Feminist/writer Gülfer Akkaya, who stated that an account named ‘jitem.turkey-KodAdım: Yeşil’ (jitem.turkey-CodeName: Green ) had been threatening to kill her since 31 May, Sunday, filed a criminal complaint at the Istanbul Courthouse. She said that women’s associations and feminists were being targeted. Green was the codename of a Turkish contract killer, Mahmut Yıldırım, who is alleged to have committed several murders in the 1980s and 1990s and to have had links with JİTEM.
“Whoever these people are, they must be caught and arrested. They are trying to create a climate of fear”, said Akkaya, asking “Does somebody have to die for these intimidators to be apprehended?”
‘AUTHORITIES WOULD FIND THEM IN HALF AN HOUR’
Speaking to bianet about being the target of these threats, Akkaya said the following:
“This stated on 31 May, Sunday, and they have been sending me pictures since that day on a regular basis. They are sending me videos in which people are being aimed by guns and being killed. They share this through their JİTEM-named account. They paint themselves as linked to the state. They post at different times every day. In fact, these accounts should have been taken down because tens of people had complained about them; so, I, too, filed a complaint.
“The powers that be know about it as well. Ömer Çelik had made a statement, saying ‘we will protect our citizens’. But these people have not been found, not been caught. It shouldn’t be that hard to seek these people out; there are so many similar accounts with the same name. They tag people using the same kind of images, language, and the same type of style, and they throw them into the firing line. I’m sure the authorities would find them in half an hour.”
‘DOES SOMEBODY HAVE TO DIE?’
“Çelik says ‘rest assured’ but I cannot. I have a demand: the minister should do his job. I am not alone, there are so many people in the same situation. Does somebody have to get shot before the government deals with this? Does somebody have to die for these intimidators to get arrested?”
