Citizens across Turkey join a call to stop the deaths of children in Southeast Anatolia after a teacher who spoke on TV to protest continuing massacres and public indifference was subjected to a terrorism propaganda investigation

Citizens around Turkey have joined an online campaign to support a teacher that called into a popular live variety show to lament the silence toward Turkish government attacks that have killed scores of citizens in the country’s Kurdish provinces.

The campaign, “I am the teacher Ayşe” (#BenAyşeÖğretmenim) was launched in response to the opening of judicial and Education Ministry investigations into Ayşe Çelik, who called into Kanal D’s late-night BeyazShow on Jan. 8 to stage a protest at the lack of attention being paid to continuing sieges by Turkish government forces against a number of Kurdish districts in Southeast Anatolia.

Social media users have sprayed graffiti, posted written messages, staged protests in front of Kanal D and tweeted support for Çelik following the incident.

“Are you aware of what’s happening in the east of the country? The things that are happening here are being presented quite differently on TV. Don’t be silent. As humans, treat the matter with a bit more sensitivity. Look, listen and extend a hand to us,” Çelik, who identified herself as a teacher from Diyarbakır, said live on the show, which runs on Kanal D. “It’s terrible. People shouldn’t die, children shouldn’t die and mothers shouldn’t weep.”

While on air, the speech from Çelik drew the approval of the program host, Beyazıt Öztürk, who called for audience members to applaud.

Channel, host line up to denounce teacher

Çelik’s plea, however, quickly drew the ire of the Education Ministry, Kanal D, ultranationalist social media users and judicial authorities.

Kanal D, which was owned by the Doğan Media Group, sought to exculpate itself of any responsibility, declaring that it had been duped by Çelik, saying the woman had explained to programmers that she wished to ask assorted celebrities appearing on the show various questions about fame before going live on air.

Rushing to pledge allegiance to the state in its battle against Kurdish citizens who have been attempting to defend themselves from government attacks, the channel called Çelik’s speech a “provocation” and said “Doğan TV and Kanal D have stood by the state from the first day until now.”

The media group, whose outlets have been at pains to demonstrate the group’s support for the government’s war in the southeast following criticism from authorities, also said it would pursue legal action against Çelik.

Pro-government news agency Anadolu said prosecutors had now opened a terrorism propaganda case against Çelik, while claiming that the woman was not currently employed at a ministry-run school but that she had been employed at a study center operated by figures close to the Gülen movement, an erstwhile ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government until the two fell out in 2013 over a government corruption case. The government now refers to the movement as the Fettulahist Terror Organization/Parallel State Structure (FTÖ/PDY).

Anadolu also reported that Çelik had worked in 2013 at the Silvan Public Education Center, which is located in Diyarbakır province.

The program’s host, Öztürk, has also sought to absolve himself, releasing a panicked statement that sought to assure the public about his fealty to the state.

“I happily answered the call, but when I heard ‘children are dying here,’ my brain froze. Because I was listening to my inner voice as it said, ‘What am I going to do?’ I didn’t listen to what was being said. I couldn’t understand that she had an agenda. When she said she was a teacher, I believed her but it turns out that that wasn’t the case. I didn’t get anyone to applaud a terror organization. I am sorry if I hurt anyone without meaning to do so,” Öztürk said.

“Whatever the Turkish people think, that’s what I think, too. We hope for disarmament and a solution to this issue. May God give strength to our security forces. I repeat again: We stand by our state and nation,” he said.

The statement has not been enough to stop the Bakırköy Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul from also opening a terrorism propaganda case into Öztürk, as well as the show’s supervisor.

According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), at least 162 civilians, including 32 children, were killed by government security forces in Kurdish localities that have been placed under official curfews between August 2015 and Jan. 8.

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