Deniz Kılınç / Istanbul, September 8 (HNA) –Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Paris based non-governmental organization that advocates for media independence, called judiciary officials to shed a light on the murder of journalist Güngör Arslan, who was killed in his office in İzmit on February 19.
Arslan, who was working as an editor at the Ses Kocaeli website, was the second journalist murdered in Turkey in the last year, according to a RSF statement. Rebecca Vincent, RSF’s Director of Operations and Campaigns, “strongly condemned” the murder of Arslan and the “alarming overall increase in violence against media personnel” in Turkey. “We urge the judiciary to shed light on all aspects of this murder and ensure that Arslan’s killers are brought to justice without delay,” she said. “We also call on the Turkish authorities to take immediate steps to end impunity for such crimes and improve the climate for safety of journalists working throughout the country.”
Following Arslan’s murder, police identified 14 suspects, including 21-year-old hitman Ramazan Özkan, and Ersin Kurt, a lawyer who is said to have offered Özkan money to carry out the killing. Ten of the suspects were arrested under charges of ‘deliberate murder by design,’ instigating murder, aiding murder, and favouring the criminal or concealing evidence.
Arslan had recently published a series of articles accusing Kurt of violating the law governing the professional conduct of lawyers by accepting an Izmit municipal contract. Kurt is close to the MHP, a nationalist party allied with President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP). In social media posts, Arslan had repeatedly reported feeling threatened.