Turkey Weekly 25-31 July 2022
Turkey Today – 31.07.2022
An indictment has been prepared against a gang of 43 defendants, including Bahtiyar Çolak, the former presiding judge of the Kobanê Case. Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which completed the investigation against the “Atadedeler” organization, which calls itself the “commercial intelligence branch of the deep state”, demanded that the defendants be punished for “establishing and managing an organisation for the purpose of committing crimes”.
Simultaneous attacks were carried out against Ana Fatma Djemevi, Şah-ı Mardan Djemevi, Gökçebel Village Association and Turkmen Alevi Bektashi Foundation in Ankara. A woman who was injured as a result of the knife attack on the Turkmen Alevi Bektashi Foundation was taken to the hospital.
Led by Senator Laurence Cohen, 102 members of the French parliament denounced Turkish President Erdoğan’s “policy of war” against Syrian Kurds, in a statement published on Le Journal du Dimanche on Saturday.
The Justice Watch carried out by the Şenyaşar family has reached day 510. Emine Şenyaşar lost her husband and two sons as a result of the attack carried out by AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız’s bodyguards and relatives in the Suruç district of Urfa, on June 14, 2018.
Turkey Today – 30.07.2022
After the meeting with Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu German FM Annalena Barbock has met representatives of CHP, HDP and İyi Parti.
Mersin Akdeniz Municipality members who have been detained yesterday were released.
It was learned that the police who stormed the house of HDP party council member Livan Orman in İstanbul yesterday attacked the family members. Orman himself was not at home.
The detention period of the HDP members arrested yesterday in İstanbul was extended by 4 days.
Students and alumni of Ankara’s prestigious ODTÜ have protested the university management’s decision to cancel this year’s graduation ceremony at its usual location, the Devrim (Revolution) Stadium.
Nursel Tanrıverdi, a teacher dismissed by a statutory decree was fined for staging sit-in protests, demanding her reinstatement. The Constitutional Court has ruled that one person can’t disrupt public order by sitting in a square.
Turkish football team Fenerbahçe will not issue an apology over fans’ chanting in support of Russian President Putin during the Champions League match against Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv, Chairman Ali Koç said.
Turkey Today – 29.07.2022
The bones found in the neighborhood of Hilvan in Urfa, where the Bucak Tribe lived, known as the “JITEM headquarters”, gave hope to 40 families whose relatives were dissappeared in the 1990s.
Police raided houses in İstanbul and detained seven members of HDP Youth Council. The investigation was launched by Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office.
A police raid was carried out in Antalya. Four young people were taken into custody in the scope of an investigation over “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization”.
Yesterday, before the extraordinary meeting in Mersin Akdeniz Municipality where the borrowing power will be discussed, the HDP’s council members were taken into custody by police. The police raid was carried out on “membership in a terrorist organization” charges.
Court blocks access to 130 news articles about Erdoğan’s former lawyer. The blocked articles were about bribery allegations against the lawyer.
Diyanet replied to CHP MP Tacettin Bayır’s question regarding Erdoğan’s accusations that Gezi Park protestors burned down mosques in the following way: “There are no documents and reports regarding the incidents in question.”
Turkey Today – 28.07.2022
A military operation was launched in the Zêvkan village in the countryside of Hakkari’s Yüksekova district, where 6 members of the same family were detained yesterday.
A curfew was declared in a neighborhood and hamlets of Bagok as part of the helicopter-assisted military operation in the Bagok Mountain countryside of Mardin’s Nusaybin district last night.
AKP’s Ağrı Mayor Savcı Sayan marched on the city streets with people carrying long-barreled guns.
4 members of the Internal Security Forces lost their lives in Turkey’s attack on Ayn Isa in Northern Syria.
The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality has dismissed a former academic who was among more than 2,000 Academics for Peace who were dismissed for having signed a declaration criticizing the government for human rights violations during the 2015-2016 curfews.
Boğaziçi University has announced the dean of the newly established Faculty of Law has resigned from his post due to “health problems.” Erdoğan-appointed Boğaziçi rector Naci İnci, a physicist, appoints himself as acting Law Faculty dean.
The Advertisement Committee of the Ministry of Trade banned H&M’s LGBTI+ themed commercial for ‘disrupting morality’.
Turkey Today – 27.07.2022
Soldiers raided some houses and detained 6 members of the same family in the village of Zêvkan in Hakkari’s Yüksekova district. The military blockade has been going on for 10 hours.
Ill prisoner 80-year-old Kazım Kalbişen, whose sentence of 4 years and 2 months on terrorism charges was upheld by Patnos High Criminal Court, died two days ago.
Stating that Type S and Y prisons are a more stringent execution regime than Type F prisons, Civil Society Association in the Penal Execution System Coordinator Berivan Korkut said: “Prisoners are being held in aggravated isolation situation.”
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hussein said during a press conference that Turkey has not officially contacted them since the bombardment of Zakho on July 20, adding that Ankara only speaks to media about this issue.
A rocket attack targeted Türkiye’s Consulate General in Iraq’s Mosul in the early hours of the day, leaving no casualties.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has said that the Interior Ministry ignores his applications for the messages of threats being sent to him.
President Erdoğan will hold a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on August 5.
Yesterday evening four people were injured in a Turkish shelling of villages in the countryside of Tel Rifaat in Northern Syria.
Turkey Today – 26.07.2022
As a result of the explosion of a military object in the Başkale district of Van, 12-year-old H.E. was seriously injured.
A court in Ankara has fined columnist Cem Küçük 6,620 liras for calling HDP deputies Hüda Kaya and Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu “terrorists.”
The United Nations Security Council has “strongly condemned” the bombardment of a tourist resort in the Zakho district of Duhok in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
President Erdoğan has said that last week’s attack on a mountain resort in the Zakho district of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was carried out by the PKK in an attempt to damage Turkey-Iraq ties.
President Erdoğan warned Greece over the status of its eastern Aegean islands, saying Greek sovereignty depended on not militarising them.
CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has called for the release of Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş, saying that Demirtaş is a political prisoner.
Turkey Today – 25.07.2022
The 15th hearing of the Kobanê Case launched against 108 people, 21 of whom are currently imprisoned, has started today. Pointing out that the state has assumed the role of a judge in the Kobanê Case and stating that the case was left to the ruling party’s partner MHP, lawyer Hadi Cin said: “The MHP plans these cases at its own headquarters.”
25-year-old prisoner Mehmet Yılmaz, being held in Urfa Type E Closed Prison, died under suspicious circumstances.Yılmaz’s body was taken to the morgue of the Urfa Forensic Medicine Institute.
7 members of HDP Youth Council were detained in Antalya.
Three people from Rojava who fled to Turkey during the ISIS occupation have been imprisoned in Adana on terror charges.
Turkey summoned Sweden’s charge d’affaires in Ankara over “terrorism propaganda” Foreign Ministry called in the diplomat to convey its “strong reaction” to a protest held in the Swedish capital Stockholm by a Kurdish group, considering it as support for terrorism.
Halil Konakçı, the imam of Melike Hatun Mosque located in Ankara, has targeted women walking on street by comparing them to “meat in butcher shops.”
Turkey is battling wildfires in eight provinces across the country.
Turkey Weekly 18 – 24 July 2022
Turkey Today – 24.07.2022
The Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein reiterated that Turkey was responsible for the attack, saying that the country was not free to enter Iraqi soil as it pleased.
A Syrian soldier is reported to have been killed in Turkish shelling in villages north of Hasake in northeast Syria, while four civilians including at least two children are reported to have been injured.
A letter written by imprisoned former HDP MP Leyla Güven to 84-year-old political prisoner Mehmet Emin Özkan was confiscated because it could encourage him. Özkan who is seriously ill is behind bars since 1996.
The hunger strike of political prisoners in Adana Kürkçüler prison which started in mid-July continues.
The police intervened in the football tournament organised by the HDP Youth in İstanbul and confiscated a banner condemning the attack on Zaho in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The Justice Watch carried out by the Şenyaşar family has reached day 503. Emine Şenyaşar lost her husband and two sons as a result of the attack carried out by AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız’s bodyguards and relatives in the Suruç district of Urfa, on June 14, 2018.
Turkey Today – 23.07.2022
Under the blockade of hundreds of police officers, HDP’s Istanbul office protested an attack that killed nine civilians in the Zakho district of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The retrial of former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş for “revealing the identity of persons involved in counter-terrorism” started in Ankara yesterday. The prosecution is demanding up to eight years in prison.
HDP Youth Council member Arjin Tüncer was detained in front of HDP Van provincial building yesterday evening. At the same time, her house was raided by the police.
It has been reported that Turkey and the paramilitary Syrian National Army (SMO) groups under its auspices have bombarded the villages of Um Kêf and Dirdara, west of Til Temir, with howitzers and mortars since this morning.
Saturday Mothers came together in week 904 to ask those responsible for the death of Abdulgani Dağ who disappeared after being detained in Mardin’s Nusaybin district on July 14, 1994.
Fatima Gülham Abushanab, an interpreter for President Erdoğan has filed a criminal complaint against main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu over his remarks targeting the leader’s private translator.
Turkey Today – 22.07.2022
CPT Iraq Representative Kamaran Osman stated that the bombardment took place from Turkey’s Xamtir military base, adding that Turkish soldiers pressured the people to evacuate Perex village.
Family of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan applied to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to meet with their relative.
Political prisoner Kadri Ekici was found dead in his cell in Diyarbakır high security prison. Ekici had been in solitary confinement for a year.
4 people from Qamishlo, who wanted to cross over from Serekaniyê to Turkey 4 days ago, were detained by Turkey backed SMO and they cannot be heard from.
The rector’s office of Boğaziçi University has censored the screening of LGBTI-content films planned as part of an open-air movie festival at the university campus.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey would assess Sweden and Finland’s compliance with a deal allowing them to join NATO at a trilateral meeting next month.
Turkey Today – 21.07.2022
Turkey denies responsibility for yesterday’s bombardment that killed eight people in Zakho in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The Baghdad government said it will bring the case to the UNSC and may use the “econoimc card” against Turkey.
President Erdoğan has said “The US has to leave the east of the Euphrates… Because it’s America who nurtures the terrorist organizations there,”.
Yesterday police attacked ceremonies held across the country to commemorate the victims of a ISIS suicide bombing that took place in 2015 in Urfa’s Suruç district. The Istanbul Governor’s Office said that 106 were people detained in the city over their participation to the demonstration.
The Association for Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Women’s Commission and the Rosa Women’s Association launched a petition calling for the end of the process of lifting the immunity initiated against DBP Co-Chair Saliha Aydeniz.
Sugar factory Kayseri Şeker has allegedly obliged its workers to attend an upcoming rally of President Erdoğan in the city.
The number of new Covid-19 infections between July 11 and 17 was twice as high as the previous week, showed figures released today by the Ministry of Health.
Turkey Today – 20.07.2022
Constitutional Court has ruled that jailed former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş’s rights were violated in one of the several cases launched against him. The ruling concerns judicial authorities’ move to open a lawsuit against the renowned Kurdish politician, citing his attendance to a demonstration in 2011.
It was stated that a Kurdish family living in the Incilipınar Neighborhood of Pamukkale district was attacked by a person named Hasan Akın who said, “What are the Kurds doing in this neighborhood? I will kill you”. Akın came with a sickle-shaped knife in his hand.
Mardin Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against Jinnews reporter Öznur Değer on the allegation of “propagandising for a terrorist organisation”.
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said that Turkey’s process to acquire F-16 fighter jets from the US continues despite a recent US House legislation.
AKP will prepare a report with regards to the performance of CHP metropolitan mayors and share with the public how many of their pre-election pledges have been so far actualized.
Erdoğan has blamed the US for aiding and working with the People’s Defence Units (YPG) in northern Syria, insisting that the US should withdraw its troops from east of the Euphrates River.
Turkey Today – 19.07.2022
The 10th Chamber of the Council of State dismissed the case for the annulment of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s decision to withdraw Turkey from the İstanbul Convention.
The 4th hearing of the case against Onur Gencer, who carried out an armed attack on the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İzmir Provincial Building and murdered Deniz Poyraz there, continues. While Onur Gencer avoided all the questions adressed to him at the trial, he did not give any information about the soldier İbrahim Akıl, who seems to be linked to the murder.
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said that Turkey will not concede to any conditions for the possible sale of F-16 fighter jets and expressed his wish that Washington does not “fall for a game” by a group of U.S. lawmakers with regards to the issue.
Prisoners in Kürkçüler Type F Prison have been on hunger strike for the last 5 days demanding the violations of rights to come to an end.
Daily new Covid-19 cases in Turkey have increased as many as 40 times in the past four or five weeks, Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said after a cabinet meeting.
Turkey Today – 18.07.2022
Turkey will freeze Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership bids if the Nordic countries do not keep promises on counter-terrorism made last month, President Erdogan said on Monday, adding he believed Sweden was “not showing a good image” for now.
A person tried to enter the courthouse with a pump rifle during the Deniz Poyraz murder hearing. Poyraz was killed by a gunman in the İzmir HDP Provincial Organisation building in June 2021.
Stating that he was battered and injected with an unknown medicine by force, Emrah Yakut, who is being held in Erzurum Dumlu Prison No. 1, said: “The guards will kill me.”
A prisoner who was recently released from prison in Aydın said about the recently revealed suspicious death of inmate Yılmaz Ekinci that it was not possible for Yılmaz Ekinci who was 170 centimeters tall, hanged himself from an iron bar that was 148 centimeters high from the ground to kill himself.
Three trans women have been battered by the neighborhood watchmen in Turkey’s western province of İzmir.
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Turkey Weekly 11 – 17 July 2022
Turkey Today – 17.07.2022
At least five people were killed in a Turkish drone attack in northwestern Iraq. A woman is apparently among the victims, according to Iraqi security sources.
The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources announced on Saturday that Turkey had pledged to improve water release in the face of the scarcity crisis that Iraq is suffering from.
Any new military operation Turkey would launch in north and east Syria would not be limited to Syrian Kurds, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi said.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgiç has said that Turkey will not be “a refugee camp for any country”, denying a possible agreement with the UK on asylum partnership like Rwanda.
Turkey Today – 16.07.2022
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the lifting of the immunity and parliamentary mandate of former HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ was unlawful.
The grave of Aliş Çekwar Çubuk in Bağlar cemetery who died during the curfews in Diyarbakır’s Sur district in 2016 was damaged. The The gravestone had been removed in 2017 on the orders of the police because of the Kurdish name Çekwar.
Saturday Mothers came together in week to ask those responsible for the death of Hasan Gülünay who disappeared after being detained in İstanbul on July 20, 1992.
Ali İhsan Öktem, deputy chair of the Turkish Medical Association said the authorities should take urgent steps to tackle COVID-19 after the number of new infections doubled each week since the middle of June.
Turkey Today – 15.07.2022
Jewish graves were vandalized in the Hasköy Cemetery in Beyoğlu. Thirty-six gravestones were damaged.
Greenpeace replied, “Unfortunately, the subject is outside of our area of expertise” to the appeal of the Şırnak Bar Association against the deforestation in the city.
President Erdoğan has argued that the soaring inflation in Turkey is a “continuation” of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Erdoğan also said that powers, which he did not name, were trying to make Turkey “surrender through the economy.”
The US House of Representatives has approved a bill that restricts the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The legislation in question prohibits President Biden from selling or transferring fighter jets or kits to Turkey unless the country guarantees that the Greek airspace will not be violated.
Turkey Today – 14.07.2022
The Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) gave its 3rd report on imprisoned former HDP MP Aysel Tuğluk diagnosed with dementia saying she could be held in prison.
Visiting DFG Co-chair Serdar Altan, who is among the 16 imprisoned journalists, his wife Gülsün Altan said that they were subjected to a strip search in Diyarbakır No 2. High Security Prison.
The letters of imprisoned journalists Serdar Altan, Mehmet Ali Ertaş and Zeynel Abidin Bulut were confiscated because they “could have been organisational documents”.
Ministry of Defence has not made a statement about soldier Naci Kaygısız, who lost his life in an armed conflict in the Zap region and whose body is reported to be in the hands of the HPG. HPG had offered to hand over the body to representatives of civil society organisations.
Covid-19: 117,095 new infections and 31 deaths registered in the last 24 hours.
Turkey Today – 13.07.2022
The government has been failing to respond to a question filed by the CHP about President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s latest accusation that Gezi Park protestors “burned down mosques” during the nationwide demonstrations in 2013.
After Russia vetoed a one-year extension, the council members agreed to extend aid deliveries to Syria from Turkey for six months. The US, the UK and France abstained from the vote in protest of Russia’s rejection of the previous resolution.
Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has suspended from duty imam Ahmet Gür after he targeted doctors and incited violence against them during a sermon.
Wildfires broke out today in the Datça district of Muğla. Muğla was one of the two hardest-hit provinces in last year’s massive wildfires.
Covid-19: Health Ministry reported 57,113 new infections and 25 deaths in the 24 last hours.
Turkey Today – 12.07.2022
The spokesperson of Foreign Ministry has criticized the ECtHR ruling on Osman Kavala “However, the ECtHR has unfortunately failed to meet our expectations by the decision announced today and once again called into question the credibility of the European human rights system.”
Osman Kavala says ECtHR GRand Chamber decision will give strength to judges and prosecutors who “continue to act in accordance with the rule of law despite political pressures”.
The Kremlin announced that Putin will meet with Erdoğan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during a visit to Tehran on July 19.
Postponing or cancelling a military operation against “terrorists” in northern Syria is out of question, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said. Akar denied that Turkey’s Western allies had asked Turkey to refrain from launching a military incursion into Syria during a NATO summit in Madrid last month.
A report compiled by CHP MP Tekin Bingöl showed that over 100,000 health workers used emergency code for violence in 2021.
Turkey Today – 11.07.2022
Announcing its ruling on Osman Kavala, the Grand Chamber has found that Turkey violated the Article 46/1 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to act in “good faith”, in a manner compatible with the “conclusions and spirit” of the Kavala judgment.”
Reviewing the detention of 16 journalists who were arrested in Diyarbakır on June 16th, the Diyarbakır 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace ruled to continue the detention of the journalists on the grounds that judicial control measures will not be sufficient.
The police search in the offices of two production companies as part of an investigation into Kurdish media outlets has been completed 32 days after 16 journalists were detained during raids. The police seized cameras, computers, hard drives, audio mixers and monitors in the offices of the Piya and Ari production companies.
Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the MHP, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s far-right governing ally, displayed a map showing Greek islands as Turkish at a party event at the weekend.
Yesterday, University student Ali İsmail Korkmaz, who was beaten to death during the Gezi protests in Eskişehir in 2013 was commemorated on the anniversary of his death.
Turkish health minister urges dismissal of imam for inciting violence against doctors.
Turkey Weekly 4 – 10 July 2022
Turkey Today – 10.07.2022
Turkish attacks against the Autonomous Administration regions of Northern and Eastern Syria continue. Artillery attacks on densely populated villages are reported from Til Temir.
The 10 October Peace Association organised a commemoration in memory of the victims in the area in front of Ankara Train Station. On 10 October 2015, 104 people lost their lives and over 500 people were injured by an ISIS bomb attack that targeted a peace rally.
The Justice Watch carried out by the Şenyaşar family has reached day 489. Emine Şenyaşar lost her husband and two sons as a result of the attack carried out by AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız’s bodyguards and relatives in the Suruç district of Urfa, on June 14, 2018.
Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) has launched an investigation on an imam in the central Anatolian Konya province for calling for violence against doctors upon a healthcare strike earlier in the week.
Turkey Today – 09.07.2022
Diyarbakır Type D Prison Disciplinary Board confiscated the letter that journalist Mehmet Ali Ertaş sent to his colleague, finding it “objectionable” on the grounds that he “continues his journalistic activities”.
Seyhan Municipality Deputy Mayor Funda Buyruk, who was detained and released as part of the police operation against Binevş Culture and Art Association, was dismissed by the Ministry of Interior.
Three separate violent explosions occurred at around 2.30 and 3 am in Hakkaris’s Yüksekova district near the 75th Yıl Police Station in the Kışla District and the police station on Şahin Hill.
On the occasion of the Feast of the Sacrifice, Saturday Mothers gathered at Galatasaray Square saying that they will continue their action until the graves of the disappeared are found.
US Representative Frank Pallone on Saturday made public the bipartisan letter, signed by 35 lawmakers in Congress, sent to President Joe Biden expressing opposition to the proposed sale of F-16 fighter planes to Turkey.
Turkish army continues to send military reinforcements in preparation for a renewed invasion of Northern Syria.
Turkey Today – 08.07.2022
Turkey’s Constitutional Court has found no violation of rights in the death of several people killed during the curfews imposed in Şırnak’s Cizre district in 2015 and 2016.
In Diyarbakir, soldiers denied residents access to the cemeteries. On the occasion of the Feast of the Sacrifice, the deceased relatives are visited.
It was stated that the clashes between soldiers and HPG members intensified in the rural areas of Gürpınar and Çatak districts of Van.
A military operation was also launched in Şırnak’s Cudi Mountain. In the villages at the foot of Mount Cudi, the gendarmerie restricted the villagers with bread and food, while the citizens were allowed to enter their homes with a “permission slip”.
The Dicle Amed Women’s Platform organised a demonstration to protest the approval by the Parliamentary Preparatory Commission of the lifting of the immunity DBP co-chair Saliha Aydeniz.
Erdoğan’s ally and MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli has targeted doctors for protesting the increasing attacks on healthcare workers, saying that their nationwide strike is “unlawful.”
Turkey Today – 07.07.2022
Istanbul police intervened against healthcare staff with shields and pepper spray during march protesting murder of cardiologist Ekrem Karakaya by a patient. Journalists were once again violently prevented from covering the protest.
The media watchdog RTÜK has imposed a broadcast ban on the issue of murdered physician, preventing media organs from covering it.
Turkey has penned new letters to Sweden and Finland reminding these countries of previous extradition requests for people it considers “terrorists,” Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said.
Ukraine will summon Turkey’s ambassador in Kyiv. A ship left Turkey’s inland Sea of Marmara for the Black Sea today was “full of stolen Ukrainian grain,” the country’s deputy foreign minister has said.
The 2nd hearing of the trial in which 4 politicians, including the Co-chair of HDP Van Fikret Doğan faces “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility” charge was held in Van. Giving more time for the defense to prepare their arguments against the prosecutor’s opinion, the court adjourned the trial until December.
As part of the investigation carried out against the Binevş Culture and Art Association, 4 out of 37 people detained on June 27 were arrested on charges of “membership in a terrorist organisation”.
Turkey Today – 06.07.2022
The parliament’s Drafting Commission has ruled to lift the immunity of Democratic Regions Party co-chair Saliha Aydeniz to pave the way for her to stand trial on accusations of “pushing a police officer” during a demonstration last month.
The government has brought a new regulation into force requiring mayors to get an approval from the Foreign Ministry before holding any kind of meeting with representatives of foreign countries.
The 4th hearing of the trial in which the former HDP Deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder faces “publicly degrading the judicial bodies” charge was held in Diyarbakır. Giving more time for Önder’s lawyer to prepare his defense against the final opinion, the court adjourned the trial until September.
Police attacked yesterday the Pride Parade in Ankara. Mezopotamya Agency reporter Emel Vural was beaten by the police, exposed to pepper spray and taken to hospital.
46 people detained yesterday in Ankara during the Pride Parade were released.
An appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling to fine the CHP for its 2021 video criticizing former Finance Minister Berat Albayrak over the missing $128 billion in Central Bank reserves.
HDP Turgutlu Co-chairs Hayri Bökü and Naile Gümüştaş who stood trial over “membership in an organization” charges were sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Turkey Today – 05.07.2022
Police attacked the press release that Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) and Mesopotamia Women Journalists Platform (MKGP) wanted to make in Ankara’s Ulus Square for 16 journalists arrested in Diyarbakır. 3 journalist have been detained.
The police blockade of Piya and Ari production companies, which were raided as part of the operation against journalists in Diyarbakır, has been going on for 27 days.
The 2nd hearing of the trial in which journalist Nurcan Yalçın faces “aiding an organization knowingly and willingly” charge was held in Diyarbakır. Today’s hearing was held by an interim panel of judges. Giving more time for Yalçın’s lawyer to prepare his arguments against the prosecutor’s final opinion, the court adjourned the trial until September.
All defendants were acquitted yesterday in the case concerning the forced disappearances of eight people in the Dargeçit district of Mardin. Seven civilians had gone missing in Dargeçit between 1995 and 1996. Bodies of some of them had been recovered later.
The European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber has announced that the case of Osman Kavala will be heard on July 11 in Strasbourg. The hearing will be open to the public.
The second hearing of the trial in which 8 SES executives, including imprisoned co-chair Selma Atabey and former chair Gönül Erden, faces “being a member of an illegal organisation” charges was held in Ankara. The court decided to continue the detention of Erden and to remand in custody Atabey.
Turkey Today – 04.07.2022
Yesterday Turkish soldiers opened fire against a bus carrying refugees in the Saray district of Van. A 4-year-old boy was killed and 13 people were injured as a result of the attack.
HDP Urfa Provincial executive Ömer Altun, who attended the HDP 5th Ordinary Congress in Ankara on Sunday, was taken into custody.
The third hearing of the trial in which the Executive Board Member of DİSK Basın İş and journalist Ali Ergin Demirhan faces “insulting the president” charge was held in İstanbul. The court ruled to acquit journalist Demirhan on the grounds that the elements of the alleged offense did not occur.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu (CHP) has said that he could be dismissed from the post if President Erdoğan assumes power once again in the upcoming elections.
Boğaziçi University’s appointed rector Naci İnci has threatened students against initiating any kind of protest during the graduation ceremony, saying that otherwise they will have their graduate ID cards canceled.
Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said “If these countries [Sweden and Finland] do not keep their word, we will take our steps accordingly,”.
Turkish Medical Association calls for indoor mask mandate as Covid cases triple in a week. The indoor mask mandate was lifted in late April.
Turkey Weekly 01 – 3 July 2022
Turkey Today – 03.07.2022
The HDP today is holding its 5th Ordinary Congress. Tens of thousands of people from all over Turkey have arrived in Ankara for the meeting. Pervin Buldan and Prof. Mithat Sancar were re-elected as Co-chairs.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately opened an investigation against the HDP on ‘propaganda for an organisation’ charges.
Since the beginning of the week, around forty people from Kurdish politics and culture have been in police custody in Adana on terrorism charges.
Another civilian, Mohammed Khaled al-Mohammad (23), was killed by shelling from Turkish-occupied territory near Manbij. Al-Mohammad was collecting this year’s harvest in the village of Mazra’at al-Jarad when he was killed.
Yesterday, the attack by a Turkish drone left an SDF commander dead and two other fighters injured in Raqqa.
Turkey Today – 02.07.2022
Şehmuz Emen, who is held in Adana Kürkçüler Type E Closed Prison, was tortured by the guards and put naked in the cell on which water was poured. While what Emen lived was reflected in the cameras, two separate lawsuits were filed against the guards who tortured them.
Thousands attended a commemorative march to mark the 29th anniversary of a massacre which targeted Turkey’s Alevi community in Sivas. A large group of radical Islamists set the Madımak Hotel in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas on fire on July 2, 1993, killing 33 intellectuals. Police and fire brigade watched without intervening.
In Osmaniye, a lynch mob chased a group of migrants who had fled from a detention centre. Numerous people were injured, and it is still unclear whether there are any dead.
The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has denounced police violence against and detentions of journalists in Turkey. RSF called on the Ministry of Interior to end violence against journalists following demonstrations.
Turkey Today – 01.07.2022
Access to the webpages of Voice of America and Deutsche Welle has been blocked due to the two outlet’s failure to apply to the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) for a license.
The 4th hearing of the trial in which journalist Vedat Örüç faces “defying the Law no. 2911 on Assemblies and Demonstrations” & “insulting a public officer” charges was held in İstanbul. The court acquitted Örüç of the offenses he was charged with on the grounds that the elements of the alleged crime did not occur.
Turkish police stopped a young man named Welat Inan, who was returning home with his friends after work in Yenimahalle borough, in Siirt. Four policemen attacked the man in the middle of the street.
CHP is seeking a commitment from HDP to back a single challenger to President Erdoğan at presidential elections.