The Women's Council of the DEM party has called for the perpetrators named in the articles by wanted journalist Rabia Önver to be pursued, rather than the journalist. Following a report she published in JinNews about state involvement in prostitution and drug trafficking in Hakkari (Colemêrg), the judiciary has issued an arrest warrant for Rabia Önver.

The Women's Council of the DEM said: "The order to arrest Rabia Önver means hindering society's right to information and legitimizing the crimes committed in Hakkari. Instead of searching for Rabia Önver, police should catch those who drive young women into drug use and prostitution.

In view of the available witness statements about the criminal activities, it would be tantamount to complicity if the judiciary did not take action against the named individuals and the structures behind them."

The Women’s Council of the DEM party said: "We will not allow young women, youth and society to be poisoned with special warfare methods by paramilitary forces and collaborating gangs. We will never give up our organized fight against these machinations."

Special war in Hakkari

Journalist Rabia Önver works as a correspondent for the women-run news agency JinNews and has summarized the results of her research into state-protected criminal networks in a three-part report entitled "Special War in Colemêrg". After the third part of the series was published, her apartment in Yüksekova (Gever) was searched on the orders of the Hakkari Attorney General's Office. The journalist was not at home at the time of the raid and is wanted.

In her articles, Rabia Önver described how drug use in Hakkari is promoted under state supervision and young women are driven into prostitution.