Oğuz Güven at Cumhuriyet: There is no way they can atone for this sin

The release has been ordered of the Editor-in-Chief of our newspaper’s internet section, Oğuz Güven. Güven, having learnt on 8 June - the day he turned 59 - that the indictment against him had been drafted, has been released.
 
After his release, Güven came to our paper’s head office building in Şişli and made the following comments:
“Such are the days we are going through that a person can feel no joy on coming out. While coming out, there were reports on television of Enis Berberoğlu’s detention. I was shocked. I could really feel no joy. It is a strange feeling to leave the friends I was staying together with and half my heart remains there. My colleagues from Cumhuriyet are there and it puts one to shame: I was the last to go in and the first to come out. It is not only at Cumhuriyet; there are 160 journalists. Their whereabouts and homes are known and they could at least be released pending trial. I am happy because I will see my family, grandson and friends, but those people have children, too.
There can be nothing more absurd than to try to brand us with FETO affiliation: our pasts speak for themselves. While we were fighting FETO they were its staunch defenders and then they said, ‘Sorry.’ Now, they will say, ‘Sorry’ once more. I worked alongside Enis Berberoğlu for eight years and he is a person whose journalism I am familiar with and who Turkey knows. They are insulting our intelligence. This is not how the law can be. Let there be a legal foundation. How are you going to defend this affair abroad? The fight against FETO is being thwarted.

Twelve of my colleagues have remained inside and this process is dragging on. Lawlessness must be halted. I have left half my heart there. It is a sin to keep these people away from their families. There is no way they can atone for this sin.’
 
FIRST COMMENT FROM OĞUZ GÜVEN FOLLOWING HIS RELEASE: THEY HAVE MADE AN ASS OF THE LAW
Oğuz Güven, in his first comment following his release, pointed to the journalists detained in prisons and said, ‘Part of me has remained in Silivri. I want all my colleagues to be released. Amid so much lawlessness they have well and truly made an ass of the law. I stayed in for a month and there exists no crime. The guys could be released pending trial. There are 160 journalists (in jail). They are calling them terrorists on the outside. All these people’s pasts speak for themselves. Twelve people, my colleagues on Cumhuriyet Newspaper, are inside. Even our accountant is inside. The place where they all work is known. It is possible for them to be released pending trial. We have now reached a point at which consciences have disintegrated and become blunted. Half my heart is with these colleagues.’

Oğuz Güven, recounting that he worked together with CHP MP Enis Berberoğlu for years, commented, ‘I can feel no joy at coming out. I am gutted. I worked together with Enis Berberoğlu at Hürriyet newspaper for eight years. I made his acquaintance at the time he was a reporter. He has been detained while an MP. The CHP made a mistake here. This business has extended to them. In the process that started with lifting MPs’ immunity, the business has now moved on from the HDP and has extended to the CHP. This does not augur well. Enis Berberoğlu served as editor-in-chief on this country’s flagship, Hürriyet newspaper, for years and is a person who has racked his brains for this country. As I have said, I am really gutted and can feel no joy. I have left my friends here. This is not how the law can be. These people have worked at newspapers for years. They are people who we all know and recognise. I am really most upset. I can take no joy at being released. My heart is together with them.’