than informing society, is a threat not only to a professional group but to society as a whole,” Gazihan said in a joint statement.
“We face the threat of the abolition of freedom of the press and expression, which are the most important guarantees of a democratic structure,” he said, adding that journalists face threats and intimidation on a daily basis from either employers or government officials.
“We are your voice! All of you! We work under the most difficult conditions, without opening hours, holidays, vacations, events. On the first day of every year we are in everyone's homes. “We are within breathing distance,” he said.
If the journalists are under pressure, every part of the society is under pressure, if we cannot speak, neither can you, said the Turkish journalist.
“We journalists must be free to ask questions, to be able to write news freely, to express our thoughts freely on every platform. “We are not the ones attacking with weapons, but we are idea workers holding a penny.”
Informing the world does not mean, he continued, that they can do what they want (those in power), nor are journalists public relations officers. “You can not tell us what questions we will ask, you can not tell us our work,” he said.
We are constantly chasing dialogue, but if you go beyond our limits, we will not hesitate to tell you what your limits are, Gazihan continued. “Employees in the press are not your slaves! You can not use us to manipulate our colleagues in your dirty tricks! “
We proclaim in a loud voice, he said, “you can not teach us our work. “Our job is our honor, our pen is our strength.”
The event ended shortly before 19.00 without the sit-in protest that had been announced, due to the rain that began to fall in occupied Nicosia.
CYPE / PHOTO KIBRIS POSTASI
US Ambassador to the Turkish News Agency: We support a solution based on the ICC
Averof Neophytou: “Both walking and swimming” I will go to Geneva – Wednesday sees Erhiurman
