Journalists in Turkey have been celebrating January 10 as the Working Journalists Day since they won the struggle against the media bosses that are trying to reduce their personal rights in 1961. But lately in Turkey while tens of thousands of journalists are unemployed and more than 100 is imprisoned, journalists who are still doing their jobs are facing many difficulties and oppression.

 

Journalists working in Diyarbakır told about the difficulties they face in the field on a daily basis.

 

Journalist Hatice Kamer, stating that even the right to ask question is taken away from the journalists, said: "Everything gets harder and harder every day. We are not given press cards and even if we had we can not sources. The news we wrote comes back to us as investigations and prosecutions."

 

Journalist Vecdi Erbay, asking what changed after 1960, answers himself and says 'Nothing'. Erbay who stated that the problems journalists faces in Turkey keeps snowballing, said the pressure on journalists is remembered on January 10 for a day and then people forgets again. Erbay emphasized that journalists are not able to do their jobs freely and that there is so little organization in trade unions and drew attention to the obstacles in front of being organized and recalled the importance of solidarity.

 

Stating that journalism have become a dangerous profession because the government  describes 'journalism' as 'terrorism' and journalists as 'terrorists', said: "There are more than 100 journalists in prisons. Considering the fact that hundreds of journalists have been investigated, detained, arrested; this figure shows how dangerous it is to be a journalist alone. Even the lack of public opinion about journalists facing such heavy pressure shows how the journalists have been isolated and lost their prestige."