Major Kurdish news agencies closed in Turkey by government decree
NEWS BUREAU (DİHA) - Turkish Government closes down 2 news agencies, 3 magazines, and 10 newspapers including major and local Kurdish news institutions with a recent Decree with the Power of Law as a further step in the prolonged State of Emergency.
The latest two government decrees with the power of law, decided to close down 2 news agencies, 3 magazines, and 10 newspapers including the major Kurdish news network DIHA, and the first women’s news agency internationally, JINHA. Ozgur Gündem, Azadiya Welat, and Yuksekova Haber newspapers are also among the closed press.
See the list of the closed down press outlets with the latest Decrees published within the scope of the State of Emergency in Turkey:
Agencies
Dicle News Agency (DIHA)
Jin News Agency (JINHA)
Newspapers
Özgür Gündem (from İstanbul, already closed on Aug 16, 2016)
Azadiya Welat (Kurdish language newspaper)
Yüksekova Haber (Local newspaper from Hakkari)
Cizre Postası (Local newspaper from Şırnak)
İdil Haber (Local newspaper from Şırnak)
Güney Expres (Local newspaper from Şırnak)
Prestij Haber (Local newspaper from Van)
Urfanatik (Local newspaper from Urfa)
Kızıltepe’nin sesi (“Voice of Kiziltepe” — Local newspaper from Mardin)
Magazines
Tiroj (“Sunlight” in Kurdish — culture and arts)
Evrensel Kültür (“Universal Culture” in Turkish — culture and literature)
Özgürlük Dünyası (“World of Freedom” in Turkish — socialist theory and politics)
Turkish press under the State of Emergency
Upon the failed coup attempt on July 15th, the State of Emergency (OHAL) has been declared and since the date, the country has been administrated single-handedly by the government through Decrees with the Power of Law.
The Turkish OHAL frequently produced unlawful and nonproportional implementations including detentions, arrests and closure towards the news media.
107 journalists and 10 distributors were arrested in October, 78 reporters were detained, 775 press cards and 49 passports have been annulled under OHAL, according to the Media Bianet’s Observation Report (July-August-September).
In July and September 2016, approximately 2.500 journalists and media workers were left unemployed after numerous media outlets were closed down through Government Decrees.
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