The poet Nazım Hikmet writes in his poem The Postman: “The news of humankind, of the world, of the homeland / The news of the tree, the wolf, the bird / At dawn or in the middle of the night / I carried to people in the middle of my heart...”
He likens the poet, and thus himself, to a postman. One who brings good or bad news. Usually, it is not good news. It is painful. But so be it; this is the reality of the country.
As for me, I have always, again inspired by this poem, likened journalism to the post. Carrying the news. Doing the work of the public’s right to know.
ALİCAN AND İSMAİL
Alican Uludağ is a correspondent for Deutsche Welle Turkish. He knows the judicial beat inside out. He is a journalist in Ankara covering courts and the process of justice. He was arrested on Feb. 20 for his tweets. The primary ground for his arrest was the charge of “publicly disseminating misleading information.” On top of that, they added accusations such as insulting the president. And they imprisoned Alican.
İsmail Arı is a reporter for BirGün newspaper. He stood out for his reporting on the Directorate of Religious Affairs, religious orders, religious sects, and the unearned enrichment of the religious sphere. So much so that he received death threats. And like Alican, he too was arrested on the charge of “publicly disseminating misleading information.” Just last week. On March 22.
THEY HAVE KNOWN NO OTHER GOVERNMENT
Alican is 40, İsmail 30. Both are among the bright sons of a journalistic generation we would still call young. Yet they are now in prison, as though they are carrying the responsibility for a world they did not make. They have seen and known no political power other than the current one. The only ruling power they have ever known is the AKP. And what bears down on them is the cruelty of the present climate. They came from Anatolia, passed the exams, entered university, and studied journalism. There is an important journalistic struggle waged by those who came before them, one they are meant to inherit. Yet they still want to shoulder all the burdens left unfinished. Let them. It is their right. They will endure this and they will emerge. And then, once again, they will write “the news.”
Is it merely a coincidence that all of this has unfolded after the appointment of former prosecutor Akın Gürlek as minister of justice?
