{"id":1321,"date":"2023-04-04T21:56:28","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T19:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/?page_id=1321"},"modified":"2023-05-02T23:23:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T21:23:51","slug":"april-2023","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/?page_id=1321","title":{"rendered":"April 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Turkey Weekly 24 – 30 April 2023<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 30.04.2023<\/strong>
The HDP’s Central Executive Council released a statement defining the mass arrests in Turkey as a futile attempt to intimidate the AKP\/MHP regime, which is facing defeat, and warning of security problems in the elections on 14 May.
During an operation targeting the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) members, many people, including ESP co-chair \u015eahin T\u00fcm\u00fckl\u00fc and candidates for the Green Left Party, were detained.
A court has opened a lawsuit against a 13-year-old child over the alleged charges of \u201cinsulting the President.\u201d The prosecutor argued that the child “attacked the honor and dignity of the President.”
Etkin News Agency (ETHA) editor Nadiye G\u00fcrb\u00fcz has been taken into custody after an early morning police raid to her house in Istanbul as part of an Eski\u015fehir based investigation.\u00a0
An imam has stated that the ruling AKP members called and asked him to convince the members of the congregation of his mosque to attend President Erdo\u011fan\u2019s rally in \u0130zmir province. Imam K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7 said he refused the request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 29.04.2023<\/strong>
Interior Minister S\u00fcleyman Soylu’s bodyguards took journalist Filiz Gazi’s ID card and phone and tried to delete the videos on it after she asked the minister about his remarks deeming the May 14 election the “West\u2019s coup attempt.”
CHP members conducting election campaigns in Diyarbak\u0131r’s Hazro district faced police intervention on April 27. The police opened fire in the air and detained five members, including party\u2019s head of the district youth branch.
Houses were raided in some cities based on an Ankara-based investigation. Many people, including Mesopotamia Agency’s editor Sedat Y\u0131lmaz and Dicle F\u0131rat Journalists Association (DFG) Co-chairperson Dicle M\u00fcft\u00fco\u011flu, were detained during the raids.
Saturday Mothers who gathered at Taksim Square to ask about the fate of their relatives who disappeared in custody have been attacked again by police. 25 people were detained.\u00a0
MHP chair Devlet Bah\u00e7eli has argued that presidential candidate Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu’s Alevism \u201cis not sincere.\u201d\u00a0
A footage showing a rescue team in Kars hanging election posters for President Erdo\u011fan and the ruling AKP went viral on social media.\u00a0
Green Left Party and HDP politicians as well as activists gathered in front of the Diyarbak\u0131r Courthouse and protested the government\u2019s pre-election wave of arrests.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 28.04.2023<\/strong>
Interior Minister S\u00fcleyman Soylu referred to the upcoming elections as the \u201cWest\u2019s political coup attempt,\u201d while speaking during a visit to an Islamic foundation.
Labor and Freedom Alliance announced officially that they will support Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu in the Presidential elections.
Families of PKK Leader Abdullah \u00d6calan and \u00d6mer Hayri Konar, Hamili Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m and Veysi Akta\u015f held in \u0130mral\u0131 Prison applied to the Bursa prosecutor’s office and the prison directorate for a visit.\u00a0
The court decided to continue the detention of HDP MP Semra G\u00fczel.\u00a0
Justice Minister Bozda\u011f divided the society into two fractions — those who will either celebrate the May 14 election results by \u201cpopping up champagne\u201d or by praying to God with \u201ctheir clean forehead.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 27.04.2023<\/strong>
Journalists Abdurrahman G\u00f6k, Beritan Can\u00f6zer, Mehmet \u015eah Oru\u00e7 and Remzi Akkaya, who were detained during the Diyarbak\u0131r-based operation, were arrested.\u00a0
20 people were detained in house raids in two villages of \u015e\u0131rnak.\u00a0
Six suspects have been remanded in custody in connection with an attack on an election campaign office of the CHP in \u0130stanbul.\u00a0
President Erdo\u011fan spoke with Russian President Putin over the phone ahead of the opening ceremony for a nuclear plant built by Russia’s Rosatom in Mersin. The two leaders discussed Turkey-Russia relations, regional issues, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, and recent developments in Syria.\u00a0
AKP Parliamentary Group Deputy Chair B\u00fclent Turan has argued that radical Islamist H\u00dcDA-PAR is not a part of the ruling People\u2019s Alliance. They \u201cdecided to support Erdo\u011fan,\u201d Turan noted, despite the AKP nominated four deputy candidates from H\u00dcDA-PAR.
The government opened Ankara-Sivas High-Speed Train service, which will be free for one month. The United Transport Workers Union (BTS) stated that the project was put into operation before completing signalling system on the Ankara-K\u0131r\u0131kkale line.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 26.04.2023<\/strong>
Packages prepared by AFAD for earthquake victims are distributed in the election vehicle of Derya Yan\u0131k, Minister of Family and Social Services, who is AKP Osmaniye MP candidate.
There has been fighter jet activity in Diyarbak\u0131r since early in the morning. While the mobility of the warplanes that took off from the 8th Air Jet Base Command in a row continues, more than 30 takeoffs have been made so far.\u00a0
Presidential spokesperson \u0130brahim Kal\u0131n has denied the reports that a government delegation had held meetings with jailed PKK leader Abdullah \u00d6calan on \u0130mral\u0131 Island during the election campaign process.\u00a0
Green Left Party Kocaeli MP candidate Ayten D\u00f6nmez has been detained.\u00a0
Turkey and its affiliated groups attacked a village west of the city of Koban\u00ea in Northern Syria.\u00a0
At the appointment ceremony for 3,500 disabled teachers, President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan said to a disabled teacher, “But you don’t look like a disabled person. Are you disabled?”
A court has acquitted CHP Istanbul chair Canan Kaftanc\u0131o\u011flu in the case launched after she called President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan “dictator.”\u00a0
Four people were taken into custody in raids conducted in Tekirda\u011f on charges of “making propaganda for a terrorist organization.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 25.04.2023<\/strong>
Foreign Minister Mevl\u00fct \u00c7avu\u015fo\u011flu has called U.S. President Joe Biden “charlatan” over his April 24 statement marking the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. \u00c7avu\u015fo\u011flu deemed Biden’s remark as an “attempt by political charlatans to distort history.”\u00a0
Ankara Governor\u2019s Office banned a panel organized by the Ankara provincial assembly of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) on the anniversary of the Armenian genocide under the title “Don\u2019t Forget, Face: 1915.”\u00a0
As part of the Diyarbakir-based investigation, the City Theater, Dicle Culture and Art Association and Mesopotamia Culture and Art Association were raided, many artists were detained. Among the detained in the wave of arrest were also 10 journalists.
Today the defence ministers of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Russia met in Moscow. The Minister talked about Turkey-Syria relations.\u00a0
3 children were killed and 2 injured in the attack of Turkey on the Elebid village of Til Temir with howitzers.\u00a0
Ministry of Family and Social Services announced that out of 1914 unattended children rescued in February 6 earthquakes, 1808 have been handed over to their families. The identities of 16 rescued children are still unknown.\u00a0\u00a0
Nazan \u00d6zcan, the ex-chief editor of bianet, standing trial for a report about another law case against two journalists, and facing “insult” and “libel” charges, was acquitted at the court in today’s hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 24.04.2023<\/strong>
Nation Alliance\u2019s presidential candidate Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu has announced the vice presidency roles of CHP mayors Ekrem \u0130mamo\u011flu and Mansur Yava\u015f should they assume power in the election.
The Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, run by the ruling AKP, has instructed the personnel to attend Erdo\u011fan\u2019s rally in the province scheduled for today.\u00a0 \u00a0
The first hearing of the trial in which Izmir Bar Association’s former president \u00d6zkan Y\u00fccel and 10 Board Members face \u201copenly degrading the religious values adopted by a section of the public\u201d was held in Izmir. Reasoning that the elements of the offense the lawyers were charged with did not occur, the court acquitted all the lawyers.
The second hearing of the trial in which imprisoned Mesopotamia News Agency reporter Ceylan \u015eahinli faces \u201cmaking propaganda for a terrorist organization\u201d charge was held in Ankara. The court adjourned the trial until 12 June 2023 to review the case file as part of which \u015eahinli is in pre-trial detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turkey Weekly 17 – 23 April 2023<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 23.04.2023<\/strong>
A warplane of the Turkish Armed Forces bombed a village of Amediye in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
President Erdo\u011fan has argued that the opposition parties are against \u201cthe sacred family structure\u201d for not being against to the LGBTI+ community. 
The Justice Watch carried out by the \u015eenya\u015far family has reached day 761. The sit-in was launched in 2021 by Emine \u015eenya\u015far, who lost her husband and two sons as a result of the attack carried out by AKP MP \u0130brahim Halil Y\u0131ld\u0131z’s bodyguards and relatives in Urfa in 2018. 
A bus belonging to the company \u00d6zlem Batman, which was traveling from Alanya, in the province of Antalya, to Batman, was stopped by a group on the highway and attacked. Three were injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 22.04.2023<\/strong>
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, who has been nominated by the ruling party as a candidate for a parliamentary seat, supported slogans calling for violence shouted by the audience at a party meeting and replied, \u201cWait, the time will come”.
The car convoy of presidential candidate Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu was physically attacked by AKP supporters in Ad\u0131yaman\u2019s Kahta district. After this attack, K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu cancelled his program in the district and decided to go back to Ankara.
Despite the Constitutional Court’s judgment, the Saturday Mothers’ vigil was once again prevented by the police and 17 members of the initiative were taken into custody. Eren Keskin, co-chair of the Human Rights Association, is among the detained. 
The Human Rights Association stated that 13 prisoners, 3 of them with firearms and 6 of them suspects, lost their lives in the prisons in Central Anatolia in the first three months of the year, and that 52 detainees were tortured and 32 detainees were prevented from being released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 21.04.2023<\/strong>
\u0130stanbul’s ban on commemorating the Armenian Genocide continues this year, as the governor’s office has once again prohibited an event planned to be held in the Kad\u0131k\u00f6y district.
International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) Deputy Chairperson Reyhan Yal\u00e7\u0131nda\u011f said that if Turkey resists the decisions of the ECtHR, the issue will be brought to the Council of Europe and the process of expulsion from the council may be initiated.
CHP leader and Nation Alliance’s presidential candidate Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu on April 21 paid a visit to a cemetery in quake-torn Ad\u0131yaman. At the cemetery, a citizen verbally attacked K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu over his Alevi identity and said he does not know Islamic prayers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 20.04.2023<\/strong>
Journalist Serdar Akinan has been taken into custody yesterday. The prosecutor decided to release journalist Serdar Akinan after taking his statement. Lawyer G\u00fcnel confirmed that the allegations against his client is in connection with his interview with Muhammet Yakut who has been leveling corruption allegations against current and former government officials as well as some businesspeople.
The prisoners, who stated that they were exposed to rights violations in Edirne Type F Prison, said that ill prisoners were tried to be treated by handcuffing them to stretchers. 
Warplanes of Turkish Armed Forces bombed villages in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Amediye district. Turkey also continues its attacks on Northern Syria. 
Asr\u0131n Law Office’s lawyers and families applied to meet Abdullah \u00d6calan and other prisoners \u00d6mer Hayri Konar, Hamili Y\u0131ld\u0131r\u0131m and Veysi Akta\u015f on the occasion of Ramadan Feast. 
The 15 July Association has filed a criminal complaint against Green Left Party deputy candidate and journalist Cengiz \u00c7andar over his remark that the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey was organized \u201cwithin the knowledge of the regime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 19.04.2023<\/strong>
Gunshots were fired at the CHP’s campaign office in the \u00d6rnek neighborhood in Ata\u015fehir, \u0130stanbul, according to a Twitter post by the \u0130stanbul provincial chair, Canan Kaftanc\u0131o\u011flu. 
The High Election Board (YSK) has ruled that ministers running for parliament do not have to resign from their positions. 
Diyarbak\u0131r Regional Court of Justice upheld the 22 years and 6 months prison sentence given to TJA Spokesperson Ay\u015fe G\u00f6kkan.
Quake-torn Hatay province\u2019s Mayor L\u00fctf\u00fc Sava\u015f has stated that at least 500,000 voters might not be able to come back to vote because the airport will stay closed until May 17, three days after the elections.
In the indictment of detained journalist Zeynel Abidin Bulut, it was claimed that Bulut “acted with the target and ideology of the organization” because of the phrase “guerrilla” in the confiscated notebook. 
According to the Hawar News Agency (ANHA), the Dibis village of Ayn Isa in the North and East Syrian city and the vicinity of the M4 highway were bombed by Turkey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 18.04.2023<\/strong>
In the investigation carried out regarding the beating of Nurullah S, who was detained in Mardin’s Nusaybin district, the prosecutor gave a decision of non-prosecution on the allegation that the police and the plate of the armored vehicle could not be detected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalist Mehmet G\u00fcle\u015f, who was tried again after the Supreme Court reversed the sentence given to him for “propagandizing for a terrorist organization”, was sentenced to 1 year, 9 months and 25 days. 
Journalist \u0130smail \u00c7oban, the former Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper Azadiya Welat, which was closed down with the Statutory Decree (KHK), was sentenced to 1 year, 6 months and 22 days in prison. 
The lawyer of the family of the 17-year-old Gabonese university student Jennah Danys Dinabongho Ibouanga, whose death has not yet been clarified, has said that prosecutors have restricted access to the investigation file.
Presidential candidate Kemal K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7daro\u011flu has criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan for labeling Kurds as terrorists in order to secure more nationalist votes ahead of the May 14 elections. 
An appeals court has overturned the sentence of a social media user who was charged with insulting the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Devlet Bah\u00e7eli, by calling him a “dotard” on Facebook. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 17.04.2023<\/strong>
YSK Chairperson Ahmet Yener announced that the number of voters who will vote on May 14 is 60 million 697 thousand 843. 
S\u0131rr\u0131 S\u00fcreyya \u00d6nder, a Green Left Party MP candidate who is working to return to parliament in the elections, is facing an arrest warrant. An arrest warrant was issued last week. \u00d6nder is one of 108 HDP politicians who are on trial for the Koban\u00ee protests in 2014. 
The release of Ya\u015far Aslan, who was convicted at the State Security Court (DGM) of the time, and who has spent 30 years in prison, was postponed for the second time last week because he did not “show regret.” 
68 political women prisoners in Sincan Women’s Closed Prison in Ankara sent a letter to the CPT, raising concern over the suspicious deaths in prisons and the increase in the number of prisoners sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. 
Diyarbakir 4th High Criminal Court, which accepted the indictment of 18 journalists, 15 of whom were imprisoned in Amed(Diyarbak\u0131r), decided to continue the arrest of journalists in its file analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turkey Weekly 10 – 16 April 2023<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 16.04.2023<\/strong>
Five people were detained during police raids in \u015e\u0131rnak’s \u0130dil district. 
The family of Lokman G\u00f6rg\u00fcn, the father of 8 children who was executed in Mardin and accused of being a \u201cPKK member\u201d by the Turkish authorities, applied to the Human Rights Association (IHD).
Malatya’s Battalgazi District Municipality has evicted earthquake victims from collective tents to accommodate police officers. Survivors were transferred to a tent set up by philanthropists but were denied entry upon arrival.
The Justice Watch carried out by the \u015eenya\u015far family has reached 755. The sit-in was launched in March 2021 by Emine \u015eenya\u015far, who lost her husband and two sons as a result of the attack carried out by AKP MP \u0130brahim Halil Y\u0131ld\u0131z’s bodyguards and relatives in the Suru\u00e7 province of Urfa in June 2018.
Media watchdog RT\u00dcK has blocked the broadcast of the famous series \u201cCranberry Sherbet” for five weeks. On April 14, the media watchdog mandated the TV channel to air a documentary about Islamophobia instead of the series that is about the conflicts between a secular and conservative family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 15.04.2023<\/strong>
Human Rights Association Co-Chair Eren Keskin has been detained at Sabiha G\u00f6k\u00e7en airport due to social media posts. 
This week, police again attacked the Saturday Mothers who gathered at Galatasaray Square and detained at least 12 people. 
Stating that they still did not receive a response to the application made to the Ministry and YSK on March 21 regarding the situation of women in shelters, Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation volunteer Zeynep Ekin Aklar said: “The regulation of the YSK remained technical.” 
The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) has demanded that the Istanbul Medical Chamber launch an investigation into Turkish Red Crescent head Kerem K\u0131n\u0131k, a doctor by profession, over his actions that do not comply with the principles of medical ethics. 
The Ministry of Interior refused to share information and documents, arguing that “they are not the hostile party” in the lawsuit filed for the disclosure of Sheikh Said’s burial place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 14.04.2023<\/strong>
Lawyer Turgut Kazan, the former chairperson of the \u0130stanbul Bar, brought the decision of the Supreme Election Council (YSK) that President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan can run once again for the presidency, to the European Court of Human Rights. 
It has been learned that the secret witness “CV23TY45UP78”, who was included in the indictment of 18 journalists, 15 of whom were imprisoned in Diyarbak\u0131r, was heard before the HDP’s decision to block the treasury aid and was shown as evidence in the file.
Mesopotamia News Agency reporter Dilan Akyol has been taken into custody and reportedly taken to the counter-terrorism bureau of the Antalya Directorate of Security. She has been released after providing her statement. 
The Constitutional Court ruled that Yunis Karata\u015f who started the fire that caused the Sivas Massacre in 1993 has “committed a terror crime” but cannot be evaluated as a “terror verdict” since the latter requires the presence of a definite terrorist organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 13.04.2023<\/strong>
In Urfa’s Halfeti district the AKP mayor began to distribute the aid boxes that he did not distribute to the people during the earthquake, with the start of the election. 
In Antalya 4 people were detained on the grounds that they were “propagandizing for a terrorist organization” by participating in Newroz. 
Release of Hamit Babat, a prisoner of 30 years in Bolu prison, was delayed for the second time on the grounds of “not using water sparingly” and “not participating in spiritual activities”.
In the indictment of imprisoned DFG Co-Chair Serdar Altan, the commemoration of the murdered journalist Musa Anter was considered an “organizational statement”, and the statements he made for his arrested and murdered colleagues were considered “evidence” for the crime.
The second hearing of the trial in which columnist Levent G\u00fcltekin faces \u201cinsulting the president\u201d charge was held in Istanbul. Reasoning that the elements of the offense G\u00fcltekin was charged with did not occur, the judge ruled to acquit G\u00fcltekin.
The first hearing of the trial in which journalist Rabia \u00c7etin faces \u201cidentifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets\u201d and \u201cinsulting a public official\u201d charges was held in Istanbul. Trial adjourned until September. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 12.04.2023<\/strong>
Green Left Party election offices in Ankara and \u0130zmir were attacked by an unidentified person or persons. 
Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati and Justice Minister Bekir Bozda\u011f have held their first meetings with the AKP’s provincial organizations and deputy candidates at the ministry buildings in Ankara. The opposition criticized current ministers for running for deputyship without resigning from their posts, despite being appointed as public officials.
The Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) announced the representations and dates for the voting process abroad, which will start on April 27. 
The indictment prepared by the Diyarbak\u0131r Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office against 22 people, 20 of whom are journalists, has been accepted by the Diyarbak\u0131r 4th High Criminal Court. 
3 family members of S\u00fcleyman Cabir, who was killed by the bullet of the gendarmerie in \u00c7anakkale, were arrested. 
Serhat Kayan, who was released from Kayseri No. 2 High Security Closed Prison, stated that there is a serious torture system in prisons. 
Without explicitly giving Prof. Naci G\u00f6r\u00fcr’s name, President Erdo\u011fan has targeted the veteran seismologist and belittled him with the remarks of “professor-waste.” G\u00f6r\u00fcr has been warning the government against rapid mega construction projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 11.04.2023<\/strong>
At the request of the MHP, the Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) decided that the HDP should not be represented on the electoral board. The MHP will now take its place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heavy penal courts have released 58 Hizbullah convicts from jail who applied for retrial since 2019. The Court of Cassation had upheld all of the members’ aggravated life sentences so their punishment had been finalized.
After the petition of the party not to plead verbally today at the supreme court, the case file was sent to the rapporteur for the opinion as to the accusations to be prepared. 
The Tukish Medical Association’s appeal against the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the withdrawal from the \u0130stanbul Convention was rejected. 
Osman \u015eiban, who was seriously injured after being thrown from a helicopter in Van, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison in the case of “being a member of a terrorist organization”. 
Amnesty International warned the Constitutional Court to consider the decisions of the ECtHR, warning that the HDP case’s conclusion with a decision to close it would lead to “violation of rights”. 
Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has stated that Hollywood \u201cplayed an important role in the formation of\u201d Islamophobia. Ersoy said the Western media has developed a racist discourse against Muslims.
The second hearing of the trial in which journalists \u0130zel Sezer and Batuhan Batan face \u201cinsult\u201d and \u201clibel\u201d charges upon complaint by President Erdo\u011fan\u2019s former lawyer Mustafa Do\u011fan \u0130nal was held in \u0130stanbul. Giving additional time for journalist \u0130zel Sezer to present her arguments, the judge adjourned the trial until October. 
The first hearing of the trial in which the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association\u2019s former chair Gani Kaplan faces \u201cmaking propaganda for a terrorist organization\u201d charge was held in Ankara. Reasoning that the conduct Kaplan was charged with has not been defined as a crime in the law, the court ruled to acquit Gani Kaplan.
Two people were detained during police raids in \u015e\u0131rnak’s Cizre district. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 10.04.2023<\/strong>
26 political parties will compete in Turkey\u2019s upcoming general election. 
Describing the PKK’s decision of inaction as a moral and political stance, the imprisoned Co-Mayor of Amed Metropolitan Municipality, Sel\u00e7uk M\u0131zrakl\u0131, said: “By observing an environment where such great pain and distress is experienced and the mobilization of the society, it has been the right step to prevent blurring.”
A prison sentence was demanded for journalist Cengiz \u00c7andar, the Green Left Party Diyarbak\u0131r MP candidate, for allegedly praising the “crime and the criminal” in his post 6 years ago. The post referred to Ay\u015fe Deniz Karacagil, known as the \u201cGirl in the Red Scarf\u201d and who lost her life fighting against ISIS in Raqqa in 2017.
Ruling AKP\u2019s Samsun Mayor Mustafa Demir has filed a criminal complaint against a 15-year-old child, demanding that they be prosecuted on charges of \u201cinsulting\u201d over a tweet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turkey Weekly 3 – 9 April 2023<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 09.04.2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the parties submitted the lists of candidates to the Supreme Election Board. 
A prosecutor has issued a decision of non-prosecution in the investigation regarding the assassination plot against HDP’s Armenian MP Garo Paylan.
One of the two men killed in Mardin’s \u00d6meryan district is Lokman G\u00f6rg\u00fcn, father of 8 children. The Interior Minister had tweeted that two PKK fighters had been killed. 
IHD Co-chair Eren Keskin said of the military inaction declared by the PKK, “This is valuable. As far as the silence of the weapons is concerned, our position is clear. However, it is a big problem that this is not talked about in public.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 08.04.2023<\/strong>
Turkey\u2019s main opposition bloc Nation Alliance will enter elections under CHP and \u0130Y\u0130 Party. Accordingly, other four parties will nominate deputy candidates from the CHP list.
Ahmet Mayuk, who attacked the HDP \u00c7ukurova district building in April 2022 with a stone, was prosecuted for “damaging property”. 
After the ruling of the Constitutional Court Saturday Mothers gathered in Istanbul\u2019s Galatasaray Square. Police attacked the gathering and detained at least 15 people, including IHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin. 
While the sit-in of the people of the region against the cement factory under construction in Mu\u011fla’s De\u015ftin and Bay\u0131r neighborhoods continued on its 6th day, the gendarmerie attacked the villagers and detained seven. 
It has come to light that Turkish Family Minister Derya Yan\u0131k hosted an Ankara businessman at her office during a trial process against him on charges of sexually abusing a child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 07.04.2023<\/strong>
Turkey carried out 41 attacks against HPG in two days in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 
8 people, including 5 children, of the 15 people who were detained in Van on April 4, were released after deposition, while 7 people are being held in custody. 
\u0130brahim \u00c7ift\u00e7i, who killed Turkish prosecutor Do\u011fan \u00d6z while he was trying to investigate the counter-guerrilla organizations before the 1980 military coup, became the MHP’s deputy candidate from Ankara. 
The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) has signed a new protocol with the Education Ministry and Youth and Sports Ministry, giving it authority to conduct workshops on \u201cmorals and values\u201d for students.
Mahir Akkoyun, who designed stickers that read “Did this product seem expensive to you? Thanks to Erdo\u011fan” was detained on charges of \u201cinsulting the president\u201d. 
Ya\u015far Aslan, a 30-year prisoner held in Tekirda\u011f No. 2 Type F Prison, is not released even though he has completed his execution because he did not accept the “Repentance” imposition of the Prison Administration and Observation Board. 
An investigation was launched against journalist Cengiz \u00d6zbasar, who reported on the work of DEDA\u015e workers, on the allegation of “inciting the people to hatred and hostility or insulting them”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 05.04.2023<\/strong>
CHP Istanbul Chair Canan Kaftanc\u0131o\u011flu announced that an armed attack was made on the party’s \u0130stanbul office early in the morning. 
The election office of the Green Left Party opened in Bah\u00e7elievler was attacked. 
HDP made public the petition the party has submitted to the Constitutional Court indicating that the party will not be pleading in the closure case on April 11. 
7 people were detained in Antalya on the grounds that they participated in Newroz and shouted slogans.
\u0130brahim A\u015fkan, who was transferred from \u015eakran to Tekirda\u011f Prison, stated that he was subjected to a stripped search and that even a bed sheet was not provided in the cell he was put in. 
Cameraman Nihat Findikli working for the pro-government A Haber TV channel has announced that he was fired three days after saying he would not support Erdo\u011fan in the presidential elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 05.04.2023<\/strong>
Despite the military inaction decision declared by the KCK after the earthquake and extended until the elections, Turkey continues its attacks against the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 
HDP former MP \u0130dris Baluken has been released from prison after completing his execution. 
The Green Left Party Diyarbak\u0131r Provincial Organization opened the first women’s election office in Kayap\u0131nar district. 
Taylan Sapan, headman of Musolar District of Pazarc\u0131k, where the debris removal work has not started, stated that they are worried about being left alone and asked when the structures will be built in their villages.
The hearing of the lawsuit in which the prosecutor requests the closure of the We Will Stop Femicide Platform for allegedly \u201cacting against the law and morality\u201d was held in \u0130stanbul. 
Turkey\u2019s media watchdog has imposed a 3 percent revenue fine against opposition broadcasters Fox TV, Halk TV, and Tele 1 over journalists\u2019 remarks in criticism of the government. 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the airspace of Turkey has been closed to aircraft that will use Sulaymaniyah International Airport. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Tanju Bilgi\u00e7, cited the “intensification of PKK activities” as the reason for the decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 04.04.2023<\/strong>
The Supreme Electoral Council (YSK) has released a justified decision regarding its rejection of objections against the nominations of the presidential candidates. Presidential term limits don’t apply to Erdo\u011fan, top election body concludes. 
At least 3 people were detained in house raids in Mardin early in the morning. 
20 people, 7 of them children, were detained in police raids in Van. 
The objection to the fact that Adnan Bilen, who was on the visitor list of DFG Co-chair Serdar Altan, was not allowed to meet because he was found “inconvenient”, was rejected by the Court of Execution on the same grounds. 
The first hearing of the trial in which journalist Sezgin Kartal faces \u201cmembership in a terrorist organization\u201d charge was held in Istanbul. The court decided to continue Kartal’s detention. Trial adjourned until June. 
Mehmet Paksoy, who is imprisoned in Eski\u015fehir Prison, is not released on the grounds that he speaks “organizational language” despite his sentence being completed. 
The management of Istanbul Technical University (\u0130T\u00dc) has dismissed the Urban and Regional Planning Department\u2019s head from duty after the department\u2019s academics released a declaration in criticism of a presidential decree opening the earthquake zone to rapid construction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 03.04.2023<\/strong>
Soldiers who attacked the election office opening event of the Green Left Party in Urfa’s Halfeti district detained 7 people.
In Istanbul, many people, including HDP Youth Council members and journalist Sema Korkmaz were detained during police raids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kurdish Freedom and Democracy Alliance called on all Kurds to unite around the Green Left Party in the May 14 elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality trustee sold 97 decares of land for 600 million TL before the election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawyer of the citizens who were detained and tortured for protesting against the construction of the GES in Viran\u015fehir, \u0130brahim Ekti, said: “The gendarmerie covered their faces with masks and applied systematic violence and torture to 2 citizens for a long time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turkey Weekly 2 April<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Turkey Today – 02.04.2023<\/strong>
The Green Left Party Women’s Council announced the Declaration of Women regarding the elections. The women of the Green Left Party started the election campaign with the slogan “Again Women, Again Life” and “We are here, we will replace it with women”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A court has banned the news reports of journalists \u0130smail Saymaz and Fatih Altayl\u0131 regarding the Hizbullah upon the request of the radical Islamist Free Cause Party (H\u00dcDAPAR). The party has recently thrown its support behind the ruling AKP.
Court reporter Seyhan Av\u015far of Halk TV reported that an unnamed member of the Constitutional Court told her that President Erdo\u011fan had called some members who voted to lift the ban on HDP and expressed his disappointment. 
Istanbul Technical University (\u0130T\u00dc) rectorate has blocked access to the Urban and Regional Planning Department’s website after its academics criticized the presidential decree on rapid construction after the earthquake. 
Journalist Ziya Ataman, who is held in Dumlu High Security Prison No. 2, reported that they are under heavy isolation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turkey Weekly 24 – 30 April 2023 Turkey Today – 30.04.2023The HDP’s Central Executive Council released a statement defining the mass arrests in Turkey as a futile attempt to intimidate the AKP\/MHP regime, which is facing defeat, and warning of… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1321","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/eutcc.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}