Turkey Weekly 29 August – 31 August
Turkey Today – 31.08.2022
In the case of a Kurdish man given bones of his son in a bag seven years after his killing in conflict, the Diyarbakır Bar has filed a complaint against the prosecutor for “disrecpect towards the dead”.
On the occasion of World Peace Day, Saturday Mothers came together in front of Dolmabahçe Palace. They were attacked by the police.
As no interpreter for Kurdish was provided, the politician Sibel Akdeniz was unable to defend herself in the Kobane trial. The judge insisted on using the Turkish language.
In protest of low wages and poor working conditions, private school teachers gathered in Ankara yesterday. Police surrounded and blocked them, and used pepper spray on the teachers when they insisted on marching. Seven people, including two lawyers, were detained.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu has targeted one of the detained teachers, posting a picture of her on his social media account.
Ruling AKP has filed a lawsuit against Workers’ Party (TİP) MP Ahmet Şık, demanding 100,000 liras in compensation over his comments that the “AKP is a crime organization and will be shut down.”
President Erdoğan said regarding inflation concerns that “every dark cloud has a silver lining.”
Erdoğan’s advisor Korkmaz Karaca has resigned from his duty citing “health problems”, following the corruption allegations made by mafia boss Sedat Peker.
A concert that singer İlkay Akkaya was planning to hold in Ceyhan district has been cancelled by the Governor’s office after the artist was targeted by pro-government media.
Turkey Today – 30.08.2022
The soldiers who went into operation in the rural area of Zevkan village in Yüksekova opened random fire.
A helicopter-assisted military operation was launched in the rural areas of Bagok Mountain in the Nusaybin district of Mardin. While dozens of military vehicles and special operations teams were diployed to the region, search and scanning activities were carried out.
The fire that broke out in the forest area in the village of Marînûs in Hakkari as a result of a military operation has not been intervened for 3 days.
There has been no news from imprisoned Mirza Çağlayan who was battered by guards in Van Rize Kalkandere Type L Closed Prison for four days.
The Saturday Mothers wanted to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances by reading out a statement in front of the Altınşehir Cemetery of the Nameless in İstanbul. At least 14 people were detained.
CHP İstanbul Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu, gave a statement in an investigation for “insulting the president.” In her statement Kaftancıoğlu said that using the term “dictator” for Erdoğan was legitimate criticism since the president holds wide-ranging powers.
President Erdoğan has targeted pop star Gülşen without explicitly mentioning her name and said, “Those who insult the sacred values of our nation will not be able to get away from being held accountable before the law.”
Turkey Today – 29.08.2022
The remains of Hakan Arslan, who was killed by Turkish soldiers during the curfews in Sur in 2016, were handed over to his father in a bag.
“Turkey will decide when to launch an operation,” said Erdogan’s Communications Director Fahrettin Altun, becoming the latest top government official to signal a potential military offensive into northern Syria.
The police captured at least eight suspected members of ISIS during raids in the northern province of Samsun.
In today’s drone attack carried out by Turkey on the Makhur refugee camp in Iraq Evizet Abdullah Abid died.
Another drone attack was carried out by Turkey on a village in Şengal.
Journalists following the Şenyaşar family, who continued the sit-in at the entrance of the Urfa Courthouse, were blockaded by the police and threatened.
Popstar Gülşen has been released to house arrest. She was taken into police custody as part of a criminal investigation launched against the singer over the suspicion of “inciting the public to hatred and hostility or degrading” because of her remarks.
Turkey Weekly 22 – 28 August 2022
Turkey Today – 28.08.2022
Upon criminal complaint by MLSA lawyers for “misuse of public duty”, “threat” and “violation of the freedom to work and labour”, an inquiry has been launched against police chief Hanifi Zengin who had threatened journalists on several occasions.
Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker, who currently lives in the United Arab Emirates, has unveiled an alleged corruption network including figures like President Erdoğan’s advisors Serkan Taranoğlu and Korkmaz Karaca, former Capital Markets Board (SPK) head Ali Fuat Taşkesenlioğlu, ruling AKP lawmaker Zehra Taşkesenlioğlu and more.
Lawyer Ebru Timtik was commemorated at her grave in Gazi Cemetery. She died two years ago after 238 days on death fast demanding a fair trial.
The Justice Watch carried out by the Şenyaşar family has reached day 538. 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.
The Kobane trial against 108 HDP politicians will continue tomorrow.
Turkey Today – 27.08.2022
Following the public outcry over the arrest of popstar Gülşen for her comments about Islamic Imam Hatip schools, the board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has issued a statement arguing that the judiciary is independent. The HSK has also described the criticism against the singer’s arrest as “actions and rhetoric that orders and gives instructions to judges.”
80-year-old Kurdish woman Makbule Özer was brought to the Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) from the prison where she was held. Since she was not provided with an interpreter and was only able to speak Kurdish she was returned to prison.
It was stated that almost all prisoners in Van High Security and Type F Closed Prison caught corona within a month. According to the information conveyed by the relatives of the prisons, they weren’t treated and the necessary drugs were not given.
The definite rotating hunger strike, which was launched in Van High Security Prison and Trabzon Beşikdüzü Prison against the increasing rights violations of the prisoners and the arbitrary practices of the administration, continues.
Officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden had their first meeting in the southern Finnish city of Vantaa to discuss the two Nordic countries’ NATO bids.
Turkey Today – 26.08.2022
The Constitutional Court has rejected the application for Yapıcı, Kahraman and Atalay alleging that the arrest of three convicts who were sentenced to 18 years in prison in the Gezi Park case.
Under the leadership of the HDP, the Social Freedom Party (TÖP), the Labor Movement Party (EHP), the Socialist Assemblies Federation (SMF), the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP) and the Labor Party (EMEP) met at TİP Istanbul Provincial Presidency in İstanbul. The raodmap will be announced in September.
The Boğaziçi University Alumni Association (BÜMED) has announced that its restaurant in İstanbul’s Sarıyer has been sealed by the district municipality following a ban on alcohol sales by the rector.
Some 500 workers working at the construction of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin, southern Türkiye, have been dismissed after protesting low wages.
Turkey Today – 25.08.2022
The indefinite and rotating hunger strike launched by prisoners against violations of rights in Trabzon Beşikdüzü Type T Prison has entered its 42nd day.
Asrın Law Office’s lawyers applied to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and İmralı Prison Directorate to meet with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, whom they had not heard from for 17 months.
Pop singer Gülşen was detained in an investigation for “inciting the people into hatred and animosity” because of her remarks about Muslim vocational schools, known as the “imam-hatip schools”.
424 intellectuals have called on the state to enlighten an alleged 2016 assassination plot targeting Turkish-Armenian deputy Garo Paylan from the HDP.
The Fethiye district governor said the “MilyonFest” music festival was banned because it was going to take place in a protected area. An ecology group backed the decision while noting that the governor had allowed a hotel project in another protected area.
Turkey Today – 24.08.2022
A military operation was launched in the Aşkita region of Başkale district in Van. It was reported that the region where armored military vehicles were sent was bombed from the air early in the morning.
The Constitutional Court has rejected an application from the family of Abdullah Cömert, who was killed after being hit in the head by a tear gas cartridge during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. The sentence given to the police officer who fired the tear gas cartridge that killed Cömert was “proportionate,” the top court has ruled.
Journalists imprisoned in Diyarbakir Prison said that there had been a systematic water cut in the last 3 days, their rights to social activities were blocked, as well as their letters.
Residents of the Mezeköy village in the Köşk district of the southwestern province of Aydın have been protesting against a geothermal power plant project for over a month. The Köşk District Governor’s Office banned entry and exit to the village for seven days to “ensure public order and security.”
Interior Minister Soylu has called on newly graduated military officers to perform ablution and cite verses from the Islamic holy book of Quran before going on duty.
The appointed trustee rector of Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University has suspended the head of the economics department for three months, citing an investigation launched against him.
Turkey Today – 23.08.2022
11 more prisoners participated in the hunger strike launched on August 8 against rights violations in Urfa No. 1 Type T Prison, thus increasing the number of prisoners in the action to 30.
The family, who staged the sit-in for ill and the prisoners who are not released despite they served their sentence in front of Diyarbakır Type D Closed Prison, demanded that their children should be treated.
Police raided some houses in Ankara early in the morning. In the raids, 6 people were detained on the grounds that they shared on their social media accounts about Tukey’s attacks on Northern and Eastern Syria.
The Public Advertising Agency (BIK) has revoked Evrensel daily’s right to publish official announcements and advertisements for allegedly failing to “meet the minimum actual sales requirement of four thousand copies” to be eligible for such a right.
HDP Ağrı Provincial General Assembly member Mehmet Birdal, who was arrested in Iran, where he went for business, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on political grounds.
Turkey has doubled its imports of Russian oil this year amid Western sanctions against Russia.
The Muğla Governor’s Office has banned Milyon Fest Fethiye, a music festival that was going to take place in the resort district of Fethiye between September 1 and 4. It’s the third festival that has been banned since May.
Turkey Today – 22.08.2022
Yesterday six opposition leaders gathered for their sixth meeting and announced their will to nominate a joint presidential candidate to run against Erdoğan. The HDP with its second largest opposition group in parliament is not part of this alliance.
The military operation launched in Şenyayla, on the border of Muş and Kulp district continues.
Police use tear gas, rubber bullets against people resisting demolition of their homes in İstanbul’s Beykoz. Videos from the scene showed police officers battering journalists to prevent them from filming the incidents.
The İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality has rejected a Kurdish singer’s application for a concert hall, citing “repair works,” according to the singer, Onur Evin.
An ISIS member who allegedly ordered the burning of two soldiers in 2016, rejected the allegations and demanded his release in exchange for providing further information about the incident.
The Turkish state bombed many villages in Shera in Afrin Canton and two villages to the west of Dirbesiyê.
Turkish President Erdoğan and Syrian President Al-Assad might hold a meeting on the sidelines of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit (SCO) in Uzbekistan, according to reporting by Iran’s semi-official agency Tasnim.
The Ministry of Health reported 143,778 new coronavirus cases and 380 deaths between August 8 and 14.
Turkey Weekly 15 – 21 August 2022
Turkey Today – 21.08.22
Two weeks ago, a former lawyer for Alaattin Çakıcı, an ultranationalist figure convicted of leading a criminal gang, claimed to reveal an assassination plot against HDP deputy Garo Paylan, Turkey’s only Armenian MP. “We are heading to the elections, and there is a fight to gain power in Ankara. Minorities have always been used as ‘baits’ in the games of power within the state,” Paylan said.
Uğur Taşdeviren, imprisoned in Kilis, reported in a telephone conversation with his family that they are threatened by the prison guards because they refuse a standing count.
In the Şenyayla region between Muş and Diyarbakır’s Kulp district clashes were reported between the Turkish Army and HPG.
Yesterday night soldiers raided the Boşan village in Van’s Başkale district. 3 people have been detained.
The Justice Watch carried out by the Şenyaşar family has reached day 531. 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 – 20.08.22
The Diyarbakır 5th Criminal Court of First Instance has ruled to reject the appeal against the detention of the 16 journalists who were arrested on June 16th in Diyarbakır on the grounds that the detention of 16 journalists is “proportionate and lawful.” The lawyers of the arrested journalists will take the matter before the Constitutional Court.
Turkey bombed the villages of Werdiye and Til Mediq in Northern Syria.
Asked about potential talks with the Assad regime, Turkish President Erdoğan has said that states can “never rule out political dialogue or diplomacy.”
Two leading members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), Deniz Aktaş and Ebru Yiğit, have been taken into custody in İstanbul.
İdris Bozkurt, a member of of the Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) High Council, has targeted women, saying that it was “unacceptable” for women to wear “tight trousers.”
Saturday Mothers came together in week 908 to ask those responsible for the death of Cemal Kavak who disappeared in Diyarbakır on April 24, 1996 and was found dead two days later.
Turkey Today – 19.08.2022
HDP Ağrı MP and member of the Justice Commission, Abdullah Koç, submitted a research proposal to the Presidency of the Assembly regarding the deaths in prisons.
Metin Güven, who has been imprisoned for 30 years in Yozgat Type T Closed Prison, has been postponed for the second time for 3 months on the grounds that he refused the imposition of “regret”.
Seriously ill prisoner Bazo Yılmaz (67) died last night in Urfa No. 2 Type T Closed Prison. He was detained on December 12, 2016 on the allegation that he was a member of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and sentenced to 9 years in prison. The appeal to the Constitutional Court regarding the report of Forensic Medicine Institute that he could be held in prison was also rejected.
Hakkari Governorate banned entrances to Cilo Sat Lakes for a month, which it had previously made conditional on obtaining permission. The Sat Lakes program of many environmental associations and mountaineering clubs was canceled with the decision taken.
Turkey Today – 18.08.2022
D.T., a 17-year-old person who was detained during a demonstration of the families of ill prisoners on August 13 in Bahçelievler, İstanbul, said they had been strip searched at the police station.
18-year-old Yusuf Uluğ, who was seriously injured as a result of the explosion of a military object, has been fighting for his life in the intensive care unit for 4 days.
Radio and TV Supreme Council has imposed administrative sanctions on Netflix over TV series, playlists. The scenes where “two girls were kissing eacth other” in the “Jurassic Park Camp Cretaceous” series violated the “principle of the protection of general morality,” it concluded.
RTÜK has also ordered Spotify to remove playlists and podcasts which are claimed to be insulting, the national moral values, the president, political party leaders and disseminating terrorism propaganda.
An investigation has been opened against two more journalists upon a complaint by a former lawyer for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over 100 articles which were previously censored by courts.
Turkey Today – 17.08.2022
The bodies of 11 people who lost their lives in the clashes are held in a warehouse in Hakkari State Hospital. Citizens who witnessed the situation called on human rights institutions to take action.
Result Temur, a lawyer for the 16 journalists and media employees who were detained on June 8 and are remanded in custody in Diyarbakır said no indictment has been prepared and no reason has been provided for the arrests.
Police officer G.K., who threatened to drag 5 foreign women into prostitution, was arrested by the court.
After the Şırnak Bar Association’s call to stop the deforestation in the city, 180 people filled out the draft petitions and applied to the governor’s office and district governors.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the police had violated the right to life of a 14-year-old child by using pepper gas against him and causing him to die. The top court ordered the state to pay 225,000 liras in non-pecuniary damages to the deceased child’s family.
A Turkish youth has been detained for going on the stage during a concert and urging the audience “not to vote for” the ruling AKP.
Turkey Today – 16.08.2022
During Turkey’s attacks on Kobane at least 1 child died, 3 were injured.
After Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu revealed that he had a “quick word” with his counterpart from Syria last October, MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli said in a statement, “The steps Türkiye has taken about Syria are valuable and accurate.” At the same time AKP Deputy Chair Hayati Yazıcı stated, “Relations with Damascus may become direct, their level may increase.”
Former HDP MP Aysel Tuğluk who suffers from dementia, former HDP Co-chair Figen Yüksekdağ and Laleş Çeliker, who are held in prison, caught the coronavirus. The politicians are held in quarantine.
10 more prisoners joined the hunger strike launched by 10 prisoners in Urfa No. 1 Type T Closed Prison on August 8 against the violations of their rights.
The HDP office in Ankara’s Keçiören district was attacked early in the morning. The attackers took down the photographs of imprisoned Aysel Tuğluk.
Access to 48 more articles about a former lawyer of President Erdoğan have been blocked by a court.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality administration has said regarding the dismissal of several personnel who were previously expelled from their government posts via statutory decrees: “We do not have the chance of putting ourselves in places of judges. The regulations that we have to abide by forced us.”
The Ministry of Health reported 232,253 new coronavirus cases and 380 deaths between August 1 and 7.
Turkey Today – 15.08.2022
Democratic Regions Party former party council member Mehmet Candemir died in Giresun Prison. The prison administration stated that he died as a result of a heart attack.
Continuing the demonstration, she started in front of the prison for the treatment of her son, Ekim Polat, who is seriously ill, Songül İlker said: “Everyone should be the voice of the ill prisoners.”
Mukaddes Kubilay, who was arrested and sentenced to prison when she was the co-mayor of the eastern Ağrı province in 2016, has not been released even though her conditional release period has expired. The reason the Sincan Prison Administration and Observation Board cited for delaying her release was that Kubilay “caused forming of factions towards negative behavior by exchanging greetings with families of other convicts.”
18-year-old Yusuf Uluğ was seriously injured when a military object exploded while grazing his sheep in Bitlis.
The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened an ex officio investigation against Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the İstanbul provincial chair CHP, for “insulting the president.”
Over the past two days, dozens of HDP members and executives have been detained in Mersin, Hatay, Adana, İzmir, Van and Manisa.
Turkey Weekly 8 – 14 August
Turkey Today – 14.08.2022
Police carried out house raids in Diyarbakır and Adana. At least 15 people were detained.
The police attacked the press statement the relatives of the prisoners wanted to make in front of the HDP Şirinevler district building in İstanbul to draw attention to the violations of rights in prisons and the situation of ill prisoners. Members of the press were removed from place. HDP MP Musa Piroğlu was surrounded by the police.
Yesterday evening 68-year-old seriously ill prisoner İbrahim Yıldırım died in Elazığ Prison. The prison administration stated that he died as a result of a heart attack.
Family of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan once again applied to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to meet their relative.
Kurdish musicians have protested the municipal police on Istanbul’s famous İstiklal Street, saying that they were being prevented from singing in Kurdish.
Turkey Today – 13.08.2022
The Constitutional Court has rejected the release of former HDP MP Aysel Tuğluk who suffers from Alzheimer dementia.
Regarding the decision of the Constitutional Court, Tuğluk’s attorneys said that Forensic Medicine Institute confessed that she would not be able to sustain her life on her own, and that they would apply to the prosecutor’s office again against the decision.
A military operation was launched in Ağrı’s Diyadin district. The region was bombed by helicopters.
While the deforestration which started on July 25 under the supervision of soldiers in the Hesana village of Silopi continues, the empty lands were filled with tons of wood.
At least 20 people were detained in house raids in Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Van and Adana.
Turkey and its affiliated paramilitary groups are attacking Til Temir and Shehba in North Syria with heavy weapons.
The de facto ban on entering and exiting the surrounding highlands, in Hakkari’s Çukurca district continues.
Journalist Zeynep Kuray was detained yesterday while she was following the protest of the workers of the company that built the Halkbank Plaza in the Ataşehir Financial Center in İstanbul.
Saturday Mothers came together in week 907 to ask those responsible for the death of Erdoğan Şakar who disappeared after being detained in İstanbul on August 13, 1993.
Turkey Today – 12.08.2022
Stating that her disabled son condition is getting worse day by day the mother of journalist disabled and seriously ill Devrim Ayık, Hülya Ayık said: “Are they waiting for the dead body of Devrim, like other ill prisoners.”
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s statement that he had a meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister was met with protests in many cities under the control of Turkey and paramilitary forces.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Tanju Bilgiç, who spoke about the talks with Syria, made a statement that “The process is not progressing due to the delaying of the Esad regime”.
Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the Press Advertising Agency (BİK) had violated the rights of opposition newspapers Cumhuriyet, Evrensel, Sözcü, and Birgün by imposing several public ad bans on them.
DEVA Party has announced that its provincial chair as well as a journalist have been attacked in the southern Karaman province by members of the far-right MHP, among whom was a district chair.
Turkey Today – 11.08.2022
The court ruled for the continuation of detention for 16 journalists arrested in Diyarbakır on June 16.
Satellite images have shown the extent of deforestation in Şırnak since 2019, when the authorities began felling trees for “security reasons.”. Thousands of trees have been cut down near Mount Cudi and in the Besta region.
Future Party leader and former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who was once President Erdoğan’s closest ally, has said that the president has been “acting together with the dark actors of the 1990s.”
Relatives of the prisoners, who came together in front of the Diyarbakır Courthouse, criticized the political parties that remained silent despite their applications and said: “There should be no dead prisoners in prisons.”
Journalists investigating Turkey’s plastic waste imports said they were threatened with a gun by an executive of the company.
The sub-governor of Burhaniye, Balıkesir, has banned the Zeytinli Rock Festival, which was due to take place between August 17-21 and is one of the longest-running rock festivals in Turkey.
Turkey Today – 10.08.2022
Justice Minister Bozdağ has once again claimed that Turkey had implemented the ECHR’s 2019 ruling for the immediate release of Osman Kavala, saying that the philantrophist was kept in jail and then convicted on different charges.
308 intellectuals consisting of academics, journalists, writers and actors called on the opposition to stand up against Turkey’s military offensive against North and East Syria.
It is reported that Germany has launched an investigation against 8 people who have been spying for the Turkish state in Germany for the last two years.
While the armed conflict continues in the rural area of Anîtos in Hakkari, the bodies of the 4 people who are stated to be HPG members were brought to hospital.
A fire broke out in the forest area of Hesena village, located at the foot of Mount Cudi in Şırnak.
Boğaziçi’s trustee rector defies court decision to reinstate dismissed academic Can Candan.
Turkey Today – 09.08.2022
In a Turkish drone attack on an area behind the Covid 19 Hospital of Qamishlo 4 people were killed and 3 injured.
A drone attack was also carried out by Turkey on the border village of Kherze in Amude. No casualties have been reported.
President Erdoğan has once again hinted at a cross-border military offensive in northern Syria.
President Erdoğan warned Sweden and Finland over NATO membership “We maintain a firm position on Finland and Sweden. The NATO membership of these two countries will not be approved until the promises made to our country are fulfilled.”
Taner Atmaca, who allegedly attempted suicide in Batman prison two days after he was arrested, died in the hospital where he was being treated.
The body of PKK member Mercan Erkol has not been handed over to his family since he was killed during clashes with security forces in 2017. The father of the PKK member says he had to travel to Diyarbakır eight times for the proceedings but the authorities are “looking for excuses” not to give the body to them.
Constitutional Court has ordered the state to pay compensation to the family of Gezi Park victim Ali İsmail Korkmaz over the violation of the prohibition of torture. The top court also ordered a retrial of one of the police officers who was acquitted in the murder case.
Turkey Today – 08.08.2022
Turkey has bombed Dirbesiye’s Qerman and Şemsûra villages in Northern and Eastern Syria.
The release of Selim Ertene, who has been hold in Rize Kalkandere type L Closed Prisone for 30 years, was posponed for 6 months with Prison Observatory Board’s decision that he is not in good behavior.
Urfa Governor Salih Ayhan banned the yard of the courthouse, where the Şenyaşar family had been carrying out the Justice Watch for a while due to the heat.
Students of the Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) held their own graduation ceremonies at the Devrim (Revolution) Stadium despite a ban by the rector for “security reasons.”
The Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has spent 9.9 billion liras in the first half of 2022, which corresponds to 70 percent of its allotted budget for the year.
The Ministry of Health reported 406,322 new coronavirus cases between July 25 and August 1, up by over 40,000 compared to the previous week. The number of deaths more than doubled in a week, rising from 157 to 337.
Turkey Weekly 1 – 7 August 2022
Turkey Today – 07.08.2022
Four people, among them two children were killed and two others injured in a Turkish drone attack on Qamishlo in Northern Syria yesterday. This is the 66th drone attack on NES this year.
For exactly three years, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan has been denied visits from his lawyers. Asrın Law Office draw attention to this fact in a press release.
A military operation was launched around the Bagok Mountain in Mardin’s Nusaybin district. Troops were stationed in close proximity to the villages.
Yesterday tens of thousands of people attended HDP’s rally entitled “We are the solution, no to war and exploitation” in Diyarbakır. Today a rally was held in İstanbul.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that jailed Mahmud Sıddık Ecevit’s right to visitors has been violated.
Kurdish activist Xwaşnav Ata who lost two nieces in attacks of Turkish Armed Forces against the Kurdistan Region of Iraq started a ‘justice vigil’ in front of the OPCW headquarters in The Hague.
The sit-in Şenyaşar family has started in front of the Courthouse in Urfa continues on day 517. The family lost three members as a result of the attack carried out by AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız’s bodyguards.
Turkey Today – 06.08.2022
A decision of release has been given for former HDP MP Aysel Tuğluk, who suffers from dementia, in the Kobané Case. However Tuğluk will remain in prison due to a sentence in another case.
Selami Sarıtaş, the head of İstanbul’s Kartal Cemevi and the vice chair of the Federation of Alevi Foundations has been attacked in front of his home in İstanbul in the second attack on Alevis in a week during their holy month of Muharram.
Bedrettin Atmaca, father of Taner Atmaca, who allegedly attempted suicide two days after being arrested, told that the surveillence video was not given to them.
Turkish fighter jets shelled the village of Sêgirê in the Amediye district of Duhok city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have met in Russian city of Sochi to discuss bilateral ties and international issues. The two leaders agreed to switch part of the payments for Russian gas to roubles. The two also “reaffirmed their determination to act in coordination and solidarity in the fight against all terrorist organizations” in Syria.
Turkey Today – 05.08.2022
Erkan Atmaca (25), who was detained in Batman Type M Closed Prison, allegedly attempted suicide on July 29. The prison administration called Atmaca’s family on July 31 and informed them that he had committed suicide. His family shared the information that Atmaca’s life-threatening condition continues.
Fevzi Fidan, an epilepsy patient along with other diseases who is being held in a cell alone in Elazig Prison stated that his cell were raided and he was battered by the guards in his weekly phone call with his grandmother Rahime Fidan.
The newly appointed head of ÖSYM, the state body responsible for national-level exams, previously praised the deceased leader of the Islamist İsmailağa Community with the remarks of “rose-faced” and “your reverence.”
The Constitutional Court has ruled that a university student’s criticism of the rector with the expression of “trustee rector” cannot serve as the basis of a disciplinary penalty and suspension from the school.
Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun announced that a “Center for Combating Disinformation” has been established within the Presidency. “We have created an independent unit within our Directorate of Communications against the systematic disinformation campaigns carried out against our country.”
Turkey Today – 04.08.2022
Imprisoned Kurdish journalists are not allowed to use fridge in cells amid scorching heat in Diyarbakır.
Turkey attacked the city centre of Tel Rifat in northern Syria with a drone. According to reports from the region, at least nine people were injured in the attack, including six children.
The Constitutional Court has ruled that universities had violated the rights of several academics by giving them disciplinary penalties for signing a petition called “We will not be a party to this crime” in 2016. The top court ordered the state to pay 10,000-13,000 liras in compensation to the academics known as “Academics of Peace.”
The Public Personnel Selection Exam (KPSS) session on July 31 has been canceled. The questions had been shared on a YouTube channel of a private education institution before the exam. The ÖSYM had initially rejected the claims.
Boğaziçi rector suspends activities of student film club over LGBTI+ movies.
Turkey Today – 03.08.2022
An unknown perpetrator carried out an armed attack on a building where the offices of several NGOs, including Botan International, a Kurdish journalism group backed by the RSF, are located in Diyarbakır.
Lawyers of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan applied to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to meet their client.
HDP deputy Feleknas Uca has submitted a law proposal for the recognition of the Ezidi Genocide on the eighth anniversary of the mass slaughter of Ezidis in Shingal.
President Erdoğan dismissed the head of the Measuring, Selection and Placement Center (ÖSYM), the country’s examination agency, over claims of fraud in the Public Personnel Selection Examination (KPSS). After the exam on Sunday, claims spread on social media that the questions had been leaked before the exam.
Doctor Prof. Esin Şenol has announced that a member of the Covid-19 anti-vaccination movement had left two calf tongues in front of her office and that she has been receiving death threats.
Turkey Today – 02.08.2022
Sending a message through CHP MP Çakırözer, Kavala said, “I will get the ECtHR’s latest decision regarding Türkiye, which did not comply with the decision that my arrest is a rights violation, translated, and send it to the all deputies at the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye.”
Turkey has sent military reinforcements into northern Syria’s Aleppo, an area under its control. A military convoy headed to a base in Aleppo from where the reinforcements will be deployed to others in the province.
Makbule Özer (80), with a 53 percent disability, who was arrested on May 9 due to a prison sentence of 2 years and 1 month which was upheld by the local court for “aiding and abedding a terrorist organisation” in Van, was taken to the hospital.
16 journalists arrested in Diyarbakır on June 16 are not allowed to buy refrigerators, televisions and books.
Five members of the Istanbul HDP Youth Council were jailed for their participation in rallies and protests, while seven were released under reporting conditions. The Youth Council members had been detained on July 29.
The award-winning Kurdish soprano Pervin Chakar has announced that she had applied to give a concert at Turkey’s Mardin Artuklu University, but her request was rejected over the existence of Kurdish songs in her repertoire.
The Radio and Television Supreme Council has launched a probe into the animated series Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous because of its LGBT+ characters.
Turkey has found 5 monkeypox cases and four of them have recovered, the health minister has announced.
Turkey Today – 01.08.2022
In today’s hearing of the Kobane trial former HDP MP Aysel Tuğluk diagnosed with dementia has stated that she is not able to present a defense. However, the court insisted on questioning her.
Seven members of the HDP, who were detained in İstanbul on July 29 were referred to the courthouse. The police imposed a 24-hour lawyer restriction on the detained.
Turkey’s attacks on the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s Zap area continues. Videos revealed that a dog loaded with explosives and a camera was sent to a tunnel in Zap by Turkish soldiers.
Two people were injured in an drone attack on a vehicle in Sulaymania / Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The AKP mayor of Mutki Vahdettin Barlak, who was dismissed due to the corruption case against him in Bitlis, attacked Nurettin Yol, who was elected instead, for the third time. 7 people were injured in the fight where guns and knives were used.