On the occasion of Kurdish Journalism Day on April 22, the Democratic Media Union (YRD) highlighted the role of the free Kurdish press and at the same time voiced sharp criticism of the current media landscape.
In a statement on Wednesday, the YRD General Coordination stated: “With the great love and pursuit of truth, and with the conscientious responsibility of social morality, we commemorate with respect, gratitude, and appreciation all martyrs of the free press, in the person of Mazlum Doğan—who set out 48 years ago to uphold the duty of being the voice of our people and democratic society and became the initiator of the free press tradition—along with Gurbetelli Ersöz, Musa Anter, Seyit Evran, Gulistan Tara, Aziz Köylüoğlu, Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan, who fell as martyrs while working in Rojava, and Hüseyin Aykol, a great laborer of the more than 40-year Free Press tradition. We reiterate our promise to fulfill, at any cost, the goals for which they gave their lives in order to reveal the truth.
From the dark days when the existence of the Kurdish people was denied and subjected to cultural and physical genocide, to the days when the strongest struggle for their existence, language, and culture is being waged, we celebrate Kurdish Journalism Day for all our Kurdish journalist friends who have paid great effort, labor, and price in this transition—those who were subjected to torture, imprisoned for decades, forced to leave their homelands, and who continue to pursue the truth despite all kinds of pressure—wishing them great success in their work.
Today, the media has been turned into the primary tool for corrupting social morality. Through disinformation and manipulation, a culture of lies is being instilled in society. The media, which should be the voice of peace and democracy among peoples and beliefs, has become, more than ever before, the voice of war and violence. Wars carried out to generate profit for a handful of capitalists are broadcast live 24 hours a day as part of psychological warfare. Broadcasting that fuels nationalism, racism, religiosity, sectarianism, and the incitement of peoples against one another is being legitimized. Violence against women, femicide, and environmental destruction in the media cannot go beyond being objects of daily reporting. The justifications for violence against women and environmental destruction are preached in the media. Most importantly, the screens have become a stage for so-called academics, who are supposed to be scientists, to make false statements in order to secure society’s consent to the anti-democratic practices of those in power, presenting uniformity and monotony as a credo to society. The media has reached such a point that it has turned into a factory of lies that manufactures consent for gradually leading society toward hell.
In the face of the war imposed especially on the Middle East geography, there is a need to develop peace and democracy among peoples and beliefs throughout the region, especially in Turkey. For this purpose, Rêber Apo (Leader Abdullah Öcalan) has initiated a process in Turkey more than a year ago. The efforts of Rêber Apo, who is struggling to create Peace and Democratic Society under the conditions of İmralı Prison, are very valuable. However, it has once again been seen how anti-peace and anti-democracy some media outlets in Turkey are, as they attempt to sabotage this process. This language benefits neither the peoples of Turkey nor the peoples of the Middle East. This is not journalism; it is acting as a mouthpiece for those who profit from war.
In these times when the truth is so fragmented and denied, undoubtedly, as in the past, there will always be those who write, speak, and publish the truth today as well. Just as in the past, there will continue to be a fierce struggle between those who seek to conceal and deny the truth and those who strive to reveal it and present it to society.
On this basis, we once again celebrate Kurdish Journalism Day for our journalist friends who fulfill their social duties with a love of truth, and we wish them great success in their work.”
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