January 10 and the Silence of Justice: Journalism, Law and Human Rights Violations in Turkey

Yusuf İnan
Journalist | Opinion Writer
Wise News Press – Izmir, Türkiye

Today, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel did something important.
He marked January 10 – Working Journalists’ Day.
He visited the Parliamentary Journalists Association, met with working reporters, and delivered his message in front of cameras.

On the same day, the Presidency, the AK Party, the Minister of Justice, the Vice President, the Ministry of National Defense, and many other state institutions also shared celebratory messages.

They all remembered January 10.
They all praised journalists’ sacrifices.
They all emphasized “the public’s right to information.”

Type “January 10” on Twitter.
You will see hundreds, even thousands of posts.

But look carefully:
Almost all of them belong to politicians.

So we must ask:

Which journalists are these messages for?

Celebrated Journalists, Prosecuted Journalists

Journalism in Turkey is not a single profession.
There are two kinds of journalists.

Those who are celebrated on January 10.
And those who spend the rest of the year standing in front of courthouse doors.

Imagine a journalist…

For 27 years, he has defended the rights of martyrs’ families and veterans.
Yet today, he is accused of terrorism because of a few words written 10–15 years ago in articles that are no longer even published.

In this country, people who call Abdullah Öcalan a “founding leader” can speak freely.
But a journalist who has stood with the families of fallen soldiers for nearly three decades can be labeled a “terrorist.”

This contradiction is not accidental.
It is a deliberate system choice.

Freedom of Expression: A Right Only on Paper

Freedom of expression is not a freedom recognized by the Turkish judiciary.
Judges and prosecutors either do not know this right—or choose not to know it.
The Ministry of Justice behaves as if it has never even heard of it.

We have reached a point where a journalist is forced to give a law lesson to the presiding judge of a High Criminal Court.
A legal article that a primary school student can understand becomes “unclear” at the bench.
Then come interpretations, distortions, and legal acrobatics.

Freedom of movement and residence is treated as if it never existed.

Destroying the Family Under the “Year of the Family” Logo

Official documents carry the logo “2025: Year of the Family.”
But the decisions do not protect families—they tear them apart.

The family is in another country.
In Ukraine. In the middle of a war.
The father is kept in Turkey.

A law limiting travel bans exists on paper, but reality remains unchanged:

• 3 years and 6 months in prison

• 8 years of judicial control

Children are growing up in a war zone.
The father is effectively held hostage in Turkey.

This is not justice.
This is intimidation through punishment.

The Constitutional Court and Silent Files

The Constitutional Court has not reviewed the case for nearly four years.
Yet the President of the Court gives public sermons about “the rights of others.”
He sheds tears at official events.

But when the rights of infants are violated, silence prevails.
When children grow up without their father for eight years, no one sees it.

The rhetoric of justice exists.
Justice itself does not.

A Legal Mentality That Says: “Let Your Family Come”

At one point, the situation becomes absurd.

The presiding judge offers a “solution”:

“If you can’t go abroad, then let your family leave their home, their country, and come to Turkey. The problem will be solved.”

A foreign citizen is essentially told:

“For us to apply justice, you must abandon your country and move to Turkey.
If you don’t, we will violate the law.
Don’t force us to break the law.”

This is no longer law.
It is collective insanity.

Children Turn Nine, Justice Still Doesn’t Arrive

The babies in cradles have grown up.
They are now nine years old.

Justice still hasn’t arrived.

If this continues, they will turn fifteen.
And justice still will not come to this country.

And the January 10 Messages…

While journalists live under these conditions;
The President,
The Vice President,
The Minister of Justice,
The Leader of the Main Opposition,
Political parties and institutions continue to share January 10 messages.

There is celebration.
But no confrontation.

There are messages.
But no justice.

The Final Question

Oh exalted statesmen…

Are you mocking the Turkish people?

By celebrating journalists one day and ignoring them for the rest of the year;
By decorating freedom of the press with slogans and suffocating it with court rulings;
By reducing rights and justice to empty rhetoric…

www.sehitlerolmez.com

Yusuf İnan is a journalist and writer.
He serves as Editor-in-Chief of WiseNewsPress.com, SehitlerOlmez.com, and YerelGundem.com.
He specializes in strategic and political analysis on Turkish and global affairs.