Dicle Haber Ajansı

Dicle Haber Ajansı (abbreviated DIHA) was an independent news agency in Turkey described as "pro-Kurdish" . It was closed by the Turkish authorities on October 30, 2016 by emergency decree.

overview

The news agency took on 4 April 2002 in Istanbul district of Beyoglu their work and spread the slogan No concessions when it comes to the truth (English: Never make a concession from the truth ) news in Kurdish, Turkish and English. In addition to the main editorial office in Istanbul, it had offices in Ankara , Izmir , Diyarbakır and Van with an extensive network of correspondents. The articles, photographs and videos focused on the Middle East and dealt in particular with Kurdish topics. The editorial team acknowledged human rights and freedom as global values. According to its own information, the agency financed itself through subscribers.

DIHA has faced various reprisals from the Turkish state on several occasions. In 2004, Reporters Without Borders reported that journalist Gönül Mörkoç had been arrested. She was charged with reporting on a demonstration against the ban on visiting PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan , who was in custody . In the case of the arrested journalists Evrim Dengiz and Nesrin Yazar, the Adana public prosecutor's office first accused them of violating the constitutional principle of the unity of the nation and the territorial integrity of the state and requested life imprisonment. The charge was later changed to "Collaboration with the PKK". This allegation was also the basis of numerous other arrests. The European Journalism Observatory noted in August 2016 that access to the DIHA online site had been blocked for the 43rd time; and the Twitter -Account the Agency was repeatedly blocked.

On October 30, 2016, a decree announced the closure of 15 mostly pro-Kurdish media outlets. In addition to the previously temporarily closed daily Özgür Gündem , the companies affected also included the DIHA agency. The measure was closely related to the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016. After the coup failed, more than a third of the officers of the rank of general and admiral were arrested and many opposition media were banned. According to the daily newspaper Die Welt , a total of 133 journalists and publishers were in custody at the end of October 2016, 14 of them employees of DIHA: Among the now closed media, the Diha news agency stands out. [...] Even if the reports from Diha were not always reliable, they offered a counterbalance to the also limited reliable news of the state news agency Anadolu . This counterweight is no longer required.

successor

The first successor was the agency dihaber, which was closed with the emergency decree of August 25, 2017. Mezopotamya Ajansı (" Mesopotamia News Agency "), founded in September 2017, is the current successor.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Deniz Yücel : Erdogan wants to expand Turkey , Die Welt, October 30, 2016

↑ About us , Dicle News Agency (accessed October 30, 2016)

↑ Turkey - 2004 Annual Report ( Memento of the original from October 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Reporters without Borders (accessed October 31, 2016) @1@ 2

↑ Court rules that two women reporters must stay in prison ( Memento of the original from October 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Reporters without Borders, August 29, 2006 (accessed October 31, 2016) @1@ 2