Murdered journalist Hakan Tosun was sent on his final journey

Journalist Hakan Tosun, who was beaten to death in the middle of the street, was sent on his final journey.

Journalist Hakan Tosun was attacked in the street of Esenyurt, Istanbul, on October 10th. After failing to receive any news from him, Tosun's family and friends contacted the authorities. Hakan Tosun was found at Başakşehir Çam and Sakura City Hospital. While undergoing intensive care, Tosun died on the evening of October 13th. His family donated his organs.

Murdered journalist Hakan Tosun was sent on his final journey on Thursday, October 16.

Hundreds of people marched in memory of Tosun, starting from the Nurtepe Metro station and ending at the Kağıthane Cemevi. Huge banners reading "What happened to Hakan Tosun?" and "Justice for Hakan Tosun" were carried throughout the march, and slogans such as "Justice for Hakan, justice for all," "There is no salvation alone, either all together or none of us," "Justice for Hakan, justice for nature," "Hakan Tosun is our honor," and "We will hold the murderers accountable."

Numerous politicians attending the commemoration also gave speeches. TİP Chairman Erkan Baş emphasized that Hakan Tosun's case would set an example in the history of the struggle for justice, saying:

We will find Hakan's killers. We will find out why and how they murdered Hakan, who they received their orders from, and they will undoubtedly be held accountable to the people. Hakan and I have had a personal camaraderie, a friendship. I don't think anyone knows, because generally speaking, no one knows what Hakan has done. This is our most difficult time. We haven't even founded the party yet. We need a photographer. Hakan came to us on the recommendation of another comrade who is also a fighter. I've been thinking about this for days, and I thought I had to share it. Behind every image we see, that you sometimes like, love, and applaud, there was an invisible hero, Hakan. In fact, Hakan's entire life is like a story of invisible heroism. In fact, Hakan has been the eye of millions of people in Türkiye. We don't realize that while we watch Akbelen, the struggle in Artvin, Hatay, Validebağ, any other struggle for rights and say, 'How beautifully people resist, what wonderful comrades we have,' we are actually seeing them only through Hakan's eyes. If it weren't for Hakan, We wouldn't be able to see, hear, or know many things. In this damned, empty world where everyone is trying to be something, we need to appreciate these invisible heroes while we're still alive. I thank them all, all the invisible heroes, a thousand times over, through Hakan. I'm so glad they exist, and I'm so glad they will continue to exist.

DEM Party Izmir Deputy İbrahim Akın said, “Recently, the brutal capitalist system in this country has begun attacking all life in nature. This struggle isn't just any struggle; it's truly a struggle for survival. In this struggle for survival, we lose people in various ways. We lost Hakan Tosun to that dark system today. He tried to expose the truth with his documents.”

Former CHP Istanbul Deputy Ali Şeker also said:

We were together in Akbelen, we were together in Kaz Mountains, we were together there to prevent the Istanbul Canal from being built, to prevent Istanbul from losing its water, to prevent the living creatures there from perishing, we were together when we protected the lives of the trees in the Northern Forests. He was defending the rights and lives of not just tens of millions of people, but also billions, trillions of living creatures. He was defending the right to exist, but they, devoid of any sense of humanity, unfortunately murdered him. There are thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of police officers here today, but there was no security there to protect Hakan's life. Gangs are on the loose, slaughtering our people one by one.

Following the funeral ceremony at the Cemevi, Hakan Tosun was buried in the Ayazağa Cemetery.

Journalist and activist Hakan Tosun was physically attacked in Esenyurt, Istanbul, on Friday, October 10. Tosun, who was seriously injured, was taken to Çam and Sakura Hospital.

After not receiving any news from Tosun for 24 hours, his family and journalist friends made calls on social media.

Following the missing person report, it was learned that Tosun was in Başakşehir Çam and Sakura Hospital. The journalist was reportedly brought to the hospital anonymously because he had no identification on him.

Hakan Bozyurt, a lawyer and member of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), announced in a statement regarding the incident that two people thought to be linked to the attack had been arrested.

On October 13, Hakan Tosun's brain death occurred.

Footage of the moment Tosun was attacked has been shared. Security camera footage shows two attackers arriving on a motorcycle suddenly attacking Tosun. The blows caused Tosun to fall to the ground, where he was then subjected to kicks.

The attackers were clearly seen exiting their vehicles, carrying out the attack, kicking the victim, and then walking away. The shared footage also showed two individuals involved being led out of the police station with their hands cuffed behind their backs.

Halk TV reporter Umut Taştan went to the scene where Tosun was killed and spoke with a shopkeeper. A shopkeeper, who declined to speak on camera but had a clear view of the incident, told Taştan what had happened.

According to the shopkeeper, the police came to the shop twice the morning after the incident and examined the camera recordings on site, but did not seize any devices such as the hard drive containing the recordings.

After the police left, the family of one of the arrested defendants, who was known to be an electrician in the area, allegedly came to the shop and said, "We need your camera," and took the camera, which had seen the incident, along with the recording device.

The attacker's family told the shopkeeper that if the police returned, "Tell them we have the footage, and they'll take it from us." The shopkeeper later went to the family's shop to retrieve his camera and encountered the attacker's father. He reportedly said, "He slapped me, so they took my child. We're trying to clear our own minds."

The shopkeeper also claimed that the father said, "We had a feud before. The boy slapped him when he saw him. He lost his life, we don't want to be held responsible."

While the investigation into the incident was ongoing , it was claimed that the father and brother of one of the defendants were detained for "obstructing evidence. "

Allegedly, the security camera and recording device of a shop owner who had the clearest view of the spot where Hakan Tosun was beaten was taken by the family of one of the arrested defendants, saying, "We need it."

Following the allegations, the shop owner was detained.

He was born in Istanbul in 1975.

He entered the media sector as a technical consultant when private radio stations started broadcasting in 1993.

Tosun then settled in Izmir in 1998, where he worked as a news editor at various local television channels.

Tosun, who has been turning to documentary production since 2009, has become known for his independent productions focusing on themes of nature, urban struggle, and social resistance.

He attracted attention with his films such as “Towards the Rooftops”, “Tekel Workers”, “The Great Anatolian March”, “Gentrification” and “Validebağ Resistance”.

Hakan Tosun, who continued his independent career in journalism, was also working as a director at the production company "Doğa ve Kent Activizm Documentary".

(ANKA)