A call for solidarity with Evrensel Daily

For almost 29 years, our newspaper Evrensel has been published exclusively with the mobilised efforts of the workers of Turkey. There is no media group, no monopoly, no company behind it. Nor does it benefit from a single public tender or state subsidy. It is produced and delivered to the readers with limited means but unlimited effort, and it survives only through the support of the readers. Two years ago, however, the Press Advertising Agency (BİK), citing arbitrary audit results, withdrew our paper's legal right to publish official advertisements and completely cut off the advertising revenue it had been generously distributing to newspapers close to the government.

WE KNOW THAT THE DECISION WAS POLITICAL

We know that the embargo by BİK and the rejection of our objections is a political decision. Our readers know this too. And the campaign to silence Evrensel by depriving it of a substantial income, to break its resistance in the face of extraordinary financial difficulties, or at least weaken it and reduce its influence, seems to last as long as the current political situation.

SO, WHAT DO WE DO?

We respond with resistance in a way that we can say has become a tradition over the past 29 years. On the day it became clear that our right to advertising revenues had been usurped and that we would be subject to this financial pressure, we decided not to shrink but to grow, not to retreat but to move forward, not to mumble but to shout. We decided to mobilise for a stronger, more effective newspaper.

WE WILL OVERCOME THE HARDSHIP WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE WORKING PEOPLE

Our reporters, writers and editors are on trial for different reasons and we often meet in the corridors of the courthouses. We know that we are facing the capitalist class, its state and all its apparatuses. This does not intimidate us, it enlarges our hearts. It strengthens the idea that we can overcome all these obstacles with the support of the working people.

"Joy is the music of struggle" said our poet Nâzım Hikmet. And we are starting to sing songs like the fishermen who are fighting against the storm. We are becoming stronger with a new plan and new writers. We will continue to announce new writers, some of whom have already started writing. We are strengthening our publication plan with more in-depth news, interviews and analyses on the problems, struggles and organising experiences of the workers in Turkey.

WE RELY ON THE SUPPORT OF THE WORKERS

We launch a new campaign, calling for solidarity to overcome the difficulties we are facing with strength. We ask all sections of the society, whose voices we are trying to amplify, to show solidarity and join this struggle.

As always, we rely on the support of our readers, writers and all working people to increase the sales and the number of subscribers of Evrensel, "the voice of labour, the messenger of truth", to increase the number of digital subscriptions and to make our voice heard more widely.

Again, as Nâzım Hikmet said about 100 years ago, "Listen to the rebellion from the mouth of the volcano". We call on our friends to meet at the mouth of the volcano, which "shoots suns like red balloons from its throat", with enthusiasm.