Yeni Yaşam Newspaper employees made a statement at the Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch regarding the arrest of Yeni Yaşam newspaper Editor-in-Chief Ferhat Celik and Executive Editor Aydin Keser who were arrested because of a report about a soldier who died in Idlib.

 

Yeni Yaşam Newspaper employees, Yeni Yaşam writer Ender Öndeş, Turkey Journalists' Union (TGS) Durmuş Gökhan, Evrensel Newspaper Executive Editor Fatih Polat, sendikaorg Editor Ali Ergin Demirhan, HDP MPs Ahmet Şık, Züleyha Gülüm, HDK CO-spokesperson İdil Uğurlu and many journalists attended the press conference.

 

Yeni Yaşam Newspaper Editor Zana Bilir Kaya who read the statement on behalf of the newspaper, said the arrest of the Executive Editor and the Editor in Chief was because of the article about a soldier dying in Idlib, said that information was not confidential in terms of the newspaper and the public. 

 

Reiterating that the detentions and arrests are aimed at silencing the free press and preventing the truth from being heard, Kaya said: "It is known that we have not refrained from writing the truth under any circumstances throughout our long history. As our friend Ferhat said, we carry the torch of Musa Anter and we will never drop it. As Yeni Yaşam newspaper, we continue on our way and we will. This arrest warrant will remain a stain on their names, not on us. We repeat once again. Journalism is not a crime, our friends should be released immediately. ” 

 

Speaking later, Evrensel Newspaper's Editor-in-Chief, Fatih Polat, also pointed out that the government was fighting the war, and the journalists who are doing their jobs were made to pay the price of it. Polat stated that they are trying to make the journalists submit to them, said: "Yeni Yaşam Newspaper have shown that they will not submit to any threats through out their long history."