Belgian MPs on solidarity visit to Cumhuriyet

A delegation consisting of representatives from all parties in Belgian parliament visited our
newspaper and conveyed their feelings of solidarity. Included on the delegation, which was
headed by Kattrin Jadin, who has been a member of parliament for three terms and holds the
post of Vice President of the Commission of External Relations, were parliamentarians from
the seven different parties represented in parliament and Belgium’s Istanbul Consul General
Sophie De Smedt. The Belgian delegation spoke with our paper’s columnist Aydın Engin,
Editor Bülent Özdoğan and Foreign News Supervisor Mine Esen.

The first to speak on behalf of the delegation was Consul General Sophie De Smedt, who said
that they were closely monitoring the Cumhuriyet trial and the threats to press freedom in
Turkey. Jadin, for her part, saying, “As democrats, freedom of expression is the most
important value for us,” sought information about the trials brought against Cumhuriyet. To
this, Aydın Engin explained that journalists in Turkey were accustomed to going to jail for
carrying out their profession and stressed that, “The government, realising that it would not
attain this end through detentions, is trying to reach its goal by applying a financial
blockade.” Jadin then commented, “Our support for and solidarity with you is a support that
comes from the heart. At the same time, we have a need to defend the free press. In fact, your
newspaper is known in Europe as Turkey’s sole independent publishing outlet. We promise
you that we will follow your trial from Brussels with all our hearts.”