Posts Tagged ‘Turkey’
April 11th, 2012
Eminent Turkish free expression champion
Ragip Zarakolu was freed from prison in Turkey pending trial along with 14 others
yesterday. Zarakolu, director of the Belge Publishing House, which has published works on taboo subjects such as the Armenian genocide and minority rights in Turkey, was arrested last October as part of a crackdown on those accused of supporting the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK). He was indicted on 19 March under Turkish anti-terrorism laws for “aiding and abetting an illegal organisation,” a charge that could carry a 15-year sentence.
April 4th, 2012
A
Turkish politician has been sentenced to
15 years in prison after delivering speeches in the run up to elections in June 2011. Serafettin Halis, former Deputy of the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) was convicted of being part of an illegal organisation, and creating propaganda for an illegal organisation following seven speeches he delivered during the run up the the elections. Halis told local press that he is being prosecuted for speaking to his constituents, as the speeches were made in his capacity as an elected official.
February 21st, 2012
The Paris and Cologne offices of a Turkish newspaper were
attacked by supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) last week. Zaman newspaper says that a group of nearly 15 masked PKK supporters entered its Paris office on 15 February, threatening employees and breaking furniture and computers. Meanwhile AFP has reported that arsonists torched the paper’s Cologne headquarters on the evening of the same day. The EU, USA and Turkey all classify the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
January 13th, 2012
An art exhibition in
Turkey has been cancelled by organisers after municipal officials were
accused of censorship. Three photographs were removed from the exhibit titled “Aykırı” (Contrary) by officials from the İzmir Metropolitan Municipality after newspaper reports suggested some photographs contradicted religious and social values. Another report said that the exhibition insulted “religious values has alarmed the country.” Following the removal of the images by authorities, organisers İzmir Photography Art Association (IFOD) pulled the exhibition. Among the photos that caused controversy were two headscarfed women kissing each other, two men kissing each other, and a headscarfed woman wearing a bikini.
January 6th, 2012
The trial of several journalists accused of being involved in an alleged plot to overthrow the Turkish government had degraded the status of press freedom in the country, writes Ece Temelkuran
(more…)
December 22nd, 2011
As over 40 people, many of them journalists, are detained on terrorism charges across Turkey, Kaya Genç examines the latest attempt to silence the Kurdish press
(more…)
December 21st, 2011
Forty
Turkish journalists were
arrested in raids which targeted suspected members of the “press and propaganda wing” of a banned Kurdish separatist group. The arrests in Istanbul yesterday morning came during
continuing investigation into the outlawed Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK). At around 7am yesterday, anti-terrorist police raided the offices of several media organisations, the majority of which were pro-Kurdish media. Hours after the arrests, hundreds of Turkish journalists participated in a hastily organised
protest march.
November 1st, 2011
Turkish publisher
Ragıp Zarakolu , recipient of the 2008 International Publishers Association (IPA) Freedom to Publish Prize, was arrested on 28 October in Istanbul. Viewed by many as Turkey’s most prominent free expression and minority rights activist, Zarakolu has been accused of being a member of an illegal organisation under the anti-terror legislation, a press release from IPA said today. University professor Büşra Ersanlı was also arrested and over 40 other individuals were taken into custody on the same day as part of a
recent crackdown on the KCK (Union of Kurdistan Communities). Zarakolu’s son, Deniz, was
also arrested last month after giving a lecture at the Political Science Academy of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy (BDP) opposition party.
