Urgent Call from Turkey’s Human Rights Organizations to the International Community

 You can download the statement here in English, here in Turkish.  With the interruption of the peace talks, the government of Turkey started, in mid-August, to implement a security policy that unlawfully restricts fundamental rights and freedoms in those cities and towns largely populated by Kurds. Since August 2015, long-term and consecutive curfews have been declared in the provinces of, and the towns attached [...] → Read the full article…

The Guardian: Erdoğan’s win in Turkey heralds a surprising rise in the new left

Recep Tayyip Erdogan Wins The Presidential Election In Turkey

‘Teflon Tayyip’ has bounced back to win the Turkish presidency but a new leftist party may be the success story of the election They call him “Teflon Tayyip”. The man who can face down the challenge of Gezi Park, where 11 protesters were killed and 8,000 injured, and tell the world that they’re drunks and terrorists. The man who can tell [...] → Read the full article…

DHA: Gezi’s ‘girl with red foulard’ joins PKK

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  Ayşe Deniz Karacagil, better known as ‘the girl with red foulard’ in anti-government Gezi Park protest, joined the PKK, it emerged after she faced a sentence of up to 98 years in prison following her release on 7 February this year pending a trial… Ayşe Deniz Karacagil, a young woman who became known to public as ‘the girl with [...] → Read the full article…

Bianet: Our new paramilitaries, “Trust Teams” – Ekin Karaca

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I saw the people called “Trust Teams”, whom one doesn’t even recognize to be police officers, for the first time at a social event. They put on their show in the first year commemorations of the Gezi Resistance through swearing, violence and shouting. We encountered a new concept on top of the already familiar riot police and their toys, Scorpions [...] → Read the full article…

BBC News: Turkey PM Erdogan warns youth to ignore Taksim anniversary

Protests erupted across Turkey after a police crackdown on peaceful protests in Gezi Park last year

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged young Turks to ignore calls to mark the first anniversary of Istanbul’s Taksim Square protests. He was speaking ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for Saturday. Thousands of police officers and dozens of water cannon trucks are to be deployed to the square, reports say. Protests against plans to redevelop Istanbul’s Gezi Park last [...] → Read the full article…

The Guardian: Man shot dead at funeral as police and protesters clash in Istanbul

Berkin Elvan funeral

Local residents in Okmeydani – a predominantly Alevi neighbourhood – spoke of a recent increase in clashes between the police and protesters. “There is teargas almost every night,” one resident said. “We have given up on using gardens and balconies, but often we cannot even find peace inside our homes.” A man died after being shot and critically injured while attending a [...] → Read the full article…