The situation of the applications made to the State of Emergency (SoE) Commission, which was established on 23 January 2017 with a Decree Law (KHK) and closed on 22 January 2023, remains unknown. Applications to the State of Emergency Commission for Dicle News Agency (DİHA) and Azadiya Welat Newspaper, which were closed down with the Decree Law No. 675 dated 29 October 2016, and for dihaber and Rojeva Medya Newspaper, which were closed down with the Decree Law No. 693 dated 25 August 2017, are just some of the files whose situation is unknown. Lawyer Resul Tamur, who inquired about the situation of the applications made to the State of Emergency Inquiry Commission, could not receive any satisfactory response to his petitions.

 

'ASK ANKARA ABOUT THE RESULT'

 

Lawyer Resul Tamur, who applied to the Diyarbakır Governor's Office to find out the outcome of the commission, was told to "apply to the relevant ministry". Thereupon, on 22 November 2024, Tamur applied to the Ministry of Interior with a petition requesting to know the outcome of his applications to the State of Emergency Commission. Tamur attached the "Receipt Documents" he received from the State of Emergency Commission to his application and said: "I have not been notified of the final decisions regarding the State of Emergency Commission applications I made as an attorney on behalf of newspapers and agencies. I request that the final decisions be notified to me."

 

'IS IT THAT DIFFICULT TO LEARN THE RESULT OF THE COMMISSION?

 

On 13 December 2024, the Ministry of Interior responded that "the General Directorate of Press, Publications and Information can request from the Ministry to which it is affiliated". Upon this reply, Tamur sent the same petition to the Directorate of Communication on the same day. On 16 December 2024, the Directorate of Communications stated that they did not process the new application as the previous application had been forwarded to them. On 18 December 2024, Tamur applied to the Directorate of Communications with a new petition and asked once again about the outcome of his application to the State of Emergency Commission.

 

On 23 December 2024, the Directorate of Communications responded that "it was determined that the application was in process at the relevant institution". On the same day, the Directorate of Communication responded with a second reply stating, "In order for us to respond to your CIMER application, you need to submit a power of attorney stating that you are the representative of the broadcasting organisations you have specified."

 

'ASK DIYARBAKIR FOR THE RESULT!"

 

Referring to the response of the Directorate of Communication, Tamur said: "In the Receipt Documents attached to my application, my name is listed as the applicant to the Commission. In other words, I am asking for the result of the action I took in my capacity as a lawyer by proxy. In other words, I am asking for the result of the action I took as the legal addressee of the action. I am submitting the Receipt Documents to you again and as it can be understood from the Receipt Documents, I request the notification of the decree decrees, if any, since I am the legal addressee of the application."

 

The Communications Directorate remained silent for a week, and in its last response on 30 December 2024, Tamur was referred to the Diyarbakır Regional Office of the Communications Directorate.

 

'WHAT HAPPENED TO THE DECISIONS ON KURDISH MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS?

 

Tamur said that although the State of Emergency Commission has been closed as of 22 January 2023, it is against the law whether the applications made to this commission have been concluded or not, or if there is a decision, these decisions have still not been notified to the parties. Underlining that the mechanism of application to the State of Emergency Commission is a system that aims to delay unlawful procedures before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Tamur said: "If we cannot even learn whether there is a decision taken by the commission yet, even though 8 years have passed since the applications made by Kurdish media organizations, we can say that the system is functioning very well. For months we have been unable to find an interlocutor even to find out whether a decision has been taken. The decision should be notified as soon as it is taken. The fact that the decision has not been notified creates suspicion that there is no decision. I know that the outcome of the application made on behalf of Jin News Agency (JİNHA), apart from these institutions, is being awaited with similar uncertainty. While researching the fate of the decisions, I coincidentally learnt that many individual commission applications had not been notified either."

 

MA / Abdurrahman Gök