The journalist stops fears of fuel for democracy

It was early in the morning on March 23 that the police came to the door of Yasin Akgul in Istanbul – when his children were still in bed. A few hours earlier, the Turkish photojournalist had returned home after covering mass anti-government demonstrations. Now he was a sought after man.

“I went to the door and saw that there was a lot of police,” he said. “They said they had an arrest order for me but gave me no detail. My son was awake, and I couldn’t even tell him what was going on because I did not understand it myself.”

Akgul, 35, has seen “a lot of action” in addition to a decade as a photojournalist of the AFP news agency – of Syria torn by the war at Iraq controlled by the IS. On the ground at home in Turkey, he was beaten several times by the police by taking photos, he said – including World Peace Day – and was detained “so many times”.

But being arrested at home was a first.

“A cold fell on the house,” he told us. “In my work, during demonstrations, I saw a lot of violence and tear gas, but having the police at my place, I felt more afraid.”

Akgul was one of the seven journalists arrested in Dawn Raids. All covered the demonstrations launched by the arrest of the city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu – the main political rival of Turkey’s long -standing chief, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The demonstrators say that the mayor’s arrest concerning the accusations of corruption, which he denies, is politically motivated – an attempt to put an end to his hopes to become the next president of the country.

The authorities had prohibited the demonstrations but had not been able to arrest them.

Akgul faces accusations of “participation in unleashed rallies and marches”. He says that the goal is clear: to prevent others from taking photos of the biggest troubles in Türkiye for more than a decade.

He was in the thickness – gas mask – when he took some of the most emblematic images of the night.

His photos show a man disguised as a swirling dervish (a dancing mystique) which is sprayed by a riot line – striking images of a battle for the soul of Turkey which went around the world, before landing it behind bars.

“This message is to all journalists,” he said. “Do not shoot (take photos), do not speak, do not film. They fear that other journalists are afraid that if they return to the field, they could face the same thing.” The fact that he works for an international news agency, AFP, makes this message even stronger, he believes.

It was received and understood.

“After being arrested, many independent journalists could not shoot the next day. Everyone was afraid,” he said, sitting on his sofa at home with his wife Hazal by his side.

Their three -year -old daughter, Ipek, lying on the sofa, holding his father’s hand. Their son, Umut, eight, listened to, wearing a hat and Harry Potter style glasses.

Akgul thinks that those arrested have been carefully chosen – from whom experienced photojournalists. “They try to remove us from the front lines,” he said.

Many of his friends – colleagues journalists – have already withdrawn, leaving Turkey because they faced charges or feared to do so.

For the moment, his family is among many here who fear that they can be torn by the courts. The government says that the judiciary is independent. Human rights groups say that judges are under political control and that Turkish democracy is eroded, from year to year.

President Erdogan – who has many faithful supporters – retains a close hold on the levers of power. He says that the demonstrations are “street terrorism” and accuses the opposition of leading “a movement of violence”. He predicted that the demonstrations were declining.

Maybe. Maybe not.

While Yasin Akgul was released from prison on the morning of March 27, Mark Lowen from the BBC was expelled from Istanbul, after 5 p.m. detention. He was given newspapers saying that he was “a threat to public order”.

The authorities later declared – after the BBC reported the story – that it had been expelled because it lacked accreditation.

It is not only journalists who are at risk. One of the mayor’s own lawyers was briefly detained “for fictitious reasons”, according to an article on social networks that Ekrem Imamoglu sent his cell to a high security prison.

His legal team is fighting, but they also feel cold.

“The right to a defense, I think, is crowned.

“It would be a lie to say that no one is worried, to be honest,” she tells us, “but we always think that we have the duty towards our country to tell the truth, to preserve democracy and the rule of law.”

Where is Turkish democracy now? Some fear that it will be on its last panting.

In the past two weeks, since the start of demonstrations on March 19 – around 2,000 people have been detained, the Interior Ministry of Turkey said.

Many of them are students and members of the Erdogan generation – those who have only known the 22 -year -old rule of Turkey’s longtime leader. Stop them send another message.

“It is a huge warning for young people, a noisy and clear warning – do not get involved,” said Emma Sinclair -Webb, director of Turkey for Human Rights Watch.

She says that the government has also “unleashed in all directions against the perceived opposition” of any district, not only the People’s Party of the Republic of the Mayor (CHP), which is the main opposition party here.

“Public organizations are threatened,” she said. “If they express themselves and use their voice with authority, there is an attempt to suffocate them immediately.”

She expects to come to see continuous attempts to limit demonstrations and “make them invisible”.

This will not be difficult given the government’s in -depth control over the media here. The huge demonstrations organized so far have not directed the reports on state television and the media, and when they were shown, the demonstrators were called terrorists.

Rally last weekend – last – attracted several hundred thousand people, at least. The opposition claims that more than two million people have attended.

Some families have brought several generations with them to hear calls for a change under a warm sun. We saw the usual heavy police presence, but this time there was no tear gas or rubber bullets. This rally was not prohibited.

Among the crowd, we met Alp, 32, who said he came to defend democracy when there was still time. We did not ask for a surname – many demonstrators prefer not to give theirs. He said he was concerned about the risk of arrest.

“Police collect students, women and workers like us,” he said.

“So, we are all in danger right now. But we have to get up. This is our only choice. If we do nothing, if we look at, the battle is already lost.”

The opposition promises to continue its demonstrations and its campaign in the streets. It is urgent that the presidential elections were presented from 2028.

The opposition surveys suggest that President Erdogan would lose against Imamoglu – if he was released from prison and capable of presenting himself as a candidate.

The president himself should not be able to run – because he is already in his second term – but there is speculation here that he could try to change the constitution.

The opposition insists that there will now be weekly demonstrations. If this is the case, it seems certain that the arrests will continue.

We do not know if the case of Yasin Akgul will be tried, but the charges against him remain. Despite the danger, he hopes to continue telling the story here.

“Someone has to do this job,” he said, “and I think I’m one of these people.”