ANKARA: After being assaulted 28 times during his career — punched, kicked and beaten with bats — Turkish journalist Hakan Denizli thought he had seen it all.
But for the 29th attack, they came with a gun, and they did so while he was taking his four-year-old grandchild to daycare.
Denizli, who edits the Egemen daily newspaper in the southern city of Adana, is matter-of-fact about it: "I got into the car and the window was open. They came, shot me in the leg and ran away."
That incident in May came amid a spate of assaults that has seen six journalists targeted in as many weeks.
Many blame the worsening atmosphere on politicians, who regularly lash out at individual journalists.
"If you don't know your place, the people will hit you in the back of your neck," President Recep Tayyip Erdogan snapped after a TV presenter on Turkey's Fox news channel asked whether people would protest rising prices in December.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world, and ranks it 157th out of 180 countries in the world for press freedom.
There are 142 journalists currently behind bars in Turkey, according to the P24 press freedom website. Most are detained under a two-year state of emergency imposed after the 2016 failed coup.
The government says nobody was arrested for work as a journalist, but RSF says violence against the media often goes without punishment or even criticism.
A request for a parliamentary investigation into the recent attacks was rejected by the ruling AKP party and its alliance partner.
One outspoken critic of Erdogan's government, Yavuz Selim Demirag of the Yenicag daily, blames the attack on him on a full-page advert put out by the right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the ruling party's coalition partner.
He was among dozens of journalists listed in the advert, which was published in several high-circulation newspapers after last year's general election, with the banner, "Slander, allegations, complaints".
At least two of them have been attacked.
Demirag, 61, was beaten by a gang with bats outside his home on May 10, breaking parts of his rib cage.
"When I sneeze, cough, get up, it hurts," he said.
Prosecutors say they are investigating, but six suspects were quickly released after their arrest.
"Being a journalist in Turkey is hard, attacking journalists is heroic," Demirag said.
Opposition journalists face not just violence but relentless pressure from the judiciary.
Barely a month after the assault, Demirag was briefly imprisoned for an old conviction of "insulting the president" over a speech in which he questioned the right to immunity of certain officials, and he remains on probation.
Denizli says he has "maybe 24 or 25" legal cases against him.
"I am not cowed by these cases."
Journalists of all stripes are at risk, but the responses often reflect the fierce partisanship of Turkish politics.
The government has been silent on Demirag's assault, for instance, but Erdogan's office immediately denounced the attack on Islamist journalist Murat Alan, who was beaten up in Istanbul on June 14.
Alan had reportedly referred to Turkish generals as "donkeys", angering the country's ultra-nationalists.
Idris Ozyol, a journalist from Antalya on the south coast, did at least receive a call of consolation from Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu after being attacked recently.
But he said Cavusoglu blamed the government's own coalition partner, the MHP -- which only annoyed him further.
"One arm of the government attacks, the other arm sends messages saying 'We are so sad' -- like a game of good-cop, bad-cop," he told AFP.
RSF's Erol Onderoglu said the situation was "deeply hypocritical" given Turkey's criticism of Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in their Istanbul consulate last year.
Onderoglu, who himself faces charges of "terrorist propaganda" for supporting a pro-Kurdish newspaper, said: "We need a prominent political figure to intervene against this hostile climate... (but) it is really difficult to expect anything."
Recovering from the gunshot wound to his leg, Denizli suspects his articles on corruption are to blame for the endless attacks, but he remains undeterred.
"I just try to do my job as best as I can," he said.
Threatened, beaten, shot: Turkish journalists in the crosshairs
Threatened, beaten, shot: Turkish journalists in the crosshairs
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says Turkey is the biggest jailer of journalists in the world
- Opposition journalists face not just violence but relentless pressure from the judiciary
Syrian woman is jailed for life over Istanbul killer blast; over 20 others also get prison sentences
Syrian woman is jailed for life over Istanbul killer blast; over 20 others also get prison sentences
- Ahlam Albashir was given a total of seven life sentences by a Turkish court for carrying out the attack in Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13, 2022
- Twenty others were given prison sentences ranging from four years to life
JEDDAH: A Syrian woman who planted a bomb that killed six people in Istanbul’s main shopping street 18 months ago was jailed for life on Friday.
Ahlam Albashir was given a total of seven life sentences by a Turkish court for carrying out the attack in Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13, 2022. Six Turkish citizens, two members each from three families, died in the blast in the busy street packed with shoppers and tourists. About 100 people were injured.
More than 30 other people were accused in connection with the explosion. Four were released from prison on Friday, and a further 10 were ordered to be tried separately in their absence because they could not be found.
Twenty others were given prison sentences ranging from four years to life. Of those, six received aggravated life imprisonment for murder and “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state.”
Turkiye blamed Kurdish militants for the explosion, and said the order for the attack was given in Kobani in northern Syria, where Turkish forces have conducted operations against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in recent years.
The YPG and the outlawed PKK Kurdish separatist group, which has fought a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state, denied involvement in the attack. No group admitted it.
Istanbul has been attacked in the past by Kurdish, Islamist and leftist militants. A wave of bombings and other attacks began nationwide when a ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK broke down in mid-2015.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s conflict with Turkiye since the militant group took up arms in 1984. It is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the EU and the US.
1 case dismissed, 4 on hold in UN investigation into Oct. 7 allegations against UNRWA staff
- Investigators have been looking into cases of 12 agency workers accused by Israel in January of participating in attacks by Hamas, and 7 others named later
- 14 cases remain under investigation but the others were dismissed or suspended due to lack of evidence; UN’s internal investigators due to visit Israel again in May
NEW YORK CITY: UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that the organization’s internal oversight body has been investigating 19 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees over allegations that they were affiliated with Hamas and other militant groups.
Israeli authorities alleged in January that 12 UNRWA workers participated in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel.
The agency immediately cut ties with the named individuals, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in consultation with UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, ordered an independent review to evaluate the measures taken by the agency to ensure adherence to the principle of neutrality and how it responds to allegations of breaches of neutrality, particularly in the challenging context of the situation in Gaza.
In a wide-ranging report published this week, the investigators, led by Catherine Colonna, a former foreign minister of France, said Israeli authorities have yet to provide any evidence to support the allegations against UNRWA workers. They also noted that Israel had not previously raised concerns about any individuals named on the agency staffing lists it has been receiving since 2011.
They stated in the report: “In the absence of a political solution between Israel and the Palestinians, UNRWA remains pivotal in providing life-saving humanitarian aid and essential social services, particularly in health and education, to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.
“As such, UNRWA is irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians’ human and economic development. In addition, many view UNRWA as a humanitarian lifeline.”
Guterres also ordered a separate investigation by the UN’s own Office of Internal Oversight Services to determine the accuracy of the Israeli allegations. The mandate of the OIOS, an independent office within the UN Secretariat, is to assist the secretary-general in the handling of UN resources and staff through the provision of internal audit, investigation, inspection and evaluation services.
Dujarric said the 19 members of UNRWA staff under investigation included the 12 named by the Israeli allegations in January, whose contracts were immediately terminated, and seven others the UN subsequently received information about, five in March and two in April.
Of the 12 employees identified by Israeli authorities in January, eight remain under OIOS investigation, Dujarric said. One case was dismissed for lack of evidence and corrective administrative action is being explored, he added, and three cases were suspended because “the information provided by Israel is not sufficient for OIOS to proceed with an investigation. UNRWA is considering what administrative action to take while they are under investigation.”
Regarding the seven additional cases brought to the attention of the UN, one has been suspended “pending receipt of additional supporting evidence,” Dujarric said.
“The remaining six of those cases are currently under investigation by OIOS. OIOS has informed us that its investigators had traveled to Israel for discussions with the Israeli authorities and will undertake another visit during May.
“These discussions are continuing and have so far been productive and have enabled progress on the investigations.”
The initial allegations against some members of its staff threw the agency, which provides aid and other services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and across the region, into crisis. The US, the biggest single funder of UNRWA, and several other major donors put their contributions to the organization on hold.
In all, 16 UN member states suspended or paused donations, while others imposed conditions on further contributions, putting the future of the agency in doubt. Many of the countries, including Germany, later said their funding would resume. However, US donations remain on hold.
37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza could take years to clear: UN
- “We do know that we estimated 37 million tonnes of debris, which is approximately 300 kg per square meter,” Lodhammar added
GENEVA: There are some 37 million tonnes of debris to clear away in Gaza once the Israeli offensive is over, a senior official with the UN Mine Action Service said on Friday.
And unexploded ordnance buried in the rubble would complicate that work, said UNMAS’ Pehr Lodhammar, who has run mine programs in countries such as Iraq.
It was impossible to say how much of the ammunition fired in Gaza remained live, said Lodhammar.
“We know that typically there is a failure rate of at least 10 percent of land service ammunition,” he told journalists in Geneva.
“We do know that we estimated 37 million tonnes of debris, which is approximately 300 kg per square meter,” he added.
He said that starting from a hypothetical number of 100 trucks would take 14 years to clear away.
Lodhammar was speaking as UNMAS launched its 2023 annual report on Friday.
The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas erupted when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Also on Friday, the head of an aid group warned that an Israeli assault on southern Gaza’s Rafah area would spell disaster for civilians, not only in Gaza but across the Middle East,
Jan Egeland said the region faced a “countdown to an even bigger conflict.”
Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, also said that 1.3 million civilians seeking refuge in Rafah — including his aid group’s staff — were living in “indescribable fear” of an Israeli offensive.
Egeland urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to proceed with the operation.
“Netanyahu, stop this. It is a disaster not only for the Palestinians, it would be a disaster for Israel. You will have a stain on the Israeli conscience and history forever,” he said.
The NRC head spoke to Reuters in Lebanon, where he visited southern villages that he said were caught in a “horrific crossfire” between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
“I am just scared that we haven’t learned from 2006,” said Egeland, referring to the month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel that was the two foes’ last bloody confrontation, during which he headed the UN’s relief operations.
“We do not need another war in the Middle East. At the moment, I’m feeling like (this is a) countdown to an even bigger conflict,” he said.
Turkiye’s Erdogan postpones tentative White House visit, sources say
- A new date will soon be set due to a change in Erdogan’s schedule, the Turkish official said
- The source familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear what prompted the postponement
WASHINGTON/ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has postponed a White House meeting with President Joe Biden, a source familiar with the situation and a Turkish official said on Friday of a visit that had been tentatively planned for May 9.
A White House spokesperson, while not confirming the May 9 date, said: “We look forward to hosting President Erdogan at the White House at a mutually convenient time, but we have not been able to align our schedules and do not have any visit to announce at this time.”
A new date will soon be set due to a change in Erdogan’s schedule, the Turkish official said, requesting anonymity. The source familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear what prompted the postponement.
The White House never formally announced the visit but a US official told Reuters in late March that following Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to Washington, the White House offered and Ankara had accepted May 9 for a meeting between Biden and Erdogan.
That would have been the first bilateral visit to Washington since 2019 when Erdogan met with then President Donald Trump, a Republican. He and Biden have met a few times at international summits and spoken by phone since the Democratic US president took office in January 2021.
Ties between the US and Turkiye have been long strained by differences on a range of issues. While they have thawed since Ankara ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid earlier this year, tensions persist over Syria and Russia and the war in Gaza.
Erdogan visited neighboring Iraq this week. Last weekend, he met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, the first meeting between Erdogan and a Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh since Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
Netherlands will consider resuming support to Palestinian UNRWA agency
- The decision follows an investigation by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna
- The Colonna-led review of the agency’s neutrality concluded Israel had yet to back up its accusations
AMSTERDAM: The Dutch government on Friday said it would consider resuming funding for the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) in Gaza if the agency implements recommendations to strengthen its neutrality.
The decision follows an investigation by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna released on Monday into whether some UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
The Colonna-led review of the agency’s neutrality concluded Israel had yet to back up its accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff were operatives in Gaza terrorist groups.
The Dutch government said it had already given its yearly donation to UNRWA in January, before the accusations against the agency came to light. It was one of several European countries that paused funding for the agency after the allegations were levied.
It said it did not foresee any additional donations in the near future, but would consider UNRWA as a potential partner if requests for aid were made.
