Journalist and writer Hüseyin Aykol, Co-editor-in-chief of the Özgür Gündem Newspaper, which was closed down with a Decree-Law (Decree-Law) in 2016, was arrested and sent to prison yesterday.

 

The Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which ruled the case, sentenced Akyol to 3 years and 9 months in prison on 29 November 2018, which was later upheld by the Court of Appeal. Aykol was taken into custody at his home in Ankara yesterday, he was arrested after reading of the verdict in the Western Courthouse of Sincan where he was arrested and taken to Sincan F-Type Closed Prison.

 

Aykol has been working as a journalist since the 1970s and has 63 cases opened against him.

 

Journalists and writers reacted to Aykol's arrest, especially his colleagues, intellectuals, writers, lawyers and activists.

 

 

One of the names he worked with in Özgür Gündem, writer Temel Demirer, said: "Of course Hüseyin Aykol is the one who got arrested, but in his person it is free press and freedom of thought that was arrested. In this sense, it is an honour to defend Hüseyin Aykol, the free press, the opponent press, dignity and morality. I am honoured to have worked with him, to be his student, to be his comrade. Whatever his crime is, I declare that I committed it as well. I will be honoured to be his partner in this crime." 

 

 

Journalist Tugrul Eryilmaz emphasized that the pressure on press in Turkey is unacceptable in terms of freedom of expression. Eryılmaz said: "We live in a country without freedom of expression. All institutions in Turkey are miserable. Parliament, judiciary, academia and ofcourse we can not exclude the media. That's what you call an authoritarian system. The last victim was our colleague Aykol. This is what we hear. We have a lot of young colleagues that we haven't heard of yet, we don't know. ”

 

 

 

İHD Co-chair Eren Keskin who is being tried in the Özgür Gündem case with Aykol with a request of a 17 years 2 months sentence said: "There has been no process in which the freedom of pressed was under this much pressure. Hüseyin Aykol is a person who devoted his life to the freedom of press and freedom of expression. He is also a comrade. We all can end up in prison at any time. It is all so tragicomic.In a geography where Veli Küçük is acquitted, writers, journalists are imprisoned. Hüseyin Aykol is one of them.. It is sad, but not surprising."

 

 

 

Journalist Özlem Akarsu Çelik, a columnist in Duvar Newspaper, said: "We will keep saying that 'Journalism is not a crime. Hüseyin Aykol should be out here doing his job, not behind bars."

 

 

Mezopotamian Agency (MA) Editor Sedat Yılmaz who says he was trained by Aykol as a journalist, said: "He is not only my teacher, he is my chief,colleague and my friend. Aykol is the voice of the people who are silenced, poverty stricken, marginalized, imprisoned. He is the voice of the children, labourers, Kurdish, immigrants. He is tireless. They have taken our teacher, our most humble, conscientious , most wise. I hope he will be releasd soon and come back to us. We still have a lot to learn from him."

 

Özgürüz Radio Co-chief Editor, Journalist Can Dündar said: "The arrests of journalists have become a common attack at journalism. They are arresting academicians, journalists while introducing a new judicial reform which shows that it is a window dressing. The arrest of Hüseyin Aykol only confirms that. We have to defend each others rights to speech otherwise it will go on like this. We have to stand against these arrests despite our differences of opinon."

 

 

Former Member of Parliament and Journalist Barış Yarkadaş who states that he knows Aykol for years, said: "I can not accept the fact that Hüseyin Aykol is arrested due to his columns in Özgür Gündem Newspaper. The government must accept the fact that journalism journalism is not a crime, it is a profession for the benefit of the public and should give up its hostile attitude towards journalists."

 

 

Jinnews Ankara reporter Habibe Eren who is a student of Hüseyin Aykol said: "Aykol who gave voice to the sick prisoners, who brought the violations of rights to agenda was sent to prison. We shouldn't wait for this to improve by itself. That would mean remaining a mere spectator to the arrests of journalists. All the democratic institutions and journalism organizations should unite and say 'stop' to this unlawfullness."

 

 

Sociolog- activist Veli Saçılık, pointing out the historical identity of Aykol, said: "Hüseyin Aykol is an exempted personality. He is a historical journalist. He wrote in opponent newspaper all his life and paid its price. He was treated the same way before this 'new Turkey' as well. Those who rule changes but the treatment of opponent journalists, the Kurdish journalists never change. Him being in prison will not frustrate the opponent journalists, on the contrary, it will lead to them finding their strongest stance. We are proud of his stance."

 

 

Free Journalists Initiative (OGI) spokesperson Hakkı Boltan said: "Beside from being a journalist, Aykol is a philosopher. He has been through every kind of oppression himself from prison to torture. He is an exact representative of the freedom of press. It is not acceptable for a government to arrest a 70 year old journalist. It is not even sane."

 

 

 Lawyer Association for Freedom (ÖHD) Co-Chair Lawyer Ayşe Acinikli used the following statements: "The issue of the arrest of the journalist is a situation that should be kept apart from the normal arrest. It should be considered as an blow to the press freedom. This sentence given to Hüseyin Aykol is a threat to those who believe in the freedom of press and those who try to survive working as a journalist."