The office of Evrensel newspaper in Alsancak, Izmir, was targeted in an armed attack on the night of August 13. Ten bullets were fired at the newspaper’s sign. Following the incident, one person was detained, while journalists and press organizations protested the attack.
Elif Ekin Saltık, Evrensel’s correspondent in Diyarbakır (Amed), spoke to ANF about the armed attack and the ongoing pressures on the newspaper: “An unidentified person came to the front of the Izmir office and fired ten bullets at the door and at the sign of Evrensel newspaper. The person who brought the attacker to the newspaper’s office was detained but released after questioning. The shooter was arrested a week later and claimed that he had no motive for the attack. But we know very well that such assaults are not, as the attacker claimed, carried out without reason.”
Evrensel newspaper is being forced into a clampdown
Elif Ekin Saltık underlined that Evrensel newspaper has long been a target of both the government and capital groups and said: “Evrensel has been publishing since June 7, 1995. It is a newspaper that strives to raise the voice of workers, laborers, women, the people, the oppressed, and all those subjected to injustice. For this reason, it has long been in the crosshairs of both capital interests and the government.
Looking at the background of the latest attack on our newspaper, if we evaluate it specifically in the context of Izmir, we can actually guess who may have planned it. Recently, we became the voice of HABAŞ (a major industrial company based in Izmir), workers who protested harsh working conditions, heavy pressure, and low wages, and we know how much this disturbed the HABAŞ employer. We also know that we are being targeted by a perpetrator of child abuse in Izmir, who is known publicly but has faced no legal action and continues to teach children. We are also targeted by perpetrators of violence against women.
Of course, being targeted by these groups is not an isolated or individual situation. We know very well that this attack was not individual. For a long time, we have been facing such assaults. For 30 years, we have faced attacks from both the capital and the government. Our correspondent was murdered, we were repeatedly dragged into judicial clampdowns, our newspaper was shut down, we were fined many times, and our right to publish official announcements was violated. Today, we are struggling with severe financial difficulties.
Evrensel is being forced into a clampdown. Yet despite all this, Evrensel continues to bring the truth and real news to the public. It is a newspaper that defends the rights of all those subjected to injustice. It does not only report the news but also strives to show society the truth that rises through that news.”
This solidarity must not remain limited to Evrensel newspaper
Elif Ekin Saltık stressed that they will not be intimidated by attacks on the press and highlighted the importance of solidarity: “We believe that solidarity is vital, especially for the Free Press, and for all opposition media. It is essential everywhere in Turkey, whether in the west or in Kurdistan, and for press workers on the streets or not. Evrensel newspaper began publishing in the 1990s, during a period of conflicts when in Kurdistan and in other western provinces, many Kurdish businesspeople and ordinary Kurds were murdered in unsolved political killings, disappeared, or killed in villages that were burned and forcibly evacuated.
Evrensel comes from the tradition of Gerçek magazine. Namık Tarancı, the Diyarbakır representative of Gerçek magazine, was murdered by Hizbullah in Diyarbakır in 1993. Later, on January 8, 1996, our correspondent Metin Göktepe was killed in Istanbul while covering a news story.
Evrensel has not only been the voice of workers and laborers but also one of the strongest voices supporting the Kurdish people’s demand for freedom and their calls for peace. It has carried on this tradition until today. The solidarity shown by press organizations with Evrensel is very important. But this solidarity must not remain limited to Evrensel newspaper; we also want to see this solidarity in response to the attacks against Free Press workers. At the same time, we are striving to show this solidarity ourselves.”