And Duvar is ceasing publication. This happens to people like us all too often, as well as the disappointment of things that are not started after all the hard work. It's a shame that Duvar, after surviving a major shake-up, recovered but hit a wall of international capital that was much bigger than Duvar was... However, we have always been able to get this far by avoiding domestic obstacles and barriers.
I think something vital has been accomplished at Duvar, from the beginning. This has never been a place that serves anyone's interests.
Many methods adopted due to current impositions that are extremely threatening, destructive, and corrupting in terms of the basic principles and conditions of existence of journalism, and serious deficiencies and mistakes in terms of style, detail and care of language have always caught the eyes of nitpickers like me. In terms of not being able to keep up with the news or provide satisfactory information, there were inadequacies within the acceptable limits for a daily publication, sometimes pushing these limits. But I have never witnessed - and I speak as a reader - journalistic crimes such as concealing, covering up, deflecting, and manipulating the reader and their minds by using tricks. It was sometimes difficult for people like me, who do not consider it an unchangeable destiny to be a journalist, to endure the view that surrounds the column, the information, the advertisements that scatter everything in the name of attention like an air blower with a compressor, the galleries that take the reader from one place to another like a taxicab driver who gives the customer an extra ride and inflates the taximeter, to endure. But I think I have always been comfortable with “that issue” that comes first. In other words, I never doubted that we were only working for news, information and, one step further, for rights, law, democracy and freedom. In conditions where my profession could not provide a decent livelihood, at least I was at ease, which is not something that can be considered “at least”.
Today, there is a serious and destructive attack on the profession of journalism on a global scale. This is not being said for the sake of the rhetoric. There are powerful politicians and big capital behind them who seriously want journalism to disappear and are working for it. First and foremost, there are the tech giants who have largely taken over the news-information source positions and are seeking to take them over completely. I hope this ominous wind reverses before those who still think Elon Musk's fascist salute is a fantasy realize the serious, weighty meaning of that gesture.
It will not happen all of a sudden, of course. Just like human rights, reasonable law, freedoms, and the “luxury” of a daily life where we are considered citizens and our dignity is not played will not be realized in our country by itself. Just as we will always be governed as we have been, or even worse, unless we work hard to earn the right to be governed by someone who cares more about the ability of a poor person to put food on the table than a butt-heated car of an executive.
This evil wave will not stop on its own, yes. Initiatives like Duvar are necessary to stop and reverse this. This outlet was such a thing, so it was worth contributing to it.
The rulers of the country, who want to see independent journalism disappear completely, will no doubt be watching this process pleased. Don't look at the counterfeiters who blast Google. The goal is the same at the top and at the bottom: Independent journalism and commentary based on the journalist's own knowledge and experience, not on anyone else's interests, is a nightmare for those who want to live like human beings, a horrible sight that dreams of the current and future owners of the unbridled, uncontrolled repressive orders they want to establish. And independent journalism is an activity that irritates everyone, not just those in power. That is why it is especially valuable.
I think many people will be sad with us that Duvar will no longer be active. It's strange, but the fact that we are all sad together will also serve as a consolation, and maybe it will ensure that the energy needed for new experiments is not lost. Personally, I am grateful for the work I have put in here - sometimes a lot, sometimes a little - since its foundation, and I hope that I have been able to provide you with information and commentary that you do not regret reading and that perhaps opens your minds.
Goodbye.