US ‘deeply concerned’ by conviction of NASA scientist Serkan Golge
US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said at a press briefing on Thursday that the United States is deeply concerned about the conviction earlier in the day of Serkan Gölge on charges of membership in a terrorist organization. Gölge, a dual US-Turkish...
European Parliament urges Turkey to end post-coup emergency rule
Members of the European Parliament have called on Turkey to lift an ongoing state of emergency declared after a failed coup in July 2016 that they say is now being used to silence dissent and opposition. “The state of emergency declared after the coup attempt of 16...
EP rapporteur: Thousands became victims of massive crackdown on all opposition voices
Kati Piri, the European Parliament’s rapporteur for Turkey, said on Tuesday during a speech in the European Parliament plenary that thousands of people have become victims of a “massive crackdown on all opposition voices” in Turkey, calling on the European...
Letter campaign launched for Turkey’s imprisoned women, mothers
An initiative called Set Them Free has launched a letter campaign to show solidarity with women in jail and mothers who are incarcerated with their children. In the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, more than 17,000 women from all walks of life...
Re-arrest of AI Turkey chair a travesty of justice, says EP members
Rebecca Harms, together with other members of the European Parliament and the EP-Turkey Forum, on Thursday criticized the re-arrest of Taner Kılıç, chairman of the board of Amnesty International Turkey, by a Turkish court, calling it “a travesty of justice.” The...
Turkey down two places to rank 101st in 113-country rule of law index
Turkey has been downgraded two places and ranked 101st among 113 countries in a justice index by a US advocacy group. The World Justice Project (WJP) released its biyearly Rule of Law Index along with a 191-page report based on 110,000 households and 3,000 experts in...
PACE urges release of Amnesty’s Turkey chair ahead of Jan 31 hearing
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) has called for the release of Amnesty International’s (AI) Turkey chair Taner Kilic, under arrest for more than 7 months now. In a written statement issued a day before Kilic’s court appearance on Jan 31, PACE’s...
Turkish government’s ‘Global Purge’ targeted opponents in at least 46 countries: report
Turkish government has pursued an aggressive policy to silence its perceived enemies in at least 46 countries across four continents, as part of its post-coup crackdown, a Foreign Affairs article noted Monday. Turkish government has been hunting its opponents abroad,...
Belgian police say Turkish embassy in Brussels behind online threats against journalists
The Belgian police have found out that part of the threats targeting Turkish journalists in 2016 were made on computers at the Turkish embassy in Brussels. A recent police investigation has shown that at least one of the threatening social media messages received by...
Int’l bar association calls on Turkey to stop persecution of legal professionals
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has called on the government of Turkey to halt the persecution of human rights defenders and legal professionals amid growing evidence that they are being systematically persecuted, detained and...
International bar association says concerned about torture against jailed Turkish lawyers
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) has said that it is concerned with the reported allegations of torture and mistreatment against detained lawyers in Turkey. In a written statement to mark the 2018 Day of the Endangered Lawyer on Jan...
Human Rights Watch says Turkey’s post-coup OHAL commissions not independent
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its World Report 2018 on Thursday that Turkey’s State of Emergency (OHAL) Procedures Investigation Commissions are not independent of the government interference. “In January, the government ruled on the establishment of an ad hoc...
Freedom House: Turkey is no longer a free country
The US-based Freedom House, an independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world, has classified Turkey as “not free” for the first time since the report series began in 1999. According to the new report on freedoms round the...
Turkey’s prize-winning author Aslı Erdoğan: University students in Turkey are being jailed over tweets
Turkey’s prize-winning author Aslı Erdoğan said during a live TV interview on France 24 TV channel that people in Turkey “are afraid of breathing, let along tweeting,” as thousands of university students in Turkey have been jailed over tweets across the...
French writers, journalists ‘adopt’ Turkish colleagues in solidarity
Fourteen journalists and writers in France penned letters for their Turkish colleagues, currently behind bars or recently-released, as part of a solidarity campaign with the media in Turkey. “14 French personalities, godmothers and sponsors of imprisoned journalists,...
Erdogan wins CPJ’s press oppressor awards in several categories
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has named Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the winner of several categories in their recognition of world leaders who have gone out of their way to attack the press and undermine the norms that support freedom of the...
RSF says obligatory uniform aimed at humiliating, intimidating and stigmatizing post-coup detainees
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was appalled by a new Turkish decree that introduces single uniform for people imprisoned in the government’s post-coup purge. In a written statement on Thursday, RSF said the “arbitrary measure will violate the right of dozens...
Tunisian journalists protest in support of Turkish colleagues in jail
Members of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists have staged a protest in Tunis in solidarity with journalists jailed in Turkey, ahead of a visit to Tunisia by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to several Tunisian and Turkish media outlets, the...