Exiled Turkish journalist Abdullah Bozkurt was attacked by a group of three men in front of his house in Stockholm, as a consequence of the Turkish government’s systematic targeting of journalists.
Bozkurt, a member of a Sweden journalists union Journalistförbundet, survived the assault with slight wounds.
This attack demonstrates that verbal threats against journalists materialize in the form of physical assaults.
Abdullah Bozkurt, the chief editor of the Nordic Monitor news portal, has been targeted due to his reports revealing the torture and rights violations in Turkey.
Pressure, threat, and assault against journalists have made it to Sweden, a country seen as a beacon of democracy globally.
Cem Kucuk, the Erdogan regime’s propagandist, earlier had pointed Bozkurt as a target during a live show on TGRT TV urging the Turkish intelligence MIT to assassinate him.
Kucuk announced that MIT knew Bozkurt’s home address in Stockholm.
The assault on Bozkurt, who has been under political protection in Sweden since 2016, has shown the Erdogan regime’s recklessness, which targets democracy and press freedom.
Verbal and physical attacks on journalists who pursue the truth in a bid to inform the public are unacceptable.
We send “get well soon” wishes to Abdullah Bozkurt, the chief editor of Nordic Monitor.
We urge the free world to be in solidarity with journalist Abdullah Bozkurt with the objection of finding out the perpetrators, protecting journalists, and ending the systematic threats and assaults on journalists.
As the International Journalists Association (IJA), we declare that we will be following Bozkurt’s case.