Climate Justice Coalition, Turkey
On the evening of October 10, around 22:00, environmental activist and journalist Hakan Tosun was attacked while walking home. A group of people who got out of a vehicle approached him and assaulted him. After days of fighting for his life in the intensive care unit, Hakan passed away yesterday.
For years Hakan was the voice of those who defend life, nature, and human dignity. As a journalist he turned his camera toward truth, not just events. He was the witness, the memory, and the comrade of struggles across this country: from İkizdere’s quarries to Akbelen’s forests, from the shores of Samandağ to Validebağ Grove, from the waters of Munzur to the soils of Bergama. Through his documentaries he made visible the exploitation of city, labor and nature; he gave voice to the silence of the wolf, the bird, the insect, and the tree. With a camera, he reminded us what it means to say “life” amid all that destruction.
We still do not know who silenced that voice. We do not know whether Hakan was targeted because he was an environmental defender—yet a heavy suspicion sits with all of us. That suspicion has grown under the shadow of systematic attacks against people who protect the environment. And that suspicion will not dissipate without an effective investigation and a fair trial.
According to a study by the Centre for Environmental Justice, 65% of environmental activists in Sri Lanka have experienced physical violence and 39% have received threats of death or attack. Perpetrators are often reported as “unknown persons.” Clearly, these incidents point to the same networks of interest and the same culture of impunity.
There is no equivalent national study in Turkey. Still, we have long been living the same story: anyone who defends the land, water and life is eventually met with threats, lawsuits or violence. The killing of Hakan Tosun is not an attack on a single individual; it is an attack on our right to defend life and nature. If a person can be beaten and killed in the middle of the street simply for defending life, the issue is no longer just a crime — it is a problem of the regime. Until the fog that covers the perpetrators and those who enable them is lifted, until the perpetrators and instigators are uncovered, none of us are safe.
We, as defenders of life and nature, raise our voices so that one more person will not be lost in this country.
We all ask the same question:
What happened to Hakan Tosun?
This time, we will not wait for the answer.
We will pursue it.
Join our campaign from wherever you are to reveal those who killed Hakan Tosun.
Use the hashtags #HakanTosunaNeOldu and #WhatHappenedtoHakanTosun to amplify our movement.
Take part in our action to unmask the killers and the powers behind them.
You can send your emails to iklimadaletikoalisyonu@gmail.com
