The home of Özge Kar Odabaş, journalist and Eren Odabaş, manager of the Pir Sultan Abdal Kültür Derneği (PSAKD) Gazi Martyrs Cemevi (connected to the Alevis religion group) in Istanbul, Türkiye / Turkey was stormed by the police on Friday 20 October 2023 in the morning hours, who broke the security door and checked the apartment.
This incident occurred in the midst of a series of police raids on homes, all carried out without prior notification to the residents. The raids, taking place in Istanbul’s Gazi neighborhood, have sparked concerns about privacy violations. In this particular case, the couple wasn’t at home during the raid. The police entered and conducted the search without providing any explanations.
Özge Kar-Odabaş expressed her bewilderment about the raid, stating that they have no information about the reasons behind it. She revealed that they learned about simultaneous raids on many houses, including their landlord’s home nearby. The police ordered the couple to go to the Anti-Terror Branch of the Istanbul Police to address the broken door and stated they would cover the expenses. According to the couple there is no detention order against them.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) condemns this violation of privace and see it as attack on media freedom and calls Turkish authorities for an investigation into these case.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. SEEMO members are in Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova (with the territory of Transdnestria), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye / Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Italy, Vatican and San Marino have a special status in SEEMO. SEEMO has over 3000 individual members, and additional media as corporate members.
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