Policeman poses with protester amid assault targeting Hürriyet

This photo was shot in front of the Hürriyet building on Tuesday evening [Sept. 8].

It was the evening that Hürriyet was attacked for a second time with clubs and stones.

As you can understand from his jacket and his weapon, the person whose face is blurred is a policeman.

He was there to protect the building, whose windows were already smashed into pieces, and the employees inside from a ferocious crowd that had “convened to turn Hürriyet into Madımak” two days ago. (Madımak was the name of the hotel in the eastern province of Sivas that a mob torched in 1993, leading to the death of 35 dissidents inside.)

I don’t know the person who took a photo with the policeman, but he was one of the protesters who was present in front of the Hürriyet building that evening.

The activist and the policeman, who was there to provide security, took a photo together. Apparently, the policeman had forgotten why he was there.

If he had not only forgotten it, then he could be thinking that his presence was meant to be merely a decoration.

Because a deputy of the ruling party had said the previous day that we “should get used” to such attacks.
Apparently, the police also thought that they should not stop the activists because we need to get used to them.

Are there any officials in Istanbul who would remind the policeman his duty?

After attacks on daily Hürriyet, several businessmen and politicians shared their messages of support with me and our friends. Ministers and Justice and Development Party (AKP) politicians were among them.

However, you could not learn the name of any of them. Because they wanted to remain anonymous. It is clear why they did it. Because they are afraid. And the identity of the person whom they are afraid of is not a secret.

That person managed to create such a fear in businessmen and politicians of Turkey that they are afraid of publicly voicing support for daily Hürriyet over these attacks.

Only artists did not fear to be named among those who supported Hürriyet after the attack. You read their messages with their names and photos in Hürriyet’s Kelebek (Butterfly) suppplement yesterday.

So we have seen the artists’ stance and we thank them all.