Turkey Weekly 23 – 29 December 2024
Turkey Today – 29.12.2024
DEM MP Pervin Buldan stated that Abdullah Öcalan, whom she met after 10 years, was in good spirits and said, “He asked us to meet with the heads of all political parties, including the MHP, and convey his approach and expectations.”
The vigil launched at the Kobanê border against the attacks on Northern and Eastern Syria continues.
T.E., who was detained for threatening Izmir Bar Association President Sefa Yılmaz and Izmir Bar Association Secretary General Zöhre Dalkıran, was arrested.
Turkey Today – 28.12.2024
After the Justice Ministry has approved the DEM Party’s request to visit imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, today MPs Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder went to İmralı.
One thousand and 43 names, including intellectuals, writers and politicians, have called for urgent steps to start a “peace and democracy process”.
Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has announced that a delegation from the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (TBB) would visit Syria to assess the needs of Damascus. He also accused the government of targeting opposition-run municipalities through asset seizures.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloğlu announced that a delegation would be sent to Baku to investigate the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Kazakhstan.
The Turkish “defense consultant” SADAT has announced a court seized the assets of former CHP chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu after he lost a defamation lawsuit. The case followed Kılıçdaroğlu’s 2022 claims that SADAT was a “paramilitary group.”
With a presidential decree, Erdoğan founded the Family Institute and Population Policies Board following concerns over declining fertility rate in Turkey.
Turkey Today – 27.12.2024
Some areas in Şırnak were declared as ‘Temporary Special Security Zone’ for 15 days.
Aziz Sarı, spokeperson of Human Rights Association (İHD) Adana Branch Prisons Commission, states that seriously ill prisoners Fevzi and Ömer Arsan, Celal Ercan and Hacı Alagaş are at high risk of death.
Stating that the pressures, particularly solitary confinement in Erzurum Dumlu Prison No. 2 have increased prisoner Kamuran Daşdemir called for sensitivity to rights organizations.
After opposition Future Party MP Nedim Yamalı joined the ruling AKP, the future of the parliament’s fourth opposition group, the Felicity-Future Alliance, has been in danger.
Turkey Today – 26.12.2024
President Erdoğan said that Kurdish militants in Syria would either lay down their weapons or “be buried.”
The Constitutional Court has rejected the application of Hamili Yıldırım, a prisoner in İmralı Prison, on the prevention of his right to telephone calls.
Lawyers from the Asrın Law Office have made a new application to Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office for a meeting with their client Abdullah Öcalan.
The silence of the international community plays a major role in the deadly attacks on Kurdish society and journalists, says the President of PEN International, Burhan Sönmez.
A court in Turkey has banned the GÖÇİZDER association due to ‘links to a terrorist organisation’. The association documents the consequences of forced displacement within Turkey.
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced that 10 individuals have been detained in relation to the ammunition factory explosion that claimed the lives of 11 workers.
Turkey Today – 25.12.2024
Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office demanded up to 7.5 years of imprisonment for journalist Nevşin Mengü on the grounds that she committed the crime of “making terrorist organisation propaganda through press and broadcasting” due to her interview with PYD executive Salih Muslim.
The Transportation Ministry and the Energy Ministry announced that they have been seeking collaboration with the new Syrian administration.
A group from the radical Islamist party HÜDA-PAR, supporter of the government, targeted the play “My Wife’s Husband” staged by the state theaters in Diyarbakır, claiming it was “immoral.” The group gathered in front of the theater and chanted religious slogans.
A court sentenced a 16-year-old high school student to 10 months in prison for “insulting President Erdoğan.”
18 people were detained in the protest organized by The Hakkımı Ver Platform, which brings together workers and pensioners who demand secure working conditions and a humane life, after the announcement of the new minimum wage.
Turkey Today – 24.12.2024
It was reported that today Turkey and its affiliated groups bombed grain silos in northern Syria.
President Erdoğan stated that they have been happy to see individuals who have received education in Turkey in the new Syrian administration and added, “We are in close dialogue with Syrian revolution leader Al-Sharaa.”
7 prisoners in Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison were prevented from being released due to disciplinary penalties and 4 prisoners’ executions were burnt.
An explosion at an explosives factory in western Turkey’s Balıkesir province has killed 12 workers and injured five. Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç noted that the Balıkesir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had launched an investigation into the explosion.
Turkey Today – 23.12.2024
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al Sharaa in Damascus. After the meeting, Fidan said there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria’s future, calling for the YPG to disband.
MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli has stated that the PKK should dissolve after the expected meeting between imprisoned PKK leader Öcalan and the DEM Party.
Seven journalists were arrested following their detention during a protest in Istanbul held in memory of journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were killed in a Turkish drone strike Syria.
Turkey Weekly 16 – 22 December 2024
Turkey Today – 22.12.2024
The Turkish army and allied jihadist militias have once again fired on residential areas in northern and eastern Syria; a mother and her twelve-year-old daughter were killed.
After demanding an investigation into the killing of two Kurdish journalists murdered by a Turkish drone in northern Syria the Istanbul Bar Association is being investigated for “terrorism”.
An investigation has been launched against the news article titled “Journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin were killed in Syria” published on T24 and Journalist Seyhan Avşar’s social media post.
Future Party leader and former PM Ahmet Davutoğlu has stated that he had “never broken away” from the ruling AKP voters. After resigning from the AKP, he founded his opposition party in 2019, and made an alliance with the CHP.
Turkey Today – 21.12.2024
“HTS has been cooperating with us for years,” Foreign Minister Fidan told France 24, referring to his time as head of Intelligence Service MIT.
Three people were killed and another person was injured in a Turkish drone attack on a vehicle in northern Syria. The victims were civilians.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham have introduced legislation that would impose sanctions on Turkey, citing concerns over military action in northern Syria.
Journalist Özlem Gürses was detained on charges of “insulting state institutions and organs” and “publicly disseminating misleading information” following her criticism of Turkish military actions in Syria during her YouTube program.
Istanbul police have prevented a press release on the killing of Kurdish journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin by a Turkish drone in northern Syria. Dozens of people are in custody, including 20 media professionals.
Yeni Yaşam Newspaper’s website has been banned from access. The access decision was taken by a court in Diyarbakır.
It is stated that women prisoners in Patnos Prison were beaten by the wardens who raided the ward, their hands were handcuffed behind their backs and they were taken to cell.
Turkey Today – 20.12.2024
Journalists Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, who were following the developments in North and East Syria, were killed in a Turkish drone attack.
Police detained 39 people including journalists at a demonstration in the Van province to honor the journalists.
The release of Mehmet Ali Taşlı, a 30-year prisoner in Konya’s Ereğli High Security Prison, was postponed for one year by a decision of the Prison Administration and Observation Board.
A new report by the Progressive International and Stop Fuelling Genocide campaign unveiled 10 crude oil shipments from Turkey to Israel made in the past year, with eight of them breaching the former’s own trade embargo on the latter.
Adıyaman Mayor Tutdere has warned that 300,000 people were still facing the risk of getting cancer due to the asbestos released from the buildings collapsed in the February 6, 2023 major earthquakes.
Turkey Today – 19.12.2024
DEM Party MP George Aslan was speaking in Assyrian in the parliament yesterday to celebrate Christmas when his microphone was turned off.
Turkey Today – 18.12.2024
Erdogan said referring to Syria “Turkey is bigger than Turkey and we, as a nation, cannot limit our horizon to 782,000 square kilometers.”
Six of the seven arrested defendants on trial following the bomb attack by three ISIS militants at Istanbul Atatürk Airport on June 28, 2016 were released by a Supreme Court of Appeals decision. The attack killed 45 people and wounded 236 others.
Police in Turkey’s Antep province blocked the “Democratic Solution and Freedom March,” organized by the Democratic Institutions Platform.
Kurdish filmmaker Kerem Tekoğlu arrested on 16 December faces ‘terrorism’ charges over contact with dismissed mayor Ahmet Özer.
CHP’s jailed district mayor Ahmet Özer has called the imprisonment and “terrorism” charges against him “baseless” and urged for his indictment.
Turkey Workers’ Party MP Ahmet Şık read a letter from jailed former lawmaker Can Atalay in the parliament. Atalay accused lawmakers of defying the Constitution, criticized corruption, and vowed to keep fighting for justice and public welfare from prison.
Turkey Today – 17.12.2024
Turkey, continuing its attacks on North and East Syria, bombed a village west of Girê Spî city.
The vigil launched at the Qamishlo border against the attacks on North and East Syria continues on its 5th day.
President Erdoğan urged the EU to back the return of Syrian refugees and called for an inclusive administration in Syria during a press conference with European Commission President von der Leyen. He also ruled out any role for “terrorist” groups in the region.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stated that Turkey will “hold the key” to the future of Syria, where Ankara-backed rebels overthrew the government of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
CHP chair Özgür Özel has stated that Syrians in the country should return to their homelands, arguing, “There is no Assad, no regime, there is no reason for them to stay here.” He also called for the abolition of their temporary protection status.
Turkey Today – 16.12.2024
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said the Kurdish-led groups will be eliminated “sooner or later,” accusing them to threaten Syria’s stability and urging the US to reconsider their support for them.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that Turkey had no role in planning the military operations by Syrian armed groups that led to the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.
CHP and DEM Party Deputies protested trustee appointments during Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya’s speech in parliament, calling trustees “a coup against democracy.” Yerlikaya defended the practice, saying municipalities must not align with terrorism.President Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan has criticized opposition-run Istanbul’s Üsküdar Municipality for allowing mixed-gender usage of a public swimming pool.
Turkey Weekly 9 – 15 December 2024
Turkey Today – 15.12.2024
Defence Minister Yaşar Güler has stated that they were ready to provide military training to the new administration in Syria if requested.
Turkey’s attacks against the Kurdistan Region of Iraq continue. A village in Amediye was bombed today.
Turkey’s embassy in Syria’s capital Damascus has been reopened after 12 years.
President Erdoğan has welcomed Syrian refugees who want to stay in Turkey.
Criticising the monist policies of the Ministry of National Education, Beritan Güneş Altın’s Kurdish speech was interrupted by CHP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair Gülizar Biçer.
Yesterday, Saturday Mothers gathered for a symbolic 1029th time at Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square and sought justice for İbrahim Demir and Agit Akipa, who were murdered under detention 33 years ago.
Turkey Today – 14.12.2024
Minister of Defence Yaşar Güler met with Iraqi Minister of Defence Sabit Muhammed Said Said Reza Al Abbasi.
For the third time within a month, a military operation has been launched in Hakkari’s Yüksekiva district.
Journalist Nevşin Mengü, detained for an interview with Salih Muslim, former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), was released after statement procedures with a ban on leaving the country and judicial control.
Cizre Sub-governorship did not deem it “appropriate” to name parks in the city after Cemile Çağırga and Nihat Kazanhan, who were killed by police bullets.
Participants in the vigil launched at the Qamishlo border against the attacks on North and East Syria called on everyone to embrace Rojava.
President Erdoğan has banned a strike by metal workers in four factories for 60 days, claiming that it “disrupts national security.”
The European Commission has announced plans to send nearly 100 tons of aid to Syria via Turkey, including medical supplies and shelter kits. Aid distribution will involve UNICEF and WHO.
Turkey Today – 13.12.2024
Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın visited Damascus, marking the first foreign official visit since rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Kalın met HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Turkey denied claims that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan joined the trip.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara, following their meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the previous evening. The talks focused on pressing issues, including developments in Syria and the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
A court has sentenced contractor Ahmet Kara to 17.5 years in prison for causing the deaths of 96 people in a collapsed building during the Feb. 6 quakes. Victims’ relatives wished for similar accountability from public officials.
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s book The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice was banned in Turkey for the second time.
Turkey Today – 12.12.2024
Despite the ceasefire, the attacks by Turkey and the SNA around Minbic continue.
According to Reuters the head of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) Ibrahim Kalin visited the Syrian capital Damascus.
Asrin Law Office applied to the CPT demanding an urgent visit to İmralı Prison and the release of the report of the last prison visit.
The third hearing of the lawsuit filed against lawyer Necat Çiçek due to “illegal organization membership” based on the allegations of confessor Ümit Akbıyık was held in Diyarbakır. Trial adjourned until April.
Eight individuals face trial for their involvement in the 22nd İstanbul Pride Parade, held on Bağdat Avenue in Kadıköy in June 2024, according to a statement from the İstanbul LGBTI+ Pride Week Committee.
The hearing of journalist Zeynep Kuray, who was charged with “making propaganda for an illegal organisation” due to her online media posts, was postponed.
Turkey Today – 11.12.2024
The Turkish air force attacked an ambulance carrying wounded people on the road between Sirrîn and Tişrîn in Syria. One wounded person and the driver of the vehicle were killed.
A Turkish attack on a village near Kobane in northern Syria has left one child and one adult dead and two other children injured.
The military operation launched in the rural area of Bagok Mountain continues.
65-year-old Nura Kurt, who died in Germany, was buried in Wêranşar by 5 people without religious rituals under a military blockade.
Yeni Yaşam newspaper worker Serhat Durmuş and 2 young peope were detained in house raids in Siirt.
Turkey Today – 10.12.2024
At least 31 civilians killed in past 48 hours, as Turkey’s military offensive against NES continues.
Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said, “We will work to determine a suitable day” regarding the DEM Party’s application for a meeting with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Turkey has been set to open its Yayladağı border gate with Syria to oversee the safe and voluntary return of millions of Syrian migrants residing in the country, President Erdoğan announced.
After Syria’s Assad was ousted, Turkey’s Erdoğan said there were only two leaders left in the world, him and Russia’s Putin. “The others have all been eliminated,” he said.
Turkey Today – 09.12.2024
Syria’s opposition militias told Turkey about their attack plan six months ago after they sensed an opportunity to loosen Bashar al-Assad’s grip on power, sources told Reuters.
In Zirgan, Norther Syria, an agricultural area was bombed by a Turkish drone; one person was killed and two others were injured. In nearby Dirbesiyê, a killer machine attacked a car; three people were wounded.
President Erdoğan today openly expressed support for the Syrian opposition’s offensive, but moments later, he called it “troubling.”. Erinç Sağkan was reelected as the president of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB).
Turkey Today – 08.12.2024
While the attacks by Turkey-backed SNA continue in Minbic, Turkish drones bomb residential areas in the Christian-dominated Til Temir.
Eren Keskin, member of the Justice Against Isolation Initiative, stated that the isolation is connected to the solution of the Kurdish issue and that a possible solution in Turkey would positively affect other countries as well.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that the new administration must be inclusive as “Syria has reached a stage where Syrian people will shape the future of their own country.” Fidan also said Turkey, hosting millions of Syrian migrants, had started work on their return.
Turkey Today – 07.12.2024
Prisoners in Suluca High Security Closed Prison stated that they are subjected to oral searches, social activities are prevented and Kurdish conversations between them are not allowed.
Saturday Mothers gathered at Galatasaray Square in week 1028 and demanded the fate of Hüseyin Taşkaya, who was disappeared 31 years ago by soldiers.
A court has ordered the release of former Turkish Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) President Nasuh Mahruki after two weeks in detention. Mahruki faces up to three years in prison for allegedly spreading false information in social media posts.
Turkey Today – 06.12.2024
“We hope that this march in Syria will continue without any accidents,” President Erdoğan said on the developments in Syria.
The second hearing in the case filed against lawyer Nazan Betül Vangölü Kozağaçlı, executive director of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), on charges of “membership in an illegal organization,” was held in Istanbul. Trial postponed to February.
Interior Minister and current AKP MP Süleyman Soylu said he would quit politics after his term ends and he would only give consultation.
Turkey Today – 05.12.2024
Turkey and affiliated paramilitary groups intensified their attacks on Minbic. In the attacks where houses were looted and set on fire, 1 woman was killed and 2 women were wounded.
Lawyers from Asrin Law Office applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the prison directorate for a meeting with their client PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
The 3rd Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court overturned the decision on the restitution of divested rights of Wan Metropolitan Municipality co-mayor Abdullah Zeydan, on the grounds that it was “irregular”.
According to the Interior Minister, 147 suspected members of the “PKK/KCK-PYD/YPG” organization were arrested in ten days during a nationwide operation by the police.
Turkey Today – 04.12.2024
MHP chair Devlet Bahçeli has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to hold unconditional talks with Turkish President Erdoğan in the light of his army’s recent setbacks in the battlefield.
The DEM Party organized a protest in Urfa’s Suruç district against recent offensives in Syria by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.
Turkish police again confiscated books at a book fair organized in Diyarbakır.
İzmir province’s Bornova District Directorate of Education has assigned Islamic religious officials to 99 schools in the district, according to a notice sent to schools.
Turkey Today – 03.12.2024
Dersim Co-Mayor Birsen Orhan was released after the court accepted the objection of her lawyers.
An international delegation from various countries has applied to the Justice Ministry for talks with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that recent developments in Syria highlighted the importance of the Syrian government reconciling with both “its people and the opposition.”
Attacks on North & East Syria were protested in many cities in Turkey. 50 people were detained.
Police officers confiscated Nelson Mandela’s book “Long walk to Freedom” and a book compiling Mehmet Hayri Durmuş’s letters at the 8th Book Fair in Diyarbakır.
Turkey Today – 02.12.2024
A military operation was launched from two branches with the participation of soldiers and village guards in the countryside of Hakkari’s Gever district.
Turkey and affiliated paramilitary groups attacked the villages of Minbij in Syria.
Afrin and Şehba People’s Assembly announced that they decided to evacuate civilians in the region against a possible massacre by (Turkey-backed) paramilitary groups.
9 people were arrested for protesting against President Erdoğan over trade with Israel.
The release of 66-year-old ill prisoner Besra Erol, held in Elazığ Women’s Closed Prison, was prevented for 1 year.
Turkey Today – 01.12.2024
Turkish warplanes bombed a border town in Dohuk in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
Turkey and its paramilitary jihadists groups shelled villages in Efrin-Shahba in northern Syria.
Warplanes attributed to Turkey circle over the small Christian town of Til Temir in Syria. At the same time, artillery attacks on residential areas are taking place and villages on the northern outskirts of the town are now without electricity.
Marmara University launched an investigation against 25 students who participated in a demonstration against the massacres of women.
Following the government’s recent crackdown against opposition-run municipalities, mayors from the CHP issued a joint statement, saying they stood united against “all kinds of attacks on our municipalities aimed at preventing a change in government.”
Yesterday, Saturday Mothers gathered for a symbolic 1027th time at Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square and sought the fate of Ahmet Yetişen, who was forcibly disappeared under detention 30 years ago.