Dear Sir or Madam, Please find below our monthly newsletter. The latest developments in Turkey around human rights, democracy and the Covid pandemic can be found as a daily summary on our social media channels Twitter and Facebook and as a weekly summary on our homepage.
Kind regards Prof. Kariane Westrheim Chairperson
EUTCC Commentary #9 Written by Prof. Hasan AydinHuman Rights Jeopardized in Turkey: Governmental and Judicial Intentions to Erode Due Process and the Right to a Fair Trial
Murder case of HDP member Deniz Poyraz Türkan Aslan, an attorney for Deniz Poyraz, who was killed in the HDP İzmir Office, says that the Historical Traffic Search (HTS) records of the armed assailant’s phone shows that he was not acting alone.
Human Rights Jeopardized in Turkey: Governmental and Judicial Intentions to Erode Due Process and the Right to a Fair Trial
Prof. Hasan Aydın, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA
Executive Summary:
Executive Summary: Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations have drawn attention to abusive persecutions, the erosion of the right to a fair trial and torture during detention in Turkey. The government has ignored or sidestepped the European Convention on Human Rights’ (ECHR) decisions pertaining to pre-trial detentions and fair trials by adding new grounds to indictments and continuing pre- trial detentions.
Dear Sir or Madam, Please find below our monthly newsletter. Kind regards Prof. Kariane Westrheim Chairperson
EUTCC Commentary #7 & #8Written by Prof. Baskın Oran #7: Minorities in Turkey I: Law and Reform#8: Minorities in Turkey II: Ideology and Discrimination http://eutcc.net/?p=799
Statement by HDP Foreign Affairs Commission Co-spokespersons Feleknas Uca & Hişyar Özsoy on the rassist attack in Konya which claimed the life of seven members of the family We call on the international community to increase its solidarity with the HDP and the Kurds, as the attacks on us are very much on the rise and becoming even deadlier.
Turkish-backed rebels leave trail of abuse and criminality in Syria’s AfrinThe serene topography of the Syrian enclave of Afrin belies the power vacuum and violence now afflicting many of the territories under the control of Turkish-backed forces in the war-torn country’s northeast.
Turkey uses child soldiers U.S. State Department added Turkey to a list of governments implicated in the use of child soldiers. For the first time a NATO ally was listed.
Here I uncover the relationship between the term “Turk”(an ethno‐religiousterm that, in some usages covertly, in some overtly, aversthat Turkey is the land of ethnic Turks, and that only Muslims are consideredTurk), and the concepts of race and religion. A critical period for theadvancement of human rights and minority rights in Turkey occurred in theearly 2000s, when the parliament adopted a series of reform packages inorder to harmonize the country’s laws with those of the European Union(EU). I propose to examine a case of these most radical democratic reformscarried out since the establishment of the republic, in order to understandhow these reforms have been put into practice. I also trace the deviationfrom these reforms after 2005, by examining the subsequent laws andpractices that undo or undermine them, and discuss their implications,particularly for Kurds in case of the deterioration under the state ofemergency (Olağanüstü Hal, or OHAL), declared in response to the July 15,2016 coup attempt.
Minorities in Turkey II: Ideology and Discrimination
Executive summary: This article focuses on the ideological roots of therepressive and discriminatory mentality/philosophy that has shapeddemocracy and minority policies in Turkey. My aim is to analyze theconsequences of this mentality, with an emphasis on hate speech anddiscrimination. To this end, I summarize the consequences of the issues andpolicies discussed in the previous article, and discusstheir future implicationsfor both the state and the people of Turkey. I conclude that it is necessary torefer to citizens not through the ethno‐religious term Turk, and still less asMuslims, but through the thoroughly territorial term Türkiyeli (of Turkey),and to do all that is necessary to ensure such a transformation in mentality. EU Turkey Civic Commission www.eutcc.net Twitter: @EUTCC1 Facebook: Eu Turkey Civic Commission
Dear Sir or Madam, Please find below our monthly newsletter. Kind regards Prof. Kariane Westrheim Chairperson
Letter to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres We hope that you as United Nations Secretary-General will step up your efforts to support the interests of the people in the Makhmour refugee camp and, along with it, find a political solution to the Kurdish question which is crucial for peace in the entire Middle East.
Urgent EUTCC Debate “US – Turkey Relations: The Makhmour Refugee Camp as a Litmus Test in the Context of Human Rights and International Law versus Interest Politics”, 13 June 2021
The speakers: Nadine Maenza, U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, USA David Phillips, Director of Peace-Building and Human Rights Programme, Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University, USA
Bewar Ünver, Foreign relations committee of Makhmour refugee camp Kariane Westrheim, EUTCC Chairperson, University of Bergen, Norway Moderator: Meghan Bodette, independent researcher focusing on Kurdish issues, USAhttps://youtu.be/bT61Noi5yNo
EUTCC Commentary #5 & #6Written by our Secretary-General Prof. Michael Gunter, Tennesse Technological University on Turkey’s dealing with the Syrian Kurds #5: This wide-ranging survey of the Kurds in Syria will evaluate the mid-term fall-out of the suddenly announced US withdrawal on October 7, 2019. http://eutcc.net/?p=764
#6: This Commentary survey’s Turkey’s interaction with Syria’s surprisingly influential Kurds and explores the Turkish-US confrontation over the US support of the Syrian Kurds against ISIS. http://eutcc.net/?p=767
Statement by HDP Foreign Affairs Commission Co-spokespersons Feleknas Uca & Hişyar Özsoy on Constitutional Court’s decision to accept the indictment seeking the party’s closure “We once again invite the international democratic community to express solidarity and to act against these unabashed efforts to destroy the HDP and deny the will of millions.”
European Council conclusions on external relations regarding Turkey, 24 June 2021“Rule of law and fundamental rights in Turkey remain a key concern. The targeting of political parties, human rights defenders and media represents major setbacks for human rights and runs counter to Turkey’s obligations to respect democracy, the rule of law and women’s rights. Dialogue on such issues remains an integral part of the EU-Turkey relationship.
