Amid_Turkey commemorates killed journalists on April 6 – A statement from MKG and DFG

Turkey marks the memory of killed journalists every year on April 6, an occasion dedicated to honoring journalists who lost their lives while performing their professional duties.

The Mesopotamian Journalists' Association (MKG) and the Tigris and Euphrates Journalists' Association (DFG) issued a statement on the Day of Killed Journalists, explaining that on April 6 of each year, Turkey commemorates journalists who were killed because of their journalistic work. This date was specifically chosen because journalist and writer Hasan Fehmi Bey was assassinated on the Galata Bridge on April 6, 1909, making him one of the first victims of the journalism profession.

The statement read: "In 1997, the Turkish Journalists' Association recognized April 6 as a day dedicated to honoring martyr journalists. In 2005, the name was modified to become the Day of Killed Journalists, and this day is set aside to commemorate every journalist who lost his or her life in the pursuit of truth."

The statement affirmed that journalists who were targeted because they uncovered facts, raised the voices of the people, and exposed injustice remain present in the memory of the struggle for press freedom. "Their sacrifices remind us that every attempt to break a journalist's pen was, in its essence, an attempt to silence truth itself." It noted that despite pressures, threats, massacres, and policies of impunity, the march of press freedom has not stopped. On this land, those who pursued truth paid a heavy price in every era, but they never retreated from it.

"Their struggle still illuminates our path"

In a statement of its own, the Özgür Basın (Free Press) organization affirmed its determination to preserve the legacy of assassinated journalists: "Today, we remember all journalists who were assassinated with full respect and appreciation. Their legacy, their resistance, and their struggle for truth still illuminate our path. The pens of assassinated journalists have not fallen to the ground, nor will they fall. It is our duty to expand the scope of their struggle for truth, to honor their memory, and to continue the march of a free press."