A Turkish court has accepted an indictment against Kurdish journalist Melek Avcı over her social media posts, the Media and Law association reported.
Avcı, who works for JINNEWS, known for its focus on issues affecting women, human rights and the Kurdish community, is accused of spreading propaganda for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Avcı’s posts, reposts and articles covered a wide range of topics that drew scrutiny from authorities, including reports on the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the PKK whose access to lawyers and his family members has been severely restricted by the authorities, and her support for resistance forces in the Syrian city of Kobani against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) as well as celebrations of the Kobani resistance.
Kobani became a focal point in 2014 and 2015 during a conflict between Kurdish forces, primarily the People’s Protection Units (YPG), and ISIL militants. The Kurdish forces’ defense of the town received widespread attention and led to demonstrations of solidarity among Kurds in various places, including Turkey, where expressions of solidarity with Kobani have often been met with scrutiny, particularly in a political climate where Kurdish political movements are closely monitored by the state. The Turkish government claims that the YPG is an offshoot of the PKK.
Avcı questioned why a report she shared that included an official Turkish Foreign Ministry statement about cooperation with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on the conditions of Öcalan’s imprisonment was also scrutinized.
“How can sharing an official ministry statement be considered ‘terror propaganda’?” Avcı asked. “The absurdity of this must have been apparent, as the statement was omitted from the indictment but is noted in the interrogation records.”
Turkey, which became the world’s biggest prison for journalists in 2018, during a state of emergency imposed after a coup attempt, was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index published by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
