TÜRKİYE ORTA ASYA HABER KKUORDİNATÖRÜ

IFJ - INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS. Worldpres The Ballot Box is Not for Sulking, but for Holding Those in Power Accountable: Take Control of Your Will! Turkey is going through one of the darkest and most suffocating periods in its history. We are facing a media landscape where independent journalists are behind bars, television screens are blacked out, and the public's right to information is completely usurped. The censorship of the just and democratic cry for press freedom rising in Izmir today on mainstream television is the clearest evidence of how much the government wants to hide the truth from society. The untrue propaganda produced by the pro-government media no longer resonates with the public conscience; it only causes deep unease. The pressures are not limited to the media; the right to peaceful protest and demonstration, a fundamental constitutional right of the people, is being obstructed by law enforcement. Even worse, mayors elected by the free will of the people are being arrested, or the national will is being usurped through pressure, threats, and anti-democratic methods. This regime, which has become incapable of governing the country, is trying to cast a dark shadow over society to maintain its power. All these pressures, injustices, and intimidation policies have one main goal: to drive you to despair and keep you away from the ballot box! The government wants the people to give up on going to the polls, to feel that "nothing will change anyway." Because they know that if society turns its back on the ballot box, the oppressive regime will become permanent. However, it should not be forgotten that: • Turning away from the ballot box is accepting this anti-democratic siege. • Not voting is offering your will on a silver platter to those who want to silence you. • Turning its back on the future is completely silencing the voice of the free press, the imprisoned politicians, and the blacked-out screens. The way to stop this course of events, to give the strongest response against the pressures, and to immediately lead the country to a fair election is to collectively take ownership of the ballot box. Resisting for our rights, for our freedom, for our usurped municipalities and our blacked-out television screens is a democratic necessity. We call upon all the people of Turkey: Do not surrender to despair! Take your anger, your resentment, and your justified reaction to the ballot box. Take control of your will, your vote, and your future; go to the polls and put an end to this oppressive regime!