Yeni Ülke newspaper reporter Cengiz Altun was murdered by Hezbollah İn Êlih (Batman) on February 24, 1992 on his way to a news report. Although 33 years have passed since Altun's murder, the perpetrators have not been found. Türkan Altun, 77, has been fighting for 33 years to find her son's perpetrators.  

 

Türkan Altun stated that the perpetrators of the massacre can be found if they wish. Stating that her son did not give up his profession despite torture and death threats, Türkan Altun said, “He was tortured for 40 days in Sêrt (Siirt). When he got home, he took a bath and ran to the news. When his father asked, 'Where is Cengiz?' I told him that he went to the news. He said, 'What kind of courage is this' and expressed his admiration for his son. It was a time when people were kidnapped and killed with pig ties. Despite the pressure and threats, Cengiz and his friends were not afraid. Because they had the goal of conveying the truth to this people. However, they were murdered by those who could not tolerate the truth.” 

 

Pointing out that many Free Press employees were murdered after her son, mother Türkan Altun said that every time a journalist dies, she thinks of her son's murder. Türkan Altun said, Free Press is my Cengiz's trust. They are all my Cengiz, those who murder them are murdering my Cengiz again."

 

Türkan Altun said, “Cengiz was not afraid and neither were his comrades. One of my children was slaughtered that day, now I have thousands of children. You are all pioneers of this people.” 

 

ABOUT CENGIZ ALTUN 

 

Cengiz Altun was born on July 9, 1968 in Kercew (Gercüş) district of Êlih. He completed his primary, secondary and high school education there. Then, in 1990, he enrolled in the Motor Department of Batman Vocational High School. In 1991, while still a student, Altun started his career by distributing the weekly Yeni Ülke newspaper. Altun began his journalism career during a period of intense counter-guerrilla attacks. For this reason, he was constantly receiving threats. He applied to the Batman Public Prosecutor's Office against the threats he received, but he did not get any results. Three months after his last application, on February 24, 1992, at around 08.15 in the morning, he was caught in crossfire while walking on Mehtap Street on his way to the newspaper office. The perpetrator(s) fled the scene and Altun died in hospital. 

 

About a year after the murder, Diyarbakır Security Directorate Anti-Terror Branch police officers conducting an identity check at Ovabağ Junction on the Diyarbakır-Mardin highway caught a man named İsmail Emsen with an unlicensed 9 millimeter pistol. A ballistic examination revelaed that some of the bullets that killed Altun came from this gun. Ismail Emsen testified that he was a Hezbollah suppoter and that he had bought the pistol from his brother Metin Emsen to protect himself. Emsen was arrested for "pessession of an unlicensed weapon" instead of murder and was put in Diyarbakır Prison. The police neither found hid brother Metin Emsen, from whom he said he had taken the gun, nor conducted a detailed investigation into the incident. Emsen was released after a short time. 

 

The report prepated by Kutlu Savaş, the head of the Prime Ministry İnspection Board, on the "Susurluk Accident", in which state-politics-mafia relations were exposed, included Altun's murder along with other journalists killed in the region. However, despite the 33 years that have passed, Altun's perpetrators have not been found. 

 

Attacks against journalists countinued after Altun's murder. Dozens of Free Press employees were murdered in the 1990s. Turkey and its paramilitary forces have targeted and killed 15 journalists since 2019. Most recetly, Nazım Daştan, Cihan Bilgin and Egit Roj were murdered in North and East Syria. 

 

MA / Fethi Balaman