A group of journalists, who travelled from Istanbul to North Kurdistan in order to see at the scene the state terror that has developed after the AKP put war policies into practice, have shared their first impressions.

Holding a press conference upon their arrival in in Amed, the journalists shared with public their assessments and observations from Silvan and Lice districts.

Faruk Eren, one of the journalists from the delegation, said the AKP government has always been cruel against the freedom of press and expression, but has increased dosage after the elections, adding: “We wanted to see at the scene and convey what has been going on in the region. We wanted to cover what is not covered in the pro-AKP press and TVs in the west”.

'WE WERE THREATENED BY POLICE'

Uğur Güç, the head of Turkey’s Journalists’ Union, stressed that they could not obtain information from the region because of censorship and repressions and told that police prevented them from doing their job in Silvan: “They did not allow us to enter the areas where clashes were taking place. An armoured vehicle stopped us and an announcement was heard from the vehicle saying ‘We will intervene if you do not disperse’. Because of these repressions we could not observe much in Silvan”.

'WEST AND MEDIA DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON'

A journalist for Milliyet daily, Mehveş Evin, said people and media in the western part of the country do not know anything about what is going on in the region.

“A climate of fear prevails at the moment. Even the most dissident ones withdraw into a lonely shell when it comes to conflict and clashes. I find this extremely dangerous”, said Evin and recalled that they had been able to obtain some information even in the 90s thanks to some brave journalists. She noted that still some segments of the Turkey’s society do not want to understand what exactly is going on.

'HISTORY IS CALLING PEOPLE TO KURDISTAN'

The editor in chief of Evrensel daily newspaper, Fatih Polat, said history is calling the inhabitants of the country to go to Kurdistan where a war is going on at the moment. Stressing that the 90s should not become the destiny of the country, Polat said: “To us, this means the massacre of İzzet Keze and Musa Anter in '92. We know how difficult the conditions of the journalists working here are. An 80 years-old Mother Sakine, who is joining the human shield action in Lice said ‘I lost my five children. I have exhausted my life by undergoing these pains for the last 40 years’. What Mother Sakine said is utmost important and meaningful.”

'JOURNALISTS WERE PRPEVENTED FROM INVESTIGATING'

Free Journalists’ Society co-chair Hakkı Boltan, who accompanied the delegation of journalists, said police did not give the opportunity to the journalists to investigate what was going on in Silvan.

“If you are a journalist, you are treated as an enemy by the police and state institutions. Our journalist coworkers wanted to reflect objectively what was going on in the areas where clashes were taking place” said Boltan, and added: “Yet, the imposition of the curfew prevented us from doing. It looked like the curfew was imposed on the journalists with an aim to prevent them from covering what was going on. It has nothing to do with security measures. We saw this clearly”.

Following the press conference, the delegation of journalists left for Silopi district of Şırnak.