reede, 14. märts 2014

A Mother’s Story Told through Music by Her Son

Vaata lugu:  Free Füsun Erdoğan


Euroopa Ajakirjanike Föderatsioon
Pressiteade
Brüssel 14.03.2014

‘‘Anne Gunna’’ is a song written by Aktas Erdoğan, dedicated to his mother Füsun Erdoğan and other (50) imprisoned journalists in Turkey.

In the song, Erdoğan has told a moving story of his mother’s fight for justice against the repressive regime in Turkey.

Füsun Erdoğan was the founder of the radio station Özgür Radio (Free Radio) which has been critical about the Turkish government. She was arrested in 2006 and charged with being a member of an illegal organisation, Marxist Leninist Communist Party. But her only crime was to tell the truth as a journalist.

Having been separated from his son for seven years, her hope to unite with Aktas Erdoğan was shattered by the life sentence given by the court in Istanbul on 2 November 2013. However, this has not stopped Aktas Erdoğan and the journalism community from campaigning for the freedom and justice for his mother and other imprisoned journalists.

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has launched an online petition as a part of its on-going campaign ‘Turkey: Set Journalists Free’ to gather support for Erdoğan and the imprisoned journalists in Turkey.

Currently residing in the Netherlands and studying music, Aktas Erdoğan has started a three-day hunger strike on 11 March outside the Dutch parliament calling on the support of the Dutch authorities to help release his mother. Many supporters, including the EFJ affiliate, the Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten (NVJ) which has adopted Erdoğan’s case,  have turned up to support him.  Meanwhile, the EFJ affiliate in Denmark, the Danish Journalists’ Unions (DJ), has also met with the Danish Foreign Minister campaigning for support to release Erdoğan.

With your support, the EFJ remained hopeful that Füsun Erdoğan and other journalists will be released one day soon. Please help us achieve justice for journalists in Turkey by signing the petition now.


The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is the largest journalists' organisation in Europe representing more than 320,000 journalists in 37 countries. You can follow us on Facebook and Twitter  or subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter EFJ FOCUS for updated news.