A Turkish court on Monday convicted Kurdish journalist Hayri Demir of disseminating terrorist propaganda through his reporting, the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) reported.
The verdict came during the eighth hearing of a trial that has spanned nearly eight years, held at the Ankara 15th High Criminal Court. Demir was sentenced to almost three years in prison for “spreading terrorist propaganda via the press” by promoting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The PKK has been waging a bloody campaign in Turkey’s southeast since 1984.
The evidence cited included photos, videos and interviews produced during his reporting in northern Syria as well as social media posts.
Demir, who covers conflict zones, is a correspondent for the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya News Agency.
While in northern Syria, Demir covered developments in areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, including the humanitarian impact of the Syrian civil war and the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). His reporting often focused on the role of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey views as an extension of the PKK.
Demir attended the hearing along with his lawyer, Ercan İpekçi. Also present were Turgut Dedeoğlu, head of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey Press Union (DİSK Basın-İş) and a trial observer from the MLSA, a nonprofit group that monitors press freedom in Turkey.
“I am being prosecuted for my journalistic work,” Demir said in his defense. “While in Syria, I was engaged solely in professional activities. I had no other involvement.”
Kurdish journalists in Turkey or those working for Kurdish outlets frequently face legal harassment, stand trial and are given prison sentences for covering issues related to Kurds and the PKK.
Rights groups routinely accuse the Turkish government of trying to keep the press under control by imprisoning journalists, eliminating media outlets, overseeing the purchase of media brands by pro-government conglomerates and using regulatory authorities to exert financial pressure, especially after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan survived a failed coup in July 2016.
Turkey, which suffers from a poor press freedom record, was ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters without Borders.
