Turkish woman arrested for criticizing gov't in street interview: 'They cannot intimidate me'

Dilruba K., who was arrested after criticizing the government's Instagram ban in a street interview, told a main opposition CHP deputy that she was not intimated by being imprisoned.

Thursday August 15 2024 04:17 pm

Duvar English

Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Tuncay Özkan on Aug. 14 visited Dilruba K. in an İzmir prison.

She was arrested over “insulting the President” after criticizing the government during a street interview conducted by a YouTube channel about the recent access restriction imposed on Instagram.

Özkan said she was “the last victim of freedom of expression in Turkey.”

Accordingly, she told Özkan “They made me stronger by imprisoning me. After I get out of here, I will continue to defend my ideas because my guide is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. I didn't insult anyone. I didn't speak with the intention of insulting, but I expressed my views. I will continue to express my views. They can't scare me, they can't intimidate me.”

“Today is the 23rd anniversary of the foundation of the AK Party. They have been on a very wrong path and they have come this far. By limiting bans and freedoms, they have nowhere to go from now on,” Özkan commented.

Ebubekir Şahin, head of Turkey’s state-run media watchdog Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), recently stated that street interviews or broadcasts labeled as "citizen opinions" on new media platforms would come under their scrutiny.

After Dilruba K.’s arrest, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç claimed that “If you speak in a way that incites people to hatred and enmity, the judiciary will step in.”