Nuh KÖKLÜ
02/17/2015
Journalist
Nuh Koklu had been playing snow fight with his friends on the evening of
February 18 in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district when he was going back home from
Homeland Security Bill sit-in that ended earlier at Kadıköy’s ‘Bull Square’.
The area is known for its relaxed atmosphere and peaceful neighborhood except
for police’s violent attacks on peaceful protests. During the snow fight,
according to the Turkish media, a snowball hit a shop window, which caused the
shopkeeper’s anger.
Angry
shopkeeper got furious over a snowball, went out to attack the youngsters
playing in the street. As the spice seller realized that the club is not
effective in beating youngsters, and when he was outnumbered and pushed back in
his attack, he went inside his shop, grabbed a knife running after the young
people. One from the group fell on the ground, shopkeeper attacked, Nuh went in
to protect his friend. The shopkeeper stabbed Nuh Koklu’s heart repeatedly.
The
shop of the killer shopowner has been marked “Murderer” by some friends of the
journalist
Nuh
was taken to a hospital nearby but he had died. The shopkeeper is also taken to
a hospital. The witnesses say the shopowner had shouted “go tell the police, I
have enough reports for psychological state… They would have to release me
before you know it anyways!” The reports killer shopowner refers to are the
ones cited in Turkish Penal Code’s article 46.
The shop of the killer shopowner has been marked
“Murderer” by some friends of the journalist
President
Erdoğan’s Rhetoric Had an Effect?
This incident
took place not long after Turkish President Erdoğan’s notorious comments
regarding the legality of violence applied by shopkeepers. At a speech he gave
at the union of shopowners, Erdoğan had said “shopowners of this country are
protectors of honor, peace and stability on streets, they are the soldiers,
guardians, police of streets; when the moment comes they suppress coup
attempts.” These remarks had drawn reaction by many people in Turkey,
especially from the supporters of protest movements who still felt the grief
and anger for over a dozen killed protesters.
Ali İsmail Korkmaz
Erdoğan’s
speech came not long after the trial of murderers of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who
was beaten to death by police and shopkeepers during Occupy Gezi protests.
Rhetoric adopted by government members seems to have a much greater impact on
society when it comes to justification of violence and legitimacy of monopoly
over violence.
Nuh Köklü during a strike
The shop of
the killer shopowner has been marked “Murderer” by some friends of the
journalist
Nuh Köklü was
a member of the Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), and acted as the workplace
representative of TGS during the 2009 Sabah strike, eventually becoming one of
the 10 journalists discharged because of industrial action.
The
Yeldeğirmeni Solidarity Group published a statement following the murder,
saying, “This is a hate murder! It is the outcome of the hate towards a
cheerful group of women and men playing snowball.”
The last ever
tweet he shared read “paranoid governments’ biggest fear is a people united; it
is time of a univocal reaction to all kinds of troubles now.” According to his
friends, Nuh’s last words were “Please let this be a dream!”
No comments:
Post a Comment