Turkiye: Kurdish Journalist Dilşah Kocakaya Imprisoned for Alleged Terrorist Propaganda
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns sentencing, demands her release an end to the persecution of Kurdish media workers
Location: Turkiye, Edirne
Date: November 2, 2023
Writer and journalist Dilşah Kocakaya has been sent to prison after a court upheld her 15-month sentencing concerning her work with a Kurdish outlet in 2016. The Coalition For Women In Journalism denounces the continued attempts by the Turkish authorities to silence Kurdish voices through imprisonment and legal harassment. We demand that Kocakaya be immediately and unconditionally released.
On November 2, 2023, Kurdish author and journalist Dilşah Kocakaya was taken into custody by authorities in Edirne and sent to prison to serve a 15-month sentence. The journalist was jailed for allegedly spreading information in support of a "terrorist organization" for her involvement in the "On-call journalism" solidarity campaign in support of the now-banned pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem. Her punishment was decided by an Istanbul court in April 2019 and was upheld in Turkiye's highest appeal court in July 2023, leading to Kocakaya’s recent arrest.
The specific prison Kocakaya was taken to remains undisclosed, even to her legal representation. This is not the first time she has faced arrest on alleged terrorism charges. She was imprisoned for the first time in 2008 at the age of 18.
In the wake of a failed coup attempt in 2016, the Turkish government launched a massive crackdown on media outlets, journalists, and freedom of expression. Numerous news organizations, TV stations, newspapers, and online platforms were shut down. Thousands of journalists were arrested, detained, or faced legal action in the aftermath of the coup. Many were accused of supporting or being members of terrorist organizations, including the Gülen movement, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), or other groups deemed threatening by the government. Kurdish journalists were targeted due to their coverage of Kurdish issues and the conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish militants.
Özgür Gündem was one of the few publications in Turkiye in 2016 that extensively covered the consequences of the Erdogan-led government's military operations in Kurdish settlement areas. On August 16, 2016, a court order led to the temporary closure of the newspaper. In response, people from politics, civil society, and the media launched a campaign of solidarity called "On-call journalism.” This involved different people symbolically taking over the position of editor-in-chief at Özgür Gündem for one day in 2016. The newspaper was banned by a state emergency decree later the same year.
As part of the campaign, Dilşah Kocakaya was designated to head the editorial team at Özgür Gündem for 24 hours. She contributed by writing a comment piece. The Turkish judiciary concluded that her article intended to "legitimize violence by the PKK and/or promote its violent actions and methods" during the trial.
The same legal proceedings also resulted in other media professionals and intellectuals receiving prison sentences, including Celalettin Can, the spokesperson for the 78 Initiative, who began serving his prison sentence at the end of August.
Kurdish media in Turkey, which had long faced restrictions and discrimination, continues to be persecuted and curtailed. CFWIJ’s data from the last four years reveals that a significant majority (60 to 80%) of targeted women journalists in Turkiye are of Kurdish descent. These journalists often face baseless accusations of being affiliated with the PKK solely because they report on their community or use their native language.
“It's been five years, CFWIJ has raised the issue with the crackdown against Kurdish journalists,” says CFWIJ’s founding director Kiran Nazish. “This particular stifling of Kurdish voices has been ignored in the mainstream, leading to an even greater number of journalists behind bars.”
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is outraged by the imprisonment of Dilşah Kocakaya, although given the Turkish state’s treatment of Kurdish journalists and media outlets, we are sadly not surprised. We demand that Kocakaya be immediately released from prison and an end to the harassment of Kurdish journalists in Turkiye.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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