08.08.2024 18:01
Medyaradar, one of Turkey's independent media organizations, has been blocked upon the request of a media group. Medyaradar, considering this situation as injustice, has initiated a legal battle and is exercising its right to object to the injustice by not remaining silent. Medyaradar, emphasizing its commitment to journalistic principles and ethical values throughout its 18-year history, stated that the decision is a major blow to freedom of thought, expression, communication, and media in our country.
Medyaradar, one of Turkey's 18-year-old independent media organizations, is fighting an important legal battle. The site, which was blocked upon the request of a Media Group, raises its voice against this injustice.
In a statement made by Medyaradar, the following expressions were included;
"There may be times when you don't have the power to prevent injustice. But there should never be a time when you fail to object to injustice..."
This is what Nobel Prize-winning writer Erich Auerbach, born in Romania in 1928, said...
With your permission, today as the Medyaradar family, we want to talk about ourselves for the first time in our 18-year history and exercise our right to object to injustice.
We don't have conglomerates or massive companies behind us...
We don't have foreign partners or sponsors who interfere in everything...
We are independent journalists who have committed ourselves to the fundamental principles and ethical values of journalism, and dedicated our lives to enabling people to exercise their right to information and freedom.
For a full 18 years, we have derived our strength from our integrity and the ethical values of our profession.
Until now, we have delivered every piece of information that carries news value to you, regardless of whether our counterparts are powerful or weak.
We have not held back.
We have faced hundreds of lawsuits, most of which were aimed at suppressing and silencing us; we won 90% of them.
Over the years, of course, we have made mistakes from time to time; we knew how to apologize and correct the news or comment we wrote.
But we never wrote news or comments just to harm someone.
We did not use our profession as a tool for personal feuds.
We did not slander anyone; we avoided slander, insults, and profanity.
We focused only on news and comments containing information.
Now we are facing a great injustice that we do not deserve, and that is why we felt the need to tell you, our readers, about the injustice and unlawfulness we have experienced for the first time in our history.
You know; your site Medyaradar was blocked a week ago by Turkuvaz Media Group, whose Executive Board Chairman is Berat Albayrak, the brother of President Erdogan's son-in-law.
The reason is quite interesting:
An article titled "Turkuvaz Media Group's YouTube channels were hacked" was published on Medyaradar on June 23, 2024, along with some other websites.
Was this news true?
Yes...
Was it real?
Yes...
Nevertheless, on June 27, a decision was made to block access to the news. Medyaradar management complied with the laws and implemented this decision immediately.
More than a month later, on July 30, Turkuvaz Media lawyers applied to the court. Despite the fact that the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of the Editor-in-Chief, News Center editor, and Legal Advisor are listed in our site's masthead, they claimed that they could not reach us and could not enforce the access blocking decision.
Based on this reason, they requested the "complete closure of the site."
In other words, lawyers made a false statement in their request.
Our legal scandal did not end there; the judge who would make the decision did not even bother to check whether the link to the news was blocked on his computer.
He did not even ask for the news link that was the subject of the access blocking.
Following the decision, professional organizations and media institutions, including TGC, reacted.
After the decision, Medyaradar lawyers took action.
They informed the higher court and the Access Providers Association that the news, which was cited as the reason for the site's closure, was removed immediately on June 27, that the closure of the site was unlawful, and that, in accordance with Article 7 of the judge's decision (If the content subject to access blocking is removed from publication, the judge's decision becomes null and void automatically), the site should be reopened.
However, just like the court that made the decision, the higher court also committed a new unlawfulness and rejected the objection.
Now the eyes are on the Access Providers Association.
Will this unlawfulness be stopped, or will a media organization that relies on the support of the government be allowed to suffocate another media site? We will wait and see together.
As Medyaradar, we have never ignored any injustice.
Especially if the injustice is directed towards our professional organizations and colleagues, we have put ourselves forward with all our existence.
Now, someone, perhaps without even the knowledge of the government, is using their closeness to them against us and trying to take away our right to publish.
Moreover, without any legal grounds.
Our country is going through difficult times, dear friends.
The pressure on intellectuals and those who have something to say is increasing.
The whole country, and even the world, is talking about Turkey's ban on Instagram.
Believe me, the unjust closure of Medyaradar is also a great blow to freedom of thought, expression, communication, and media freedoms in our country.
No matter what your views are, please stand by us in our resistance...
Never doubt that what is done to us today will be done to you tomorrow.
Remember, this struggle is not just a struggle to reverse the decision to close Medyaradar.
This struggle is a struggle to "assert oneself" against some insolent people who do not know their limits and try to take away our publishing rights.
This struggle is a struggle for justice, democracy, and freedom.
We want you to know that we will never give up and we will be reborn in some way with each new day...
Please continue to support us and help us make our voice, which is being restricted, heard louder with each new birth.
We started with a famous quote; let's finish with another famous quote.
German philologist and writer Erich Auerbach said the following:
"Justice without power is helpless; power without justice is tyrannical. It is necessary to bring justice and power together. To do this, the just must be powerful, and the powerful must be just."
Here we are, as Medyaradar, fighting for a Turkey where justice is strong and never turns into a toy in the hands of the powerful, and we want to see all our friends and colleagues by our side in this struggle."