Slain Turkish journalist Mumcu commemorated 18 years on

Slain Turkish journalist Mumcu commemorated 18 years on

The group chanted slogans demanding that the perpetrators be found.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Monday was the 18th anniversary of the death of investigative journalist Uğur Mumcu, who was killed by a bomb planted under his car on Jan. 24, 1993.

Although there have been some detentions and arrests in the murder investigation, the real masterminds of the assassination have not been found and Mumcu's killing remains one of the many “unsolved murders” in Turkey.

Many activities were held across Turkey to commemorate Mumcu.

The ceremony in İstanbul was in front of the Uğur Mumcu statue in Şişli. Participants laid carnations in front of the statue in an event organized by the Republican People's Party's (CHP) Şişli branch.

In Ankara, the Turkey Journalists Union (TGS) organized a ceremony in front of the Uğur Mumcu monument. A statement from the union condemned the failure of the authorities to find the real faces that orchestrated Mumcu's murder, and of other journalists such as Abdi İpekçi and Hrant Dink. The statement vowed never to let the values Mumcu stood for be forgotten.

In Bursa, civil society groups, including the Bursa Journalists' Association, the local branch of the Contemporary Journalists' Association and the Contemporary Jurists Association, marched carrying pictures of Mumcu and other journalists who were victims of assassinations.

The group chanted slogans demanding that the perpetrators be found. A commemoration ceremony was held in the evening that included a documentary on Mumcu's life, followed by music and a poetry recital.

In its message released for the day, the Press Council said Mumcu was a pioneer in the field of investigative journalism in Turkey. “As long as we have colleagues like Uğur Mumcu and others who walk the path drawn out by elite journalists like him, Turkey will never be buried in darkness,” it said.