JINHA

ANKARA – Spontaneous demonstrations have spread in Turkey’s capital of Ankara, after a Diyarbakır teacher who made a call for peace become the target of a lynch campaign by Turkish mainstream media.

On January 8, a woman named Ayşe Çelik called in to the live talk show Beyaz Show, one of Turkey’s most popular late-night talk shows, broadcast on Channel D. Ayşe was calling from Diyarbakır, where dozens of civilians have been killed in a 24-hour curfew that the state has now implemented for 41 days. Ayşe made a desperate call, saying, “children should not be killed.”

The host of the program thanked Ayşe for sharing her message, but Channel D administration soon released a statement.

“This is a provocation. We always stand with our state,” said Channel D. The statement dismissed the killing of children in Kurdistan as something from an “unimaginable film script.” Multiple mainstream media outlets have demonized Ayşe and accused her of spreading “propaganda,” with alleged efforts to find Ayşe underway.

Yesterday, a single woman appeared in front of the Channel D building in the Turkish capital of Ankara, where she held a sign reading, “Children should not be killed. I am Ayşe Çelik.”

Today, similar signs have now appeared across Ankara, with citizens spotted carrying the message “I am Ayşe Çelik” in the streets, on buses and on the metro.

(sy/cm)