December 21, 2024 - Turkiye, Istanbul

On December 21, 2024, nine people, including seven journalists, were detained in Şişhane, Istanbul, while attempting to hold a press statement in memory of murdered Kurdish journalists Jihan Belki and Nazım Daştan.

The following day, December 22, 2024, arrest warrants were issued for journalists Pınar Gayıp, Serpil Ünal, Gülistan Dursun, Hayri Tunç, Enes Sezgin, Osman Akın, and Can Papila.

Journalists Zeynep Kuray, Yadigar Aygün, , Yağmur Filiz, Pelin Laçin, and Mahsum Sağlam were released with judicial control measures.

The duty of journalists is to uncover the truth and inform the public. Criminalizing press statements is a direct attack on freedom of expression and journalism.

Women Press Freedom strongly condemns these unjust detentions and arrests, along with the broader pressures targeting journalists protesting the killings of their Kurdish colleagues. These actions by Turkish authorities undermine democratic values, freedom of expression, and the essential role of the press in society.

Women Press Freedom stands in solidarity with all journalists facing persecution. We demand the immediate release of our detained colleagues and call for an end to the harassment and criminalization of journalists.