Their humanity should be debated before their religious identity

A newspaper that is the disgrace of society’s Islamic segment reported the killing of Diyarbakır Bar Association head Tahir Elçi with these words: 

“You were saying that the PKK was not a terror organization – Here’s terror for you.” 

To say “Here’s terror for you” to a man who has been murdered with a shot to the back of his head, who has no ability to reply, whose murder occurred in murky conditions, whose blood is still wet on the ground, whose funeral has not been held… What kind of a merciless hole does one need to be wallowing in? 

I have always been telling you: We should not discuss their Muslim beliefs; we should rather discuss their humanity. 

Brave women 

After Hrant Dink’s murder, the later journalist’s wife, Rakel Dink, came to prominence. Following Tahir Elçi’s murder, his wife, Türkan Elçi, has come to prominence. 

Rakel Dink expressed the most brilliant line that nobody had come up with until that time: “the darkness that has created a murderer from a child.” 

Türkan Elçi, on the other hand, made everybody cry when she addressed her husband, saying: “Now your international travel ban has been lifted; you are as free as the birds…”

Maniacs in social media 

Social media has now become a land of fanatical lunatics and trolls who are out of hand. 

These fanatical lunatics and trolls do not have a certain spirit either. Or let me say it this way: Every spirit, every group, every segment and every ideology has an abundance of fanatical lunatics and trolls. Within the supporters of the Kurdish political movement, there are also these lunatics and trolls. 

These lunatics and trolls have been working hard for two days on social media in attempt to spread the slander that it was me who painted Tahir Elçi as a target. I was hosting Elçi on my TV show in October when his words attracted severe reaction; he was called to give a statement and the higher regulating body of radio and television, RTÜK, fined the TV station and me. 

I will suffice by saying this only: 10 days before he was murdered, he wanted to be our lawyer and defend us in court. If we were painting him as a target, would he make this offer, you inferior slanderers? 

Punishment by arrest

When the Gülen community was influential, when they were the kings, we were crying at the top of our voices: “You are arresting everybody at random. Isn’t there a mechanism like trial without arrest? There is no possibility of escape; there is no evidence to spoil. Why are you making arrests? You have turned pre-trial arrest into a punishment; detention cannot be punishment.” 

The community has gone but the mentality lives on. Journalists Can Dündar and Erdem Gül have joined the club of those who are being punished with arrest.

If we leave aside the press freedom aspect of the issue in the arrests of Can Dündar and Erdem Gül, there still remain these very solid and very strong questions: Why are you making arrests? Detention is only for exceptional cases, no? What if there is no worry of escape? What if there is no chance of them tampering with evidence? No arrests were to be made in these cases, right?