Turkey Weekly 1 – 3 May 2025
Turkey Today – 03.05.2025
CHP Chair Özgür Özel was physically attacked outside the Atatürk Cultural Center following the funeral ceremony for Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and member of the İmralı Delegation from the DEM Party.
It was revealed that the attacker Selçuk Tengioğlu murdered his two children in Iskenderun in 2004. It was also stated that Tengioğlu was released on parole in 2020 and has many criminal records.
The message of Kurdish Political Leader Abdullah Öcalan about Sırrı Süreyya Önder was read out at the funeral ceremony.
The victims of the Dersim Massacre were commemorated with a silent march, marking the 88th anniversary of the tragedy. A statement was made in Seyit Rıza Square, calling for the revelation of burial sites and urging a confrontation with history.
DEM Party MP Newroz Uysal Aslan stated that, under instructions from the Ministry of Justice, there is an attempt to install cameras in the living spaces of prisoners at Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison.
Turkey Today – 04.05.2025
Parliamentary Deputy Speaker and DEM Party İmralı Delegation Member Sırrı Süreyya Önder died in the hospital where he was being treated.
3 people who were detained in house raids in Pertek district of Tunceli were arrested on the allegation of ‘aiding an illegal organisation’.
Saturday Mothers gathered at Galatasaray Square in week 149 and asked for the fate of Hüsamettin Yaman and Soner Gül, who were detained and disappeared 33 years ago.
It was revealed that Habip Aşan, the former AKP Mayor of Beytüşebap, sold the hotel he had built in the district with a 75 percent grant from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for 90 million TL to the District Directorate of Education through the ministry.
Turkey Today – 02.05.2025
DEM Party parliamentary group chairs have submitted a motion to the Parliament, demanding an official investigation into the Dersim Massacre, which was initiated by a Cabinet decision during the early Republican era.
The Council of State cancelled for the second time a circular banning the video and audio recording of police interventions in public places.
The Peace Foundation’s recent workshop in Istanbul stressed the need for a legal basis for disarmament efforts and urged improvements to Abdullah Öcalan’s prison conditions to advance the peace process.
Cemil Önal, a close associate of Northern Cypriot casino tycoon Halil Falyalı who was assassinated in 2022, was killed yesterday in the Netherlands. In an interview, Önal had made serious accusations involving Turkish and Cypriot politicians and government officials.
RTÜK President Ebubekir Şahin announced that an investigation was initiated due to the remarks made against Abdülhamid II in a programme broadcast on KRT.
Turkey Today – 01.05.2025
Police detained hundreds as leftist groups attempted to reach Taksim despite bans, while thousands joined a permitted May Day rally in Kadıköy under heavy security.
The Court of Cassation found the sentence given to Yunus Pek, who murdered Suna Pek, with a ‘good behaviour’ discount too high and sent the file to the local court for a reduction in the sentence.
The urgent expropriation decisions taken for energy projects in Bitlis, Erzurum, Şirnak and Hakkari provinces entered into force upon publication in the Official Gazette.
Led by Education International, an international solidarity campaign was launched against the house arrest of Eğitim Sen MYK members for supporting the student boycott.
Turkey Today – 30.04.2025
18 of 52 people detained in the second operation against Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality on 26 April were arrested.
Lawyers of Asrin Law Office applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to meet their client Abdullah Öcalan.
The first hearing in the case against Swedish journalist Joakim Medin on charges of “insulting the President” was held in Ankara. judge has announced the verdict: Joakim Medin has been sentenced to 11 months and 7 days in prison. The sentence was suspended, and he will be released.
In İzmir, police raided several houses simultaneously in the morning hours. Many people were detained.
Two hotel managers were detained today in connection with a corruption investigation involving suspended İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. The detentions relate to the covering of security cameras ahead of a meeting İmamoğlu held at Le Méridien Hotel.
Turkey Today – 29.04.2025
Many houses were raided in Istanbul before the May Day Labour Day celebrations. It is stated that some detained people were subjected to violence.
Izmir Bar Association warned that prisoners Sercan Ahmet Arslan and Mulla Zincir, who are on hunger strike demanding to be transferred, may lose their lives.
Lawyer Eyyüp Çataloğlu, who was beaten at the police station in Konya, said that the camera recording of the moment he was beaten was ‘cut’ by the police officers and put into the file.
The lawsuit filed against four police officers on charges of torture after the detention and beating of human rights defender lawyer Oğuzcan Ozan Kurt was held in Ankara. Trial adjourned until 21 May.
The second hearing of the lawsuit filed against JINNEWS reporter Melek Avcı due to ‘propaganda’ based on her social media posts containing news content was held in Ankara. The court acquitted Avcı. Turkey Today – 28.04.2025
The Kurdistan Workers Party made a new statement on Abdullah Öcalan’s 27 February call and said, “We expect leader Abdullah Öcalan to be in a position to lead the party congress.”
DEM Party Istanbul Co-Chair Çınar Altan was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month on the charge of ‘aiding an illegal organisation’.
Justice Initiative for Roboski stated that although 160 months have passed since the massacre, the perpetrators have not been put on trial and said: ‘Roboski is the bloody memory of impunity and lawlessness’.
3 prisoners transferred to Erzincan High Security Prison were subjected to strip search, beating and ill-treatment.