JINHA

ISTANBUL –When a journalist raised his fist at female colleague Zuhal Atlan and told her this was how "real men" acted when they got angry, the incident was not an exceptional one for women journalists, said Zuhal.

Zuhal, a journalist at the news agency DIHA, was reporting on the strike of medical workers at Istanbul University's Medical School on March 14^th, a holiday to honor medical professionals in Turkey.Zuhal said she and a colleague from the leftist ETHA news agency were the only women behind the camera in the crowd of journalists. A cameraman who had arrived late targeted Zuhal, trying to push her out of the way to get the shot. When Zuhal turned to respond, she found he had raised his fist. After, Zuhal went to talk to the cameraman, from Star TV.

"A friend of mine from the newspaper 'Red Flag' asked him, 'what was the meaning of that fist?' The cameraman responded, 'what does a real man do when he gets angry?'" said Zuhal. "I told him 'people like you are the reason for all the femicides in this country, and you go cover news about violence against women without any shame.'"

Zuhal says the attack clearly targeted her, among all the journalists crowding to get a shot of the press conference, because she was a woman. She says harassment from men while following the news is common for women in the profession. Zuhal has applied to the Turkey Journalists Union (TGS) about the incident.

"But as women journalists, we will keep on working for a free world with our pens and our cameras in hand," said Zuhal.

(fk/cm)