A new regulation will allow Turkish police to detain those who possess the “risk of conducting a protest” from 12 to 24 hours without the demand of a prosecutor or a judge, prompting acute worries from opposition deputies. The new regulations that will be conducted jointly by the justice and interior ministries will allow the police to detain a suspect [...] → Read the full article…
BURSA Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç asked a local singer not to sing the folk song “Vardar Ovası” because the song contained the word “rakı” in the lyrics in a meeting with the Bursa-based Balkan Immigrant’s Culture and Support Association, or Bal-Göç, on Aug. 9. A local folk singer, Fahriye Güney, asked Arınç for support to attend cultural events [...] → Read the full article…
A court arrested four suspects (including a policeman) for the willful murder of Ali Ismail Korkmaz, a Gezi Park protestors who died in the results of massive beating in Eskişehir province. By Beyza KURAL – Istanbul – BIA News Desk beyza@bianet.org A court arrested four suspects (including a policeman) who stood trial for the willful murder of Ali Ismail Korkmaz [...] → Read the full article…
By Yavuz Baydar Turkey needs freedom of expression more than ever. Erdoğan’s clampdown could stop dead our transition to a liberal democracy Last week I was fired from my job as independent ombudsman for the Turkish daily newspaper Sabah, following the censoring of my column. I had worked for the newspaper in this position since 2004. I had been hired [...] → Read the full article…
The recent uprisings in Turkey indicated a transformation of youth cynicism into a widespread protest against the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP) government’s conservative and autocratic policies. This transformation demands a new way of thinking about youth and politics in the country. If nothing else, young people can no longer be easily characterized as politically apathetic. In June 2013, Turkey [...] → Read the full article…
ISTANBUL – Turkey should readjust its legal framework regarding the use of tear gas grenades to prevent further risk of death and injury, according to a European Court of Human Rights decision. The decision came yesterday as a result of the chamber’s session on the case of Abdullah Yaşa, who had applied to the European court over his injuries caused [...] → Read the full article…
The Turkish authorities must immediately release peaceful demonstrators who were detained in Taksim yesterday. They must also investigate allegations of the excessive use of force after riot police used tear gas and water canons to clear the square and neighbouring Gezi park, Amnesty International said. “The authorities in Turkey have the duty to ensure people can peacefully gather and express [...] → Read the full article…
We would like to extend our sincere solidarity with our fellow lawyers and legal workers fighting for the rights of all those who have been detained, arrested, and violently attacked for peaceful protest in the last few weeks. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is closely following the situation in Turkey. We are aware of the extent of death, injury, and [...] → Read the full article…
We deplore the recent crackdown of the Turkish government on its own citizens, the clearly unjustified use of tear gas, acts of force, gas canisters and smoke bombs that have resulted in a vast number of injuries, imperiling the lives of those who seek to exercise their basic freedoms of assembly and protest. This assault of the Turkish government on [...] → Read the full article…
“Find out just what people will submit to and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong that will be imposed upon them.” Frederick Douglass, American ex-slave civil rights leader. The citizens of Istanbul now appear in control of Gezi Park, protecting one of the last and most treasured green spaces in Istanbul from conversion to a [...] → Read the full article…