Kurdish mayor in custody for days on terror accusations: report
Mehmet Fatih Taş, the mayor of Diyarbakır’s Kulp district, has been held in police custody for three days over alleged links to an attack by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on September 12, the pro-government Sabah daily reported. Taş was also removed from...
Kurdish singer gets 1 year, 5 months in prison for ‘insulting’ Turkish president
Kurdish singer Hozan Cane has been given a suspended prison sentence of one year, five months for “insulting” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Societymail news portal reported. Insulting the president is a crime in Turkey, according to the controversial...
Former judge gets 15 years in prison over terror, coup links: report
Mehmet Kaya, a former judge at Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals, was handed down a 15-year prison sentence on Tuesday for alleged membership in the Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. He also had served as the general secretary of the Board of...
Mother of imprisoned cadet marches to AKP headquarters to demand son’s release
Melek Çetinkaya, mother of Furkan Çetinkaya, one of the military cadets who were jailed on coup charges in the aftermath of a failed military coup in July 2016, has marched to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquartrs in Ankara in order to demand an...
In prison for 8 years, Kurdish politician dies of cardiac disease: report
Mustafa Akyol, a Kurdish politician and the former Ağrı head of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), reportedly died of cardiac disease early on Monday, the Duvar news portal reported. According to the report, Akyol who has been given a prison sentence of...
In prison for over 26 years, 80-year-old Kurdish man denied release despite severe cardiac disease
Sıddık Güler, a Kurdish man who has been held in a prison in Turkey since 1994, is being denied release by Turkish courts despite severe cardiac disease, according to the Jiyan Haber news portal. Güler was reportedly jailed in 1994 on terror charges and had stayed in...
Mother of imprisoned cadet in police custody for demanding son’s release
Melek Çetinkaya, mother of Furkan Çetinkaya, one of the military cadets who were jailed on coup charges in the aftermath of a failed military coup in July 2016, was detained Saturday for protesting her son’s imprisonment. Çetinkaya’s protest was stifled by...
Former prosecutor, TV pundit detained hours after release: report
Gültekin Avcı, a former Turkish prosecutor and TV pundit who was released pending trial on Friday, was detained again on early on Saturday morning, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Avcı was initially detained on Sept. 18, 2015 as part of an investigation...
Jailed in post-coup crackdown, Turkish teacher dies in Manisa prison
Kemal Bilici, an Turkish teacher who was jailed over alleged links to the Gülen movement, died in prison on Wednesday morning. According to the Bold Medya news portal, Bilici had been held in prison for over three years and he did not have any serious health issue...
Dismissed Turkish judge put in pre-trial detention on coup charges: report
Nalan Can, a Turkish judge who was fired from his job after a coup attempt in July 2016, was put in pre trial detention over her alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group. According to CNN Turk news portal, Can was caught by the Turkish police in Denizli and sent to...
Bilgi’s British academic who signed peace declaration acquitted of terror charges
An İstanbul high criminal court on Thursday ruled to acquit British academic Chris Stephenson, who was tried for allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda due to his signature on a petition that called for a peaceful resolution to the country’s Kurdish conflict,...
Unidentified gunmen attmpts to abduct Turkish teacher in Ankara: report
Three unidentified men attempted to abduct a Turkish teacher in Ankara as he was about to get into his car. The gunmen fled after the victim started shouting and managed to attract a small crowd, according to Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a human rights activist and...
Turkey detains 152 over coup, terror charges in one day
Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday ordered the detention of at least 152 people in a massive post-coup crackdown targeting followers of the Gülen movement, the Turkish Minute news portal reported. Turkey accuses the movement of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt, although...
Former Zaman building to be given to Bakırköy Courthouse as additional service building
The building that once served as the headquarters of the government-seized Zaman daily, will soon be transferred to Istanbul’s Bakırköy Courthouse as an additional service building. According to an e-mail sent out to the courthouse’s employees last week,...
Dismissed Turkish judge gets 10 years in prison on terror, coup charges
Hasan Hüseyin Özese, a former judge dismissed from his position after a failed coup in Turkey in 2016, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday on conviction of membership in the Gülen movement, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. He was one of the judges...
Two Gulen-linked arrestees die in Turkmen prison: report
Two graduates of Gulen-linked schools in Turkmenistan died of unknown causes last year, according to Canadian journalist Nick Ashdown. “The Diplomat has learned that two political prisoners in Turkmenistan have died of unknown causes in the last year, both of...
Purge-victim teacher dies of heart attack at construction site: report
M. Emin Epçim, a 46-year-old teacher who was dismissed by a decree issued by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, died of heart attack at a construction site in Turkey’s Amasya district, pro-Kurdish HDP Deputy Ömer Faruk...
87-year-old Kurdish man dies in Maraş prison: report
Selim Buğrahan, a 87-year old Kurdish man who has been senenced to 5 years in prison on terror charges, died in a prison in Turkey’s Maraş province, according to pro-Kurdish HDP Deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu. A Twitter account that claims to be a close relative...