Journalist Mater talked of murders by unknown people
Journalist Mater talked of murders by unknown people
In a presentation about murders by unknown people, journalist Nadire Mater gave voice to the journalist killed in Kurdistan. Mater, co-founder of Bianet and author of best seller "Mehmet's book", made the presentation to the “Commission for Investigating Terror Events and Violation of Right to Life” affiliated to Human Rights Investigation Commission of Parliament.
Mater described the environment of Cizre during Newroz celebrations in 1992 as follows; “We were afraid. We even had our photos taken to have a memory as we were almost sure that one of us was going to die. Still, the white clothes waved that day didn’t help to prevent the death of Sabah reporter Ýzzet Kezer.” Arguing that the year 1992 was the darkest year for journalists, Mater noted that among 76 journalists, who were killed between 1905 and 2011, 14 were murdered in 1992.
Mater added that the years of 1993 and 1994 were the years of closed papers, murdered journalists and unidentified murders. Mater recalled those years in these terms: “10.00-10.30 in the morning and 16.00-16.30 in the evening were the hours murders by unknown people took place in Diyarbakýr. Unidentified people wearing a coat approached their victims from behind. A bullet shot in the neck and on to the next killing.”
According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey’s database on the victims of lost in custody between the years of 1980-2000, Mater remarked that 757 people disappeared in the last 20 years. Most of these events were witnessed in Diyarbakýr, Lice, Istanbul and Cizre, added Mater.
Nadire Mater is a founder and advisor of BIA, the Independent Communication Network, a ten-year-old project that brings together more than 130 newspapers and TV and radio stations to offer honest, locally based reporting on Turkey. Much of the content is available online at Bianet.org. Mater is also known for Mehmet’s Book, a collection of testimonies from Turkish soldiers who served in the southeast, which she published in 1999
Mater described the environment of Cizre during Newroz celebrations in 1992 as follows; “We were afraid. We even had our photos taken to have a memory as we were almost sure that one of us was going to die. Still, the white clothes waved that day didn’t help to prevent the death of Sabah reporter Ýzzet Kezer.” Arguing that the year 1992 was the darkest year for journalists, Mater noted that among 76 journalists, who were killed between 1905 and 2011, 14 were murdered in 1992.
Mater added that the years of 1993 and 1994 were the years of closed papers, murdered journalists and unidentified murders. Mater recalled those years in these terms: “10.00-10.30 in the morning and 16.00-16.30 in the evening were the hours murders by unknown people took place in Diyarbakýr. Unidentified people wearing a coat approached their victims from behind. A bullet shot in the neck and on to the next killing.”
According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey’s database on the victims of lost in custody between the years of 1980-2000, Mater remarked that 757 people disappeared in the last 20 years. Most of these events were witnessed in Diyarbakýr, Lice, Istanbul and Cizre, added Mater.
Nadire Mater is a founder and advisor of BIA, the Independent Communication Network, a ten-year-old project that brings together more than 130 newspapers and TV and radio stations to offer honest, locally based reporting on Turkey. Much of the content is available online at Bianet.org. Mater is also known for Mehmet’s Book, a collection of testimonies from Turkish soldiers who served in the southeast, which she published in 1999
