MARDIN, Turkey Kurdistan,— A Turkish court has sentenced Kurdish journalist Öznur Değer to three years and four months in prison for “terrorist propaganda” linked to her reporting on the deaths of two colleagues in a drone strike in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).
The decision was announced Tuesday by the Second Heavy Penal Court in Mardin, Firat News Agency reported.
Değer, who serves as the news editor for the Kurdish women’s news agency JinNews, was not present at the hearing, and her legal team was absent.
Authorities said the case began after Turkish Special Anti-Terrorism Police (PÖH) raided her family home in Kızıltepe in February. She was arrested with force, held in pretrial detention for about three months, and later released on bail in May.
Prosecutors cited Article 7/2 of Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Law, which criminalizes propaganda for organizations deemed terrorist, claiming Değer’s reporting and social media posts favoring the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The charges were linked to her coverage of a Turkish drone strike in late 2024 in the Kurdish region in northern and eastern Syria, which killed journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin.
The Diyarbakir (Amed)-based Dicle Firat Journalists’ Association (DFG) criticized the verdict. The group stated, “We reject this decision against our colleague. Journalism is not a crime and must not be treated as one.”
Human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Association (IHD), have long warned that Turkey’s courts misuse anti-terrorism laws to stifle dissent.
Analysts note that Kurds and left-wing activists are often targeted, with even speeches, articles, and peaceful protests treated as criminal acts.
In August 2024, a Turkish drone strike in Iraqi Kurdistan killed two Kurdish female journalists, Gulistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn of Sterk TV. Another journalist, Rebin Bakir of CHATR Media Company, was seriously injured in the same strike, according to media watchdogs.
The sentencing of Değer adds to a pattern of legal and physical pressures faced by Kurdish journalists in Turkey and neighboring regions, highlighting ongoing challenges to press freedom and the reporting of military operations in conflict zones.
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