DİYARBAKIR- Newspaper distributer Kalo of the free press, who did not bow down, did not fear and did not stop resisting, protected the Özgür Gündem Newspaper by hiding it under his coat, and the newspaper protected him from a knife attack.

 

In the 90s, when village evacuation, abductions and disappearances, unsolved murders, detentions and arrests peaked in Kurdistan, the Kurdish press also faced heavy pressure. On the streets, in every place where fear reigns in the streets, the little generals of Apê Musa (Musa Anter) took the newspapers with the courageous developments against the oppression to the people day by day. Many distributors lost their lives as a result of attacks while carrying these newspapers, but the distribution of newspapers was not interrupted.

 

While the legacy of the Free Press continues on its way through countless channels today, one of the soldiers who did not give in to those difficult conditions was Kalo, or Yılmaz Yakut. We also heard about Kalo, who succumbed to cancer on January 16 last year, from his mother, Mevlüde Yakut.

 

KALO DISTRIBUTED ÖZGÜR GÜNDEM NEWSPAPER FOR 20 YEARS

 

One of the Junior Generals, Kalo, who disturbed the newspapers banned from entering Kurdistan, sometimes in garbage bags, sometimes in flour bags or under seed buckets, to the public, joined the adventure of free press when he was only 15 years old. It started distribution with Özgür Gündem newspaper in 1992 and continued until 2010 with the newspapers Özgür Ülke, Yeni Politika, Demokrasi, Ülkede Gündem, Özgür Bakış, Yeni Gündem, Yeniden Özgür Gündem, Welat and Ülkede Özgür Gündem.

 

THE NEWSPAPER PROTECTED KALO IN THE ATTACK

 

During the years when Kalo was distributing newspapers, he was detained many times, abducted, subjected to severe torture, and not only that, he was threatened with death. Kalo, who bought the Özgür Gündem newspaper in the distribution office in the Yenişehir district early in the morning and delivered it to his subscribers, street by street, would return without leaving a single newspaper. Kalo was wearing a coat larger than himself in winter and camouflaging the newspapers, Kalo was developing a new tactic against the state forces every day. On a winter day in 1993, while he was delivering newspapers to subscribers on Melikahmet Street in the Sur district, he was wounded by the Hezbollahists' multi-line attack. What saved Kalo was the newspapers he had hidden in his coat.   

 

'HE NEVER GAVE UP'

 

Stating that his son never took a step back for a single day, Yakut concluded his words as follows: “He was a loyal person to his friends and his cause. He was often threatened, tortured and detained. Yılmaz did not take a single step from his case. He was very upset when something happened to his friends. He had a side that thought more of his friends than himself.”

 

MA / Zerrin Sargut - Mehmet Güleş