MKG: Journalists were subjected to continued repression and attacks in August

MKG announced the rights violations against journalists in August. Accordingly, 2 journalists were murdered, 1 journalist was attacked, 15 journalists were ill-treated, and 1 journalist was prosecuted.

The Mesopotamia Women Journalists' Association (MKG) announced its report “Rights Violations against Women Journalists in August”.

The report stated that the attacks against Kurdish journalists were especially prominent last month: “Kurdish journalists Hêro Bahadîn and Gulistan Tara lost their lives and 6 journalists were injured in an attack carried out by Turkey in Sulaymaniyah. In addition, journalists were prevented from fulfilling their duties in various ways, some of them were physically attacked and seriously injured.”

The report said that serious restrictions were also experienced in the field of freedom of thought and expression: “Investigations, lawsuits and indictments against women journalists stand out as a part of these pressures. This situation shows how serious the systematic pressures on press freedom have become. In addition, various access restrictions on digital platforms have also attracted attention. On 2 August, access to Instagram was blocked, which was lifted on 10 August. In addition, many people's X (formerly Twitter) accounts were blocked in August. These developments show that restrictions on freedoms are increasing in the digital sphere as well. This report clearly demonstrates the serious violations of rights and threats to press freedom faced by women journalists in Turkey. It paints an extremely worrying picture of freedom of expression and freedom of the press.”

The report lists the violations of rights recorded during the month of August as follows:

* Journalists Attacked: 1

* Journalists Subjected to Ill-Treatment: 15

* Journalists Prevented from Covering: 2

* Journalists Subjected to Lawsuits: 1

* Number of Imprisoned Women Journalists: (1-31 August) 6