Newsletter September 2022

Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards 


Prof. Kariane Westrheim 

Chairperson 

Council of Europe – Execution of ECHR Judgments in the Kavala Case The Council of Europe’s Ministers Committee deeply regret Osman Kavala’s ongoing detention despite clear judgment & urge Turkey to eliminate all negative consequences of charges against applicant, in particular by ensuring his immediate release 
https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=0900001680a8319f

Council of Europe – Execution of ECHR Judgments in the Demirtaş Case The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers underline urgent need for Constitutional Court to conclude examination of Selahattin Demirtas’ ongoing detention asap with full regard to ECHR reasoning under Art 18 violation & meantime strongly urge again his immediate release 
https://search.coe.int/cm/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectID=0900001680a83184

Report on human rights violations for the month of August by CHP MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu

– 186 workers died on the job 

– 38 women died in femicides 

– 7 people died in prisons
https://www.duvarenglish.com/report-on-rights-violations-in-turkey-in-august-seven-people-died-in-prisons-news-61334

Report on Violations of Press The Media Freedom Rapid Response, a group monitoring violations of press freedom in European Union member states and candidate countries, has published its first semi-annual report of the year
https://m.bianet.org/5/100/267277-mfrr-legal-persecution-most-pervasive-threat-against-journalism-in-turkiye

EUTCC Commentaries #20:Promoting Terror by the Turkish StateThe Case of the Turkistan Islamic Partyby Seevan Saeed, Shaanxi Normal University When it comes to the issue of terror and terrorism, the Turkish State very comfortably labels whoever is not in line with Turkey’s interest and strategy. Moreover, almost all Western states are outspokenly suggesting that they do understand Turkish concern about its national security and its struggle for counter terrorism actions. However, the other side of the coin is very rarely looked at. This article argues that the Turkish State is promoting terror through supporting the Islamist fundamentalist organisations inside and outside Turkey. The aid and support of the Turkistan Islamic party is one of the cases that Turkey has its hand in it.
http://eutcc.net/?p=1161

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Commentaries #20

Promoting Terror by the Turkish State
The Case of the Turkistan Islamic Party

|Seevan Saeed, Shaanxi Normal University

|Executive Summary:

When it comes to the issue of terror and terrorism, the Turkish State very comfortably labels whoever is not in line with Turkey’s interest and strategy. Moreover, almost all Western states are outspokenly suggesting that they do understand Turkish concern about its national security and its struggle for counter terrorism actions. However, the other side of the coin is very rarely looked at. This article argues that the Turkish State is promoting terror through supporting the Islamist fundamentalist organisations inside and outside Turkey. The aid and support of the Turkistan Islamic party is one of the cases that Turkey has its hand in it.

https://journals.tplondon.com/com/article/view/2795

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Twitter: @EUTCC1
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Newsletter August 2022

Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards Prof. Kariane Westrheim 

Statement by Save the children on Turkey’s attacks in Northern Syria The latest casualties in an upsurge of violence which has killed at least 13 children and injured an additional 27 this month, says Save the Children.
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/northern-syria-surge-violence-leaves-40-children-killed-or-injured-month

The SNA Encyclopedia: A Guide to the Turkish Proxy MilitiasThis report is a compilation of open-source information about the current state of the SNA militias active in the Turkish-occupied territories of Syria (as of August 2022).
https://rojavainformationcenter.com/2022/08/the-sna-encyclopedia-a-guide-to-the-turkish-proxy-militias/

Report by Iraq Body Count in cooperation with an international NGO coalition led from the Iraq Civil Society Solidarity on the civilian casualties of bombing by Turkey in Northern Iraq from 2015-2021The increasing harm that the Turkish Military’s crossborder operations in northern Iraq are causing to the civilian population is an issue of concern. It requires joint actions to be taken on local, regional, and international levels. 
bit.ly/3R4SS3u

Human Rights Watch issued a Q&A document that focuses on Turkey’s threatened military incursion to parts of northern SyriaKey Concerns Include Unlawful Attacks, Worsening Humanitarian Conditions, ISIS Resurgence
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/17/turkey/syria-civilians-risk-northern-syria

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Twitter: @EUTCC1
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Commentaries #19

Some Implications of Sweden and Finland Joining NATO

|Michael Gunter, Tennessee University, US

|Executive Summary:

Sweden and Finland’s decision to abandon their longtime, famous neutrality and apply for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) indicates that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has disastrously backfired. These two new NATO members will bring tangible geostrategic benefits to the alliance, not just a token weight. NATO has suddenly gained a new and greater strength and legitimacy. As for the Kurds, they need to understand that NATO’s deal with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to approve Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership in return for their cracking down on supposed Kurdish terrorists sheltering within their borders is not as hostile to Kurdish interests as they claim. Sweden and Finland are not likely to extradite Kurds accused of political crimes to Turkey. The Kurds should comprehend their very secondary position in the existential power struggle involving NATO and Russia and not overreact against it. As explained below, this deal with Turkey, like earlier ones, is not likely to be as inimical to Kurdish interests as first meets the eye the eye.

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Newsletter July 2022

Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards Prof. Kariane Westrheim 

EUTCC Commentaries #18: Turkish Racism Against Kurds: Colonial Violence, Racist Slurs and Mob Attacks by Güllistan Yarkın, Independent Researcher, Istanbul
This commentary focuses on how the Turkish state facilitates military urbanism as revanchist and racialized mechanisms of collective punishment to suppress grassroots mobilization, oppositional politics.  
http://eutcc.net/?p=1122

Report by Yazidi Justice Committee human rights lawyersTurkey should face charges in front of the international court of justice for being complicit in acts of genocide against the Yazidi people, while Syria & Iraq failed in their duty to prevent the killings
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/jul/05/turkey-should-face-international-court-over-yazidi-genocide-report-says-helena-kennedy?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1657059071

Bianet Male Violence Monitor July 2022 Report– 28 women killed – 12 women subjected to violence- 38 women forced to sex work 
https://m.bianet.org/english/diger/265352-men-killed-28-women-in-july

ECHR judgment in the case Kavala v. Türkiye: joint statement by the Council of Europe leadersWe urge Türkiye, as a Party to the Convention, to take all necessary steps to implement the judgment. This matter will remain under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers until the judgment is fully implemented.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/echr-judgment-in-the-case-kavala-v-turkiye-joint-statement-by-the-council-of-europe-leaders

Statement by HDP Central Executive Board regarding the massacre carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in Zakho 8 Arab tourists were killed and 17 injured in a Turkish rocket attack on a village in Zaxo in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, according to the district governor. 
https://hdpeurope.eu/2022/07/hdp-the-turkish-government-is-politically-and-legally-responsible-for-the-massacre-in-zakho/

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Twitter: @EUTCC1
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