Sümeyye Erdoğan

T24 Correspondent Demishevich Pointed to as a Target

T24’s correspondent Michelle Demishevich was pointed to as a target by a magazine called “Furkan News.”

Source: Elif Akgül, “T24 Muhabiri Hedef Gösteriliyor” (“T24 Correspondent Pointed to as a Target”), Bianet, 3 June 2015, http://bianet.org/kadin/medya/165011-t24-muhabiri-hedef-gosteriliyor

In the news article titled “Sümeyye Erdoğan provoked by German descendent Transsexual,” Demishevich’s following of a press release as a journalist has been presented with the words “During the press statement following Erdoğan’s meeting, plainclothes police officers apprehended Michelle Demishevich, a transsexual of German descent, who was following her.”

The news article, which did not provide an account of the police violence [during the incident], presented Demishevich’s journalism activities as crime and pointed out her previous workplace IMC TV and her current employer T24 as targets.

Demishevich told Bianet that she will be filing a criminal complaint.

What happened?

Demishevich was subjected to violence by plainclothes police officers while she was following the press release by President Tayyip Erdoğan’s daughter Sümeyye Erdoğan in front of the Belgian Consulate. While Demishevich was dragged away by her hair, other journalists and correspondents who were present during the incident ridiculed her.

Correspondent Michelle Demishevich beaten by police

Michelle Demishevich: “One of the police officers punched me in my abdominal cavity while I was following Sümeyye Erdoğan’s press statement.”

Source: “Muhabirimiz Michelle Demishevich’e polis dayağı!” (“Police beating to our correspondent Michelle Demishevich”), T24, 1 June 2015, http://t24.com.tr/haber/muhabirimiz-michelle-demisheviche-polis-dayagi,298422

T24 correspondent Michelle Demishevich was subjected to police violence by a plainclothes police officer while she was reporting at the press release by President Tayyip Erdoğan’s daughter, Sümeyye Erdoğan, in front of the Belgian Consulate [in Istanbul]. Our correspondent, who was removed from the area by being dragged by her hair, will be filing a formal complaint.

The AKP’s women’s branch issued a press statement in front of the Belgian Embassy in Istanbul in support of Mahinur Özdemir, an MP in the Belgian Parliament [who was expelled from her party, Humanist Democratic Centre, for acting against the party’s by-laws, which recognizes the 1915 killings of Armenians as genocide -Trans.]. After the statement, Sümeyye Erdoğan met with the Belgian Consul-General. Michelle Demishevich reported that she was prevented by plainclothes police officers during Erdoğan’s press statement following the meeting. Demishevich said: “I was about to record Ms. Sümeyye’s statement when I was shut out by a total of five plainclothes police officers, two of whom were women. Officers ignored my objections that I was a journalist. I told Ms. Sümeyye and my colleagues that I was subjected to police violence. Ms. Sümeyye said ‘please do not block the journalist from performing her duty,’ yet the police officers dragged me away from the area by my hair.”

Demishevich reported the following regarding the assault against her by the officers:

“One of the officers punched me in my abdominal cavity. I informed my lawyers Yelvi Doğan, Harika Günay Karataş, and Levent Pişkin of the incident. We will be filing a criminal complaint against the officers.”