ANKARA - Journalist Debbie Bookchin sent a message of solidarity for the 20 journalists detained yesterday in Diyarbakır.

As part of the operation launched by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 21 people, including 20 journalists, including Dicle Fırat Journalists Association Co-chair Serdar Altan, were detained with raids on their homes yesterday.

Detained journalists are as follows: Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chair Serdar Altan, JINNEWS Director Safiye Alagaş, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) editor Aziz Oruç, Xwebûn Newspaper Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Ali Ertaş, and journalists Ömer Çelik, Suat Doğuhan, Ramazan Geciken, Esmer Tunç, Neşe Toprak, Zeynel Abidin Bulut, Mazlum Doğan Güler, Mehmet Şahin, Elif Üngür, İbrahim Koyuncu, Remziye Temel, Mehmet Yalçın, Abdurrahman Öncü, Lezgin Akdeniz and Kadir Bayram.

Journalist and writer Debbie Bookchin shared the following message of solidarity with Mesopotamia Agency (MA).

"Dear Mesopotamia Agency labourers,

Please tell your colleagues that their courage in the face of Erdogan's totalitarian regime is an inspiration to journalists all over the world. We know that you put your lives on the line every day in order to bring the world the truth about the repression and difficulty of day-to-day life in Turkey for Kurds and other ethnic minorities.  I stand in solidarity with you and will do everything I can to bring attention to the egregious suppression of free speech in Turkey.

Moreover, it is critical for the US and other democratic countries to acknowledge the connection between the suppression of independent journalists in Turkey, and Erdogan's efforts to try to blackmail other NATO countries into providing American-made F-16 fighter jets and other NATO weapons to suppress minorities in Turkey and elsewhere. It's not enough just to condemn Erdogan's arrests of journalists in Turkey. Journalists in the West must demand answers from their American and European leaders as to how they can countenance such severe suppression of free speech in Turkey and even consider acquiescing to Turkey's demands for additional weapons in exchange for allowing Sweden and Finland to join NATO. It's time for the media outside of Turkey to expose the absurdity of any lingering fantasy that Turkey is a democracy. Journalists everywhere must point out the hypocrisy of those leaders in the US and EU who refuse to have the courage to stand up to Erdogan. This is the role of journalism, and it's time that more western media outlets play their part.

Best wishes and solidarity.."