A group of exiled Turkish journalists including targeted journalist Can Dündar has launched a Germany-based online news portal titled “Özgürüz“ (We Are Free) on January 24 as a symbolic gesture for commemorating slain investigative journalist Uğur Mumcu. Mumcu was assassinated on January 24, 1993.
The news portal, which Dündar will be the editor-in-chief of, will be available in Turkish and German and will function in cooperation with research organization “Correctiv.” Dündar said their intention was to “inform people in Turkey and tell people in Germany about what is going on in Turkey.”
Journalist Hayko Bağdat has also joined Dündar in the new venture. Bağdat said they “believe in the truth and believe that the truth is strong enough to defeat the villain.”
Can Dündar had to leave Turkey because of the threats posed personally by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the supporters of the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party). Now, Dündar has started to live in Germany after June 2016. He faces detention warrants as part of two separate probes back in Turkey. He was arrested in November 2015 on charges of espionage, helping a terrorist organization, trying to topple the government and revealing state secrets after publishing reports on covert arms deliveries by Turkish intelligence to Syrian rebel groups.
