In a statement made by the association, it was said, “A journalist must first and foremost prioritize professional ethical values and respect for people. Someone who does not behave in this way cannot be called a journalist and is not accepted in this profession. We will not allow any initiative or discourse that undermines the reputation of the profession and violates professional principles, even if personal reputation is not binding on individuals.”
Murat Karakaş’s Previous Controversial Statements
Murat Karakaş, who has a program on the Bakircayturk.com website and has previously drawn reactions with his racist and sexist statements towards women, made a statement about his words targeting journalist Çağla Geniş on his radio program in recent days.
Legal Action Against Murat Karakaş
In the statement, it was stated that all legal rights will be used against Karakaş by the Journalist Association of Izmir.
Written Statement from the Journalist Association of Izmir
The written statement of the Journalist Association of Izmir is as follows:
“We do not consider this person as an interlocutor in any way, but due to the respectability of the competition we have been organizing with honor and success for 12 years together with Bergama Municipality in memory of our late journalist Şakir Süter and the heavy accusations against our successful colleague by this person, it has become necessary to make a statement. This person, who has a program on a local radio, was previously condemned by our Association and the Press Council, which our Association is a member of, due to his sexist and racist statements about refugees and Ukrainian women. We will use all our legal rights against Karakaş, who apologized for his previous statements but continued his lies and slanders full of hatred and malice with misleading expressions. In addition, a journalist must first and foremost prioritize professional ethical values and respect for people. Someone who does not behave in this way cannot be called a journalist and is not accepted in this profession. We will not allow any initiative or discourse that undermines the reputation of the profession and violates professional principles, even if personal reputation is not binding on individuals. We condemn Murat Karakaş for his disrespect on live broadcast.”
“WOMEN WHO WALK DESPITE PEOPLE LIKE YOU WILL NEVER STOP”
Journalist Çağla Geniş reacted to Karakaş through social media with these expressions:
“In Turkey, women are fighting to claim their identities. The male-dominated media sector is also an important field of struggle for women. While producing labor on one hand, men who try to belittle that labor you produce come up against you on the other hand. Just like the words said about me in the video. I have been in the profession for 8 years. Despite all the difficulties, I did not give up producing. I did my job properly and collected qualified applause in return. But when you are successful, you collect anger from these men, not appreciation. It doesn’t even come to their minds that there is labor behind your successes, they keep looking for suspicion. We haven’t forgotten what Murat Karakaş said about women on his program at Egedesonses internet site in 2021. ‘If female refugees came from Ukraine, then we would all host them at home. They come from Afghanistan. Bearded like corpses.’ I am also sorry that I had to respond to someone who can easily say sentences at this level. Enough already. Stop mentioning women at every opportunity. Women who walk despite people like you will never stop.”
