“This mafia sultanate will go to the place it deserves” says Ahmet Şık on walking to freedom

At the sixth hearing of the Cumhuriyet trial, the release was ordered of our newspaper’s reporter Ahmet Şık and Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu. In the first comment Ahmet Şık made following the release order, he said he would not be glad until the sole remaining detainee in the trial, Akın Atalay, had been released. Şık spoke as follows:

“Let the colleagues working on the mainstream media not go to any trouble. I have no issue with the workers here, but what I say won’t be published anyhow. Don’t take it to heart; this is not something directed at you. I thank everyone greatly. I thank my lawyers, my journalist colleagues, Cumhuriyet newspaper for sure, and everyone who believes in the truth. It must be stressed clearly that I am not glad. And I don’t want you to be glad while Akın Atalay is inside as the last detainee. I would prefer you to be angry. Because anger will keep us on our feet and we will sharpen our hope with our anger. If we don’t do this, we’ll continue to delight at nonsensical things. Today is not a day on which we’ll be glad. Six years ago, I also exited this place in the month of March. This is the month of March again. What has changed from that day to today is the loss of one of the partners of the owners of fascism. But, the day on which we’ll be glad will come in this country. Because this mafia sultanate will end; I guarantee you that. Let everyone who believes in the truth know that this mafia sultanate will go to the place it deserves. We’ll be glad on that very day.”

“Let nobody forget that if we have got out, we have done so thanks to solidarity”

Murat Sabuncu, in turn, commented in his first statement, “We weren’t the only ones in prison for freedom of thought and ideas. There are still journalists, lawyers, members of parliament and rights advocates in jail. Turkey’s problems have not been rectified just because we got out. Our duty, as a journalist and as journalists, is to continue to carry out this job fearlessly as we did before in this struggle for rights. Let nobody forget that if we have got out, we have done so thanks to solidarity.”

Türkçe: Özgürlüğüne kavuşan Ahmet Şık: Bu mafya saltanatı hak ettiği yere gidecek, işte biz o zaman sevineceğiz