Evrensel, a daily newspaper in Turkey, has once again been fined for using the word “attack” while reporting about the Bogazici resistance. The newspaper has been subjected to considerable harassment since it first went to print in 1995 but recently the AKP government has put the paper on its punishment agenda.
The Public Advertising Agency (BIK) -the authority in Turkey responsible for the distribution of state advertising and which is under the tight control of the government- has imposed another advertisement ban on Evrensel for allegedly aiming to create a negative perception in Turkish society regarding Turkish enforcement forces loyalty to the republic of Turkey. This accusation solely depends on choosing the “attack of the police” phrase instead of “intervention of the security forces”.
The suppression of Evrensel is part of the ongoing crackdown on independent media outlets that are not pro-Erdogan.
The latest ban came amid the Constitutional Court’s affirmative decision about Evrensel’s appeals regarding the earlier imposed bans by BIK.
As SPOT we are calling for the advertising bans on Evrensel to be lifted with immediate effect which threaten the survival of the newspaper. We also call for solidarity for the survival of the journalism in Turkey.
