Turkey

ANKARA | 21-01-2014 | Families of the Roboski massacre victims have filed a formal objection against the military prosecutor’s dismissal of the investigation into the case. The General Staff’s Military Prosecutor’s Office have dismissed the investigation into the massacre, on 7 January, saying that military officers have made an “inevitable” mistake while doing their duty. The petition of objection was ...

ISTANBUL |19-01-2014 | Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was born in Malatya. Dink was best known for his role as editor of ‘Agos’ Turkish and Armenian Language weekly in Istanbul. He worked as the columnist and editor-in chief of AGOS weekly newspaper, which can be regarded as the voice of Armenian community, from 1996 until January ...

ISTANBUL | 19-01-2014 |It is reported that 6 people were arrested yesterday evening after a demonstration in the Alsancak area of Izmir against internet censorship. The ‘Hands off my internet’ march was called in protest at a draft bill introduced by the government to censor the internet. Hundreds of people responded to calls made on social media, gathering in Kıbrıs ...

ISTANBUL | 17-01-2014 | The HDP (Peoples Democracy Party) has announced its list of candidates to fight the local elections scheduled for 30 March. At a meeting in Ankara to introduce the candidates HDP Co-chair Sebahat Tuncel said: ” We will promote freedom for women and unity and togetherness.” After Tuncel’s speech the candidates were introduced. The HDP’s Istanbul candidates ...

SİİRT | 12-01-2014 | 13-year-old Kader Erten, who was married off at 11 and gave birth at 12, has been found shot dead at her home in Pervari district of Siirt province. Her second child, who had been born prematurely, died recently. It is reported that Kader, originally from the Çatak district of Van province, was given in marriage (without ...

TRABZON| 08-01-2014 | Law enforcement officers captured Zeynel Abidin Yavuz and Osman Hayal who have been top suspects within the retrial of 18 defendants in the case of murdered Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Gendarmerie forces detained Yavuz as he was walking on the street in Pelitli neighborhood in the Ortahisar district of Trabzon province onTuesday. Osman Hayal was also captured ...

AMED | 07-01-2014 | The military prosecutor of the chief of General Staff has issued a verdict of non-prosecution in the investigation into the massacre of 34 people who were killed as the result of a bombardment by Turkish warplanes near the village of Roboski in the Şırnak’s Uludere district on 28 December 2011. Victims of the massacre were mostly ...

TURKEY | 06-01-2014 | The İzmir branches of the Human Rights Association (IHD) Contemporary Jurists Association (ÇHD) and TAYD-DER have issued a joint press release to highlight the torture suffered by four children transferred to Şakran prison after being tortured in Sincan prison. According to the children, they were beaten with truncheons and pipes when their sick friends failed to ...

HALUK GERGER| 05-01-2014 | Prof. Dr. Haluk Gerger says the Rojava Kurds face being under siege before the Geneva II conference, adding: “The Kurds will participate with their own identity and are behaving sensibly. However, there is intrigue against them. In the event that the Kurds sit down at the conference with an autonomous administration they will have strategically gained ...

ANKARA | 04-01-2014 |Twelve child inmates in Ankara’s Sincan prison were battered by prison officers this week. After the assault the children were subject to, eight among them were transferred to other jails on Friday; four to the Şakran prison in the western province of İzmir and four others to the Maltepe prison in Istanbul. The transfers have reportedly been ...