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Women and Children in Prison

As you are aware, recent reports from the Journalist and Writers Foundation in Turkey and the Stockholm Center for Freedom have estimated the number of women in Turkish prisons is a staggering 17,000 along with over 660 children. Official records indicate that 23 percent of these children are infants less than a year old. Dr. Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society (a British foreign policy think tank) said “prison is no place for children in any civilized country”.

These reports have questioned the basis for the detainment and imprisonment of these women, as well as the timing of their arrests, in some cases shortly after giving birth. Many of these women have been held without charges being pressed and without access to legal representation, and in some cases, access to their family.

Reports from within Turkey have shown images of security officials waiting outside hospital rooms for mothers to be discharged in order to detain them and their newborn children. With the critical need of preventing bacteria during a child’s first months, questions about the conditions of the prisons where these women are held with their newborn children have also arisen in numerous media reports. Since “extra food, books, phone calls, trips to the hospital, and bathroom supplies are all added to inmates’ prison bills” some women with poor financial situation cannot afford basic hygienic items such as sanitary pads (which they are not provided).

The prison conditions are not satisfactory for the well being of women, and especially children. They are forced to stay in overcrowded rooms, denied health care, missing fresh air and have to share bed and meal.

Many inmates sleep on the floor. Human Rights Association (IHD) has stated that in Turkey, 1025 prisoners are in poor health, 357 of which are seriously ill. Nonetheless, at a parliamentary hearing, it was revealed that at least five women have suspiciously died at the women’s prison in Kocaeli’s Gebze district .

We wholeheartedly condemn this violation of basic human rights of not only the imprisoned women but also these children who are being subjected to a life behind bars without cause.

Read AST’s report on women and children in prison:
AST_1-28-18_REPORT4_WOMEN’S AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK IN TURKEY

Download AST’s presentation on women and children in prison:
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/AST_presentation_Persecution-of-women-in-Turkey.pdf

News and reports on women and children in prison:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/TR/2018-03-19_Second_OHCHR_Turkey_Report.pdf
https://silencedturkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/AST_Newsletter2_Womens-Rights-Newsletter.pdf
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/02/13/hundreds-young-turkish-children-jailed-alongside-their-moms-as-part-post-coup-crackdown.html
http://jwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Children-Report-2017-.pdf
http://jwf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Womens-Rights-Under-Attack.pdf
http://stockholmcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Jailing-women-in-Turkey.pdf

We urge everyone to take action. Express your views or send attached statement to your Representatives and Senators, and urge them to bring up this concern to the State Department:

U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senators
State Representatives
State Senators

Find your members of Congress:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members
Find your senators:
https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state

Download sample statement as a word document:
AST_Letter-Regarding-Women-and-children-in-Prison

 


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AST Turkey’s Human Rights Violations Weekly March 5

Download as pdf: AST_Turkey’s Human Rights Violations Weekly_March 5

Turkey’s Human Rights Violations | 2/26/2018-3/5/2018

1-” Daughter of imprisoned author Ahmet Altan: Journalists have become bargaining chips in Turkey”
https://turkeypurge.com/daughter-imprisoned-author-ahmet-altan-journalists-become-bargaining-chips-turkey

2-” Physics teacher detained over Gülen links, baby left to neighbor’s care”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/02/26/physics-teacher-detained-over-gulen-links-baby-left-to-neighbors-care/

3-” Foreign academic indicted in Turkey on terror charges for using ByLock”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/02/26/foreign-academic-indicted-in-turkey-on-terror-charges-for-using-bylock/

4-” 2 workers detained at İzmir airport after police check their social media messages”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/02/26/2-workers-detained-at-izmir-airport-after-police-check-their-social-media-messages/

5-” Turkish Police To Journalist: If You Don’t Speak, We’ll Throw You Off Balcony”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-police-to-journalist-if-you-dont-speak-well-throw-you-off-balcony/

6-” Turkish Gov’t Detained 845 People To Date Over Critical Stance On Afrin Offensive”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-detained-845-people-to-date-over-critical-stance-on-afrin-offensive/

7-” Turkey takes over 12 Gülen schools in Afghanistan”
https://ahvalnews.com/gulen-movement/turkey-takes-over-12-gulen-schools-afghanistan

8-” UN official concerned by allegations of torture in Turkey”
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/02/27/world/europe/ap-eu-turkey-human-rights.html

9-” An open letter to President Erdoğan from 38 Nobel laureates”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/28/nobel-laureates-president-erdogan-turkey-free-writers

10-” Court rules for continuation of arrest of Turkish columnist: report”
https://turkeypurge.com/court-rules-continuation-arrest-turkish-columnist-report

11-” UN Rapporteur says Turkish detainees reportedly tortured with severe beatings, electrical shocks, icy water, sexual assault”
https://turkeypurge.com/un-rapporteur-says-turkish-detainees-reportedly-tortured-severe-beatings-electrical-shocks-icy-water-sexual-assault

12-” Two pro-Kurdish MPs stripped of parliamentary status for insulting Erdogan, social media posts”
https://turkeypurge.com/two-pro-kurdish-mps-stripped-parliamentary-status-insulting-erdogan-social-media-posts

13-” Pro-gov’t TV anchor: If Turkish military were to kill civilians, it’d start with traitors in Istanbul, opposition”
https://turkeypurge.com/pro-govt-tv-anchor-turkish-military-kill-civilians-itd-start-traitors-istanbul-opposition

14-” Seized Gülen dormitory transferred to association vice-chaired by Erdogan’s daughter”
https://turkeypurge.com/seized-gulen-dormitory-transferred-association-vice-chaired-erdogans-daughter

15-” We must speak up for free expression in Turkey”
http://www.dw.com/en/we-must-speak-up-for-free-expression-in-turkey/a-42765598

16-” Turkish State-Run TRT Bans Broadcasting Of 208 Songs”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-state-run-trt-bans-broadcasting-of-208-songs/

17-” OSCE Urges Turkish Gov’t Not To Adopt New Internet Bill”
https://stockholmcf.org/osce-urges-turkish-govt-not-to-adopt-new-internet-bill/

18-” Academic Arrested By Turkish Gov’t Over Alleged Gülen Links Denied Prescribed Medication For 11 Months”
https://stockholmcf.org/academic-arrested-by-turkish-govt-over-alleged-gulen-links-denied-prescribed-medication-for-11-months/

19-” Turkish Gov’t Seeks Up To 22.5 Years In Jail For Bank Asya Managers On Terror Charges”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-seeks-up-to-22-5-years-in-jail-for-bank-asya-managers-on-terror-charges/

20-” UN Expert Melzer Says Deeply Concerned By Rise In Torture Allegations In Turkey”
https://stockholmcf.org/un-expert-melzer-says-deeply-concerned-by-rise-in-torture-allegations-in-turkey/

21-” Turkish Court Sentences Kurdish Journalist To 8 Years In Prison”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-court-sentences-kurdish-journalist-to-8-years-in-prison/

22-” HDP deputy sentenced to 10 years in prison on terrorism charges”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/03/01/hdp-deputy-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison-on-terrorism-charges/

23-” Jailed journalist Altan sentenced to additional 6 years on terror-related charges”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/02/28/jailed-journalist-altan-sentenced-to-additional-6-years-on-terror-related-charges/

24-” Teacher tortured to death by Turkish police found innocent, reinstated to job”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/02/27/teacher-tortured-to-death-by-turkish-police-found-innocent-reinstated-to-job/

25-” I’m a human rights lawyer who travelled to Erdogan’s Turkey to see his political opponent tried in court. This is what it’s really like”
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/turkey-erdogan-selahattin-demirtas-rebels-government-democracy-court-human-rights-lawyer-a8232606.html

26-” Turkey’s crumbling rule of law a global issue – Human rights lawyer”
https://ahvalnews.com/rule-law/turkeys-crumbling-rule-law-global-issue-human-rights-lawyer

27-” Sentenced to life on coup charges, Turkish author now gets 6 more years in prison on terror charges”
https://turkeypurge.com/sentenced-life-coup-charges-turkish-author-now-gets-6-years-prison-terror-charges

28-” Turkish gov’t bans access to critical Ahval news website: report”
https://turkeypurge.com/turkish-govt-bans-access-critical-ahval-news-website-report

29-” Education Ministry insists deceased teacher Gökhan Açıkkolu was not ‘innocent’”
https://turkeypurge.com/education-ministry-insists-slain-teacher-gokhan-acikkolu-not-innocent

30-” Turkish Gov’t Detains Dozens Of Teachers, Sentences Gülen Relative Over Links To Gülen Movement”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-detains-dozens-of-teachers-sentences-gulen-relative-over-links-to-gulen-movement/

31-” Petition Campaign Launched In Turkey For Release Of Ailing 78-Year-Old Female Prisoner”
https://stockholmcf.org/petition-campaign-launched-in-turkey-for-release-of-ailing-78-year-old-female-prisoner/

32-” We must speak up for free expression in Turkey”
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/03/we-must-speak-up-for-free-expression-in-turkey/

33-” Turkey’s tyrant just got even more despicable”
https://nypost.com/2018/03/01/turkeys-tyrant-just-got-even-more-despicable/

34-” Turkish physics teacher arrested by court due to objection by prosecutor, leaves her baby behind”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-physics-teacher-arrested-by-court-due-to-objection-by-prosecutor-leaves-her-baby-behind/

35-” Turkish gov’t detains lawyer of arrested officers over alleged Gülen movement propaganda”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-detains-lawyer-of-arrested-officers-over-alleged-gulen-movement-propaganda/

36-” Leftist activist visits grave of teacher tortured to death by Turkish police after coup”
https://stockholmcf.org/leftist-activist-visits-grave-of-teacher-tortured-to-death-by-turkish-police-after-coup/

37-” 17 detained as Turkish police intervene in Women’s Day celebrations in Ankara, Tekirdağ”
https://stockholmcf.org/17-detained-as-turkish-police-intervene-in-womens-day-celebrations-in-ankara-tekirdag/

38-” Turkish prison administration obliges Kurdish woman to speak in Turkish”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-prison-administration-obliges-kurdish-woman-to-speak-in-turkish/

39-” RSF appeals to ECtHR — #SaveTurkishJournalists”
https://stockholmcf.org/rsf-appeals-to-ecthr-saveturkishjournalists/

40-” Turkish gov’t arrests 17, detains 13 people for allegedly promoting terror on social media”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-arrests-17-detains-13-people-for-allegedly-promoting-terror-on-social-media/

41-” HDP calls Turkish prisons ‘torture centers,’ urges EP, EU and UN to take action”
https://stockholmcf.org/hdp-calls-turkish-prisons-torture-centers-urges-ep-eu-and-un-to-take-action/

42-” İHD: 1,154 prisoners sick, 402 of them in serious condition, across Turkey”
https://stockholmcf.org/ihd-1154-prisoners-sick-402-of-them-in-serious-condition-across-turkey/

Türkiye tarafından işlenenen İnsan Hakları İhlalleri | 2/26/2018-3/5/2018

1-” CHP’li Tanrıkulu, Süleyman Soylu’ya sordu: Enver Kılıç nerede?”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/chpli-tanrikulu-suleyman-soyluya-sordu-enver-kilic-nerede-h112929.html

2-” Polis: “Konuşmazsan balkondan atarız””
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/polis-konusmazsan-balkondan-atariz-h112901.html

3-” Mersin Emniyeti’nde kız öğrencilerin de olduğu 100’e yakın kadına işkence”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/mersin-emniyetinde-kiz-ogrencilerin-de-oldugu-100e-yakin-kadina-iskence-h112900.html

4-” Tutuklu avukatlara keyfi eziyet: Eşleriyle görüşmeleri de yasak”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/tutuklu-avukatlara-keyfi-eziyet-esleriyle-gorusmeleri-de-yasak-h112860.html

5-” Bir bebek daha annesinden ayrıldı”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/bir-bebek-daha-annesinden-ayrildi-h112923.html

6-” MEB müsteşarı: Gökhan öğretmen ‘vefat ettiği için’ görevden uzaklaştırma tedbiri kararı kaldırılmıştır”
http://tr.euronews.com/2018/02/27/gozalt-nda-hayat-n-kaybeden-gokhan-ogretmenin-sucsuz-oldugu-ortaya-c-kt-

7-” Yine öğretmen anne ve bebeğini şantaj için tutukladılar!”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/yine-ogretmen-anne-ve-bebegini-santaj-icin-tutukladilar-h113234.html

8-” ‘Herkes bir vedayı hak eder’”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/herkes-bir-vedayi-hak-eder-h113201.html

9-” Mazlum-Der raporu: Mersin’de gözaltındaki kadınların zorla başörtüsü alınıyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/mazlum-der-raporu-mersinde-gozaltindaki-kadinlarin-zorla-basortusu-aliniyor-h113173.html

10-” Cezaevinden işkence açıklaması: İsyan çıkarmasınlar diye tazyikli su sıktık”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/cezaevinden-iskence-aciklamasi-isyan-cikarmasinlar-diye-tazyikli-su-siktik-h113130.html

11-” Birleşmiş Milletler: Türkiye’de artan işkencelerden dolayı kaygılıyız”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/birlesmis-milletler-turkiyede-artan-iskencelerden-dolayi-kaygiliyiz-h113063.html

12-” Hasta tutuklunun annesi: Osmaniye cezaevinde hasta oğlumu tedavi ettirmiyorlar”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/hasta-tutuklunun-annesi-osmaniye-cezaevinde-hasta-oglumu-tedavi-ettirmiyorlar-h113013.html

13-” Gözaltına alınan Alev Şahin: ‘Susuz bıraktılar, mehter marşı dinlettiler’”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/gozaltina-alinan-alev-sahin-susuz-biraktilar-mehter-marsi-dinlettiler-h112994.html

14-” Cezaevinde üst aramada çocuğunun yanında tacize uğradı itiraz edince görüşü iptal ettiler”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/cezaevinde-ust-aramada-cocugunun-yaninda-tacize-ugradi-itiraz-edince-gorusu-iptal-ettiler-h112941.html

15-” KHK’yla ihraç edilip tutuklanan hasta öğretim üyesine ilaçları verilmiyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/khkyla-ihrac-edilip-tutuklanan-hasta-ogretim-uyesine-ilaclari-verilmiyor-h112962.html

16-” AİHM’den, Mehmet Altan ve Şahin Alpay için ‘açık ihlal’ kararı”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/aihmden-mehmet-altan-ve-sahin-alpay-icin-acik-ihlal-karari/

17-” Gökhan öğretmenin eşi Mümine Açıkkollu: Suç delilleri ortada”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/gokhan-ogretmenin-esi-mumine-acikkollu-suc-delilleri-var-muhatap-yok/

18-” Nobellilerden Erdoğan’a mektup: Altan kardeşleri ve Nazlı Ilıcak’ı serbest bırakın”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/nobellilerden-erdogana-mektup-altan-kardesleri-ve-nazli-ilicaki-serbest-birakin/

19-” MEB’den skandal açıklama: Gökhan öğretmen ‘öldüğü için’ göreve iade edilmiş”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/mebe-gore-gokhan-ogretmen-oldugu-icin-goreve-iade-edilmis/

20-” Gözaltı gerekçesi: Tutuklu yakınlarına ve öğrenci evlerine yardım”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/gozalti-gerekcesi-tutuklu-yakinlarina-ve-ogrenci-evlerine-yardim/

21-” Diyarbakır Valiliği’nden ‘Kadınlar Günü’ne yasak”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/diyarbakir-valiliginden-kadinlar-gunune-yasak/

22-” Akit TV: Sivil öldürecek olsak Cihangir ve Nişantaşı’ndan başlarız”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/akit-tv-sivil-oldurecek-olsak-cihangir-ve-nisantasindan-baslariz/

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An open letter to President Erdoğan from 38 Nobel laureates

Dear President Erdoğan,

We wish to draw your attention to the damage being done to the Republic of Turkey, to its reputation and the dignity and well-being of its citizens, through what leading authorities on freedom of expression deem to be the unlawful detention and wrongful conviction of writers and thinkers.

In a Memorandum on the Freedom of Expression in Turkey (2017), Nils Muižnieks, then Council of Europe commissioner for Human Rights, warned:

“The space for democratic debate in Turkey has shrunk alarmingly following increased judicial harassment of large strata of society, including journalists, members of parliament, academics and ordinary citizens, and government action which has reduced pluralism and led to self-censorship. This deterioration came about in a very difficult context, but neither the attempted coup nor other terrorist threats faced by Turkey, can justify measures that infringe media freedom and disavow the rule of law to such an extent.

“The authorities should urgently change course by overhauling criminal legislation and practice, redevelop judicial independence and reaffirm their commitment to protect free speech.”

There is no clearer example of the commissioner’s concern that the detention in September 2016 of Ahmet Altan, a bestselling novelist and columnist; Mehmet Altan, his brother, professor of economics and essayist; and Nazlı Ilıcak, a prominent journalist – all as part of a wave of arrests following the failed July 2016 coup. These writers were charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order through violence or force. The prosecutors originally wanted to charge them with giving “subliminal messages” to coup supporters while appearing on a television panel show. The ensuing tide of public ridicule made them change that accusation to using rhetoric “evocative of a coup”. Indeed, Turkey’s official Anatolia News Agency called the case “The Coup Evocation Trial”.

As noted in the commissioner’s report, the evidence considered by the judge in Ahmet Altan’s case was limited to a story dating from 2010 in Taraf newspaper (of which Ahmet Altan had been the editor-in-chief until 2012), three of his op-ed columns and a TV appearance. The evidence against the other defendants was equally insubstantial. All these writers had spent their careers opposing coups and militarism of any sort, and yet were charged with aiding an armed terrorist organisation and staging a coup.

The commissioner saw the detention and prosecution of Altan brothers as part of a broader pattern of repression in Turkey against those expressing dissent or criticism of the authorities. He considered such detentions and prosecutions to have violated human rights and undermined the rule of law. David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, concurred and dubbed the legal proceedings a “show trial”.

Turkey’s own constitutional court concurred with this criticism. On 11 January this year, it ruled that Mehmet Altan and fellow journalist Şahin Alpay’s rights were being violated by pre-trial detention, and that they should be released. Yet the first-degree courts refused to implement the higher constitutional court’s decision, thus placing the judicial system in criminal violation of the constitution. Mr President, you must surely be concerned that the lower criminal court’s defiance and this non-legal decision was backed by the spokesperson of your government.

On 16 February 2018, the Altan brothers and Ilıcak were sentenced to aggravated life sentences, precluding them from any prospect of a future amnesty.

President Erdoğan, we the undersigned share the following opinion of David Kaye: “The court decision condemning journalists to aggravated life in prison for their work, without presenting substantial proof of their involvement in the coup attempt or ensuring a fair trial, critically threatens journalism and with it the remnants of freedom of expression and media freedom in Turkey”.

In April 1998, you yourself were stripped of your position as mayor of Istanbul, banned from political office, and sentenced to prison for 10 months, for reciting a poem during a public speech in December 1997 through the same article 312 of the penal code. This was unjust, unlawful and cruel. Many human rights organisations – which defended you then – are appalled at the violations now occurring in your country. Amnesty International, PEN International, Committee to Protect Journalists, Article 19, and Reporters Without Borders are among those who oppose the recent court decision.

During a ceremony in honour of Çetin Altan, on 2 February 2009, you declared publicly that “Turkey is no longer the same old Turkey who used to sentence its great writers to prison – this era is gone for ever.” Among the audience were Çetin Altan’s two sons: Ahmet and Mehmet. Nine years later, they are sentenced to life; isn’t that a fundamental contradiction?

Under these circumstances, we voice the concern of many inside Turkey itself, of its allies and of the multilateral organisations of which it is a member. We call for the abrogation of the state of emergency, a quick return to the rule of law and for full freedom of speech and expression. Such a move would result in the speedy acquittal on appeal of Ms Ilıcak and the Altan brothers, and the immediate release of others wrongfully detained. Better still, it would make Turkey again a proud member of the free world.

Full list of Nobel laureate signatories:

Svetlana Alexievich, Philip W Anderson, Aaron Ciechanover, JM Coetzee, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Elias J Corey, Gerhard Ertl, Albert Fert, Edmond H Fischer, Andrew Z Fire, Andre Geim, Sheldon Glashow, Serge Haroche, Leland H Hartwell, Oliver Hart, Richard Henderson, Dudley Herschbach, Avram Hershko, Roald Hoffmann, Robert Huber, Tim Hunt, Kazuo Ishiguro, Elfriede Jelinek, Eric S Maskin, Hartmut Michel, Herta Müller, VS Naipaul, William D Phillips, John C Polanyi, Richard J Roberts, Randy W Schekman, Wole Soyinka, Joseph Stiglitz, Thomas C Südhof, Jack W Szostak, Mario Vargas Llosa, J Robin Warren, Eric F Wieschaus

Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/28/nobel-laureates-president-erdogan-turkey-free-writers

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Turkish Gov’t Detained 845 People To Date Over Critical Stance On Afrin Offensive

Turkey’s Interior Ministry on Monday announced that 845 people have been detained on terror charges due to their protests or posts on social media critical of a Turkish military incursion in the northern Syrian town of Afrin, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Meanwhile, two construction workers who went to İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport on Feb. 23 to fly to their hometown of Diyarbakır were detained by police after officers seized their mobile phones and checked their social media accounts, the Evrensel daily reported on Monday.

The workers, Nazım Toplu and Ahmet Polat, were stopped by the police after they arrived at the airport on the grounds that they looked suspicious. They underwent criminal record checks (GBT), and the police found that they were not the subject of any investigation.

Yet, the police officers asked the workers to open their Facebook accounts when the workers were about to board their plane. The workers refused and said it was illegal for them to ask this. Then, the police officers seized the workers’ mobile phones and entered their social media accounts from the phones.

The police officers detained the workers due to their social media accounts. It was not clear what messages the workers had posted, but nowadays the detention of individuals due to their critical messages on social media about the government or Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is very common.

The Turkish military and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters launched Operation Olive Branch in Afrin against the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which Turkey sees as the Syrian extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The despotic Turkish government and autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have reacted strongly to people who oppose the operation, and prosecutor’s offices have initiated investigations into those who share social media messages critical of the operation.

President Erdoğan on Jan. 21 warned the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) not to take to the streets to protest the operation in Afrin: “You are being closely followed. If you try to take to the streets, know that our security forces will be at your neck.”

“If anyone is in the streets upon calls [from the HDP], they will pay dearly for it. This is a national fight, and whoever opposes us will be crushed,” Erdoğan added.

Kral FM radio host Ali Şentürk, known as “Afrikalı Ali,” called on security forces to kill anybody who criticizes Turkey’s operation in Afrin.

Yusuf Ozan, a presenter for the pro-government Akit TV, last Sunday targeted the Cumhuriyet daily over a story it ran on the Afrin operation in Syria, saying Cumhuriyet journalists deserve to be executed.

Source:
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-detained-845-people-to-date-over-critical-stance-on-afrin-offensive/

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At Least 3 Victims Drowned While Trying to Cross Meriç/Evros River

Victims of Erdogan’s regime are increasing every day, as there has not been an effective mechanism to prevent him. On February 13, Turkish media reported that Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Organization (AFAD) found the bodies of three, including two children, near the Border between Turkey and Greece.

Eight Turkish nationals, including three children, two women, and three men tried to get to Greece by crossing the Meriç/Evros river using a rubber boat. The rubber boat was capsized, and two children, estimated to be around 11 and 3, and their mother drowned. The names of the dead were identified as Ayşe Söyler Abdurrezzak, and her children Abdulkadir Enes Abdurrezzak (11) and Halil Munir Abdurrezzak (3). The rest of the people that were in the same boat are missing. Ayşe Söyler Abdurrezzak, a 37-year-old teacher, and her husband were dismissed from their job due to crackdowns after the failed coup attempt.

Doğan family was also accompanying the Abdurrezzak family. The members of the family, Fahreddin Doğan, his wife Asli Doğan and their 2.5-year-old son, Ibrahim Selim Doğan are still missing.

Thousands of Turkish families have migrated to Greece from Turkey in recent year. Most of these families are sympathizers of the Gulen Movement. The Turkish government accuses the movement of being behind the 2016 failed-coup attempt. The movement denies alleged involvement.

Since the alleged coup attempt, which President Erdogan defined as a blessing from God, Turkish democracy, and justice have continuously deteriorated every day. More than 150,000 people have been detained and nearly 60,000 people, including academics, judges, doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, and people from different backgrounds have been put in pre-trial detention.

In November 2017, Hüseyin Maden, a 40-year-old teacher, who was also dismissed in the crackdown after the failed coup attempt, drowned along with his wife and three children while trying to reach Greek island of Lesvos.

We, as the Advocates of Silenced Turkey, are calling all the international and non-governmental human rights organizations to raise awareness about the drowned Abdurrezzak family and also to take immediate action as regards the problems in Turkey to prevent other families and children from suffering as such. We hope the situation in Turkey will get better for those in Turkey and abroad who are oppressed by the ruling government of Turkey.

Download statement as a PDF: AST_Statement-Abdurrezzak-Family

Download flyer on Abdurrezzak family as a PDF: AST_Flyer_Abdurrezzak family

 


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Hundreds of young Turkish children jailed alongside their moms as part of a post-coup crackdown

It was a snowy January morning in Istanbul last year when Ayse, a 32-year-old primary school teacher and mother of two, kissed the kids goodbye at school and headed home.

She didn’t make it to her front door before she was surrounded by seven policemen, accused of membership in a terrorist organization, handcuffed and taken away. Two months after being jailed, Ayse was joined behind bars by her youngest son, Ali, then just 4 years old.

For another four months, she said, their lives unfolded like a horror movie. Built to hold 10 people, Ayse said, her cell was packed with 23 detainees. She remembers babies unable to get vaccines, and burning themselves with hot tea. She remembers, too, the traumatic cries at night.

“Loud music blared through our ward every morning, every morning I would wake up scared with my son,” she told Fox News in a recent interview from a refugee camp in Greece. “The ward was a very dangerous place for children. Our bunks were iron. One baby there was learning to walk and hit his head badly, other children were screaming. It was an incredibly difficult time.”

The case of Ayse and Ali is hardly unique. Based on monitoring government decrees and other reports from official sources, by the end of August 2017, advocacy groups had highlighted some 668 cases of children under the age of 6 being held in jails with their mothers. And 23 percent of those youngsters were infants less than a year old.

Several thousand children ages 6-18 are also being held.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry provided a somewhat lower figure, stating that a total of 560 children under the age of 6 were being held in Turkish prisons along with their mothers.

Mothers and their children continue to be rounded up with tens of thousands of other Turks following the July 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The country has, since that attempt, been in a legal “state of emergency,” one that allows the government to jail anyone believed to have ties to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen and his Hizmet movement.

Whatever the number of prisoners, “prison is no place for children in any civilized country,” said Dr. Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a British foreign policy think tank, He called the policy of jailing mothers and children without charge “a travesty of justice” that will have “lasting effects on the lives of innocent children.”

Other critics of Turkey’s policy noted that the imprisoned women and children were victims of guilt by association.

“What is striking about detained women since the failed coup is that some of them are simply wives or children of suspects, but not suspects themselves. This amounts to collective punishment,” said Merve Tahiroglu, a research analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based nonpartisan institute focusing on national security.

Ugar Tok, director of the Belgium-based Platform for Peace and Justice (PPJ), a human rights monitoring group focused on Turkey, said it can take six to 10 months of detention before the women in jail can stand in court. In the meantime, “the government prevents detainees from accessing lawyers and files in order to defend themselves.”

According to the World Prison Brief, as of October of last year, women comprised 4.4 percent of Turkey’s prison population. The official number of females behind bars is just under 10,000, but Tok estimates the numbers could be as high as 17,000.

Kam, a 34-year-old university teacher in İzmir Province at the time of her arrest in October 2016, said she was held for two months for investing – as thousands of other Turks have – in the Gulen-affiliated Bank Asya. She was kept in a cell with her 7-month-old son and two other babies, where they were prohibited from crawling on the floor. Toys were also prohibited, she said, and at times they could not access clean water.

“We were all treated like terrorists, we were isolated,” Kam told Fox News from Germany, where she and her family are now refugees. “We were all humiliated. … I don’t know what was worse, to have my baby in the prison or to have my other son, who was 11, outside the prison. When I saw him, he was changing.”

Case summaries and photographs viewed by Fox News, provided by international human rights investigators and lawyers, bring the grim statistics to life. They showed babies still on jail floors, with no play areas or facilities; women with chunks of hair ripped from their scalp in alleged prison mistreatment; and dozens of infants smiling before being whisked away to detention, where many are believed to remain.

Nurhayat Yildiz, 27, a housewife expecting twins, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2016, after boarding a bus from the northern Turkish province of Sinop, headed for her 14-week checkup. Nurhayat was detained and charged with Hizmet membership – because she allegedly had a popular encrypted messaging app, ByLock, on her phone. The Turkish government believes members involved in the coup attempt communicated through ByLock, and despite the app being commercially available to anyone, the government has systematically rounded up thousands of those who have it.

Yildiz’s supporters say she didn’t even have the app on her phone. In any case, at 19 weeks, on Oct. 6 that year, the first time mom-to-be suffered a devastating miscarriage behind bars.

“Nurhayat lost her dreams,” a prominent Turkish legal activist with Washington-based Advocates for Silenced Turkey (AST), who recently fled to California and requested anonymity for the safety of her relatives in Turkey, told Fox News. “And now she is suffering immense psychological problems, she barely talks. Her twins never got to live.”

Then there are stories like that of Filiz Yavuz, who was suddenly arrested – taken in a wheelchair – just eight hours after giving birth at a maternity hospital in the southeastern province of Mersin on Feb. 7, 2017.

“The police came for me at 3 in the morning. They said I was a terrorist because someone in my dormitory room from 2008 gave them my name,” Nur, 27, a human rights lawyer who was once a student at the Ankara University Faculty of Law, recalled of that frightful morning on Jan. 18, 2017. That’s when she was whisked from her home in the city of Eskisehir to a dark detention cell.

Nur considers herself one of the lucky ones. She was released by a judge after five days due to her severe asthma and a heart condition. She quickly boarded a smugglers’ boat. Today, Nur – from the safety of the United States – is trying to draw attention to the plight of other detained moms, their children and other of pregnant women who she says have suffered miscarriages amid the psychological ordeal of arrest and captivity.

Turkey’s Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Turkish officials have consistently defended the widespread arrest and detention of thousands of Turkish citizens, including women and children, as vital to national security. They also insist that the detainees are being held in compliance with international law.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which monitors the health and well-being of detainees in crisis spots around the world, confirmed it is not currently present in Turkey, and thus cannot monitor the situation.

But that situation remains a cause of concern for many human rights groups, which routinely spotlight the seemingly arbitrary detainment of Turkish citizens.

“ Following the coup attempt in July 2016, tens of thousands of people have been detained. The vast majority are not accused of participating in the events of the coup and in many cases that Amnesty International has examined there is no credible evidence of criminal acts,” a spokesperson for that group told Fox News.

Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/02/13/hundreds-young-turkish-children-jailed-alongside-their-moms-as-part-post-coup-crackdown.html

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At Least 3 Victims Of Erdoğan’s Persecution Targeting Gülen Movement Drowned As Trying To Cross River Between Turkey And Greece

At least three victims of the massive post-coup persecution of Turkish government, led by autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, targeting the alleged members of the Gülen movement, have reportedly drowned on Tuesday morning as they were trying to cross the Meriç/Evros river between Turkey and Greece.

Eight Turkish citizens, including 3 children, 2 women and 3 man, have been missed after their rubber boat capsized in Meriç/Evros river on the border between Turkey and Greece on Tuesday. The bodies of the two drowned brothers, estimated to be aged around 11 and 3, and their mother were discovered.

The names of the victims are 37-year-old Ayşe (Söyler) Abdurrezzak from Havran district of Balıkesir province, her sons 3-year-old Halil Münir Abdurrezzak, who was born in Maltepe district of İstanbul and 11-year-old Abdul Kadir Enes Abdurrezzak.

It was learned that contact with the 8 people has been lost at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning as they were trying to fled from Turkey to Greece via Meriç/Evros river. Uğur Abdurrezzak, the bodies of his wife and his children were found, is still missing.

Ayşe Söyler Abdurrezzak, who was graduated from Turkish Language Department of İstanbul’s Marmara University in 2005 and used to work as a teacher. She and her teacher husband were dismissed by a government decree under the rule of emergency as they were working at a school in Kartepe district of Kocaeli province in the wake of a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

It was also learned that Doğan Family was accompanying the Abdurrezzak Family on the rubber boat as they were crossing the Meriç/Evros river and the members of the family, Fahreddin Doğan, his wife Aslı Doğan and the couple’s 2,5-year-old son İbrahim Selim Doğan are still missing.

Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency (AA) has reported previously that the emergency services are searching for up to 10 migrants reported missing after a boat capsized in a river that flows along the Turkish-Greek border. According to the report, the emergency services were alerted on Tuesday by border guards who heard cries for help from the river, known as Meriç in Turkish and Evros in Greek.

The report said between eight and 10 migrants, including women and children, were trying to cross into Greece aboard the rubber boat, which was found punctured.

Thousands of refugees and migrants enter Greece every year from Turkey on their way to Europe. Most choose the sea crossing in flimsy smuggling boats to the eastern Aegean islands. However, Evros has also been used for passage from Turkey to Greece.

In recent years, beside of refugees from other countries using Turkey as a transit route, some Turkish citizens who had to fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, have also used the same route. Many tried to escape Turkey via illegal ways as the government canceled their passports like thousands of others.

Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016, that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with Turkish autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. Turkey’s Interior Minister announced on December 12, 2017 that 55,665 people have been arrested. Previously, on December 13, 2017, The Justice Ministry announced that 169,013 people have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

Source:
https://stockholmcf.org/two-child-migrants-die-others-reported-missing-during-river-crossing-between-turkey-and-greece/

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AST Turkey’s Human Rights Violations Weekly Feb 12

Download as pdf: AST_Turkey’s Human Rights Violations Weekly_Feb 12

Turkey’s Human Rights Violations | 2/5/2018-2/12/2018

1-“[VIDEO] Pro-Erdogan presenter says Cumhuriyet journalists deserve to be executed for their Afrin coverage”
https://turkeypurge.com/pro-erdogan-presenter-says-cumhuriyet-journalists-deserve-murdered-afrin-coverage

2-“Businessman caught using fake ID to survive post-coup witch-hunt”
https://turkeypurge.com/businessman-caught-using-fake-id-survive-post-coup-witch-hunt

3-“Journalist, already under over coup charges, gets 2.5-year prison sentence for insulting Erdogan”
https://turkeypurge.com/journalist-already-coup-charges-gets-2-5-year-prison-sentence-insulting-erdogan

4-“38,500 prisoners convicted over Gülen links: minister”
https://turkeypurge.com/38500-prisoners-convicted-gulen-links-minister

5-“[VIDEO] Academics, doctors detained while watching Gülen speech”
https://turkeypurge.com/video-academics-doctors-detained-watching-gulen-speech

6-“Turkey issues detention warrant for another pro-Kurdish HDP deputy”
https://turkeypurge.com/turkey-issues-detention-warrant-another-pro-kurdish-hdp-deputy

7-“Another ‘Gülenist’ dies of heart attack in prison: report”
https://turkeypurge.com/another-gulenist-dies-heart-attack-prison-report

8-“NASA scientist sentenced to 7 years in jail over coup charges”
https://turkeypurge.com/nasa-scientist-sentenced-7-years-jail-coup-charges

9-“Report shows number of rights violations increased during OHAL in Turkey”
https://turkeypurge.com/report-shows-number-rights-violations-increased-ohal-turkey

10-“US ‘deeply concerned’ by conviction of NASA scientist Serkan Golge”
https://turkeypurge.com/us-deeply-concerned-conviction-nasa-scientist-serkan-golge

11-“Warrants issued for 17 former Gazi University staffers: 11 detained”
https://turkeypurge.com/warrants-issued-17-former-gazi-university-staffers-11-detained

12-“Wives of 13 dismissed police officers under custody”
https://turkeypurge.com/wives-13-dismissed-police-officers-custody

13-“[VIDEO] Former law faculty dean detained over Gülen links”
https://turkeypurge.com/video-former-law-faculty-dean-detained-gulen-links

14-“University student jailed for insulting Erdogan two years ago”
https://turkeypurge.com/university-student-jailed-insulting-erdogan-two-years-ago

15-“European Parliament urges Turkey to end post-coup emergency rule”
https://turkeypurge.com/european-parliament-urges-turkey-end-post-coup-emergency-rule

16-“Turkey to confiscate billion-dollar holding over coup charges: report”
https://turkeypurge.com/turkey-confiscate-billion-dollar-holding-coup-charges-report

17-“Teacher couple detained after speaking out during interview by Finland’s state broadcaster”
https://turkeypurge.com/teacher-couple-detained-interview-finnish-state-broadcaster-yle

18-“Turkish prisons at 13 percent overcapacity: lawmaker”
https://turkeypurge.com/turkish-prisons-13-percent-overcapacity-lawmaker

19-“Books, magazines by anti-gov’t Furkan foundation seized as criminal evidence”
https://turkeypurge.com/books-magazines-anti-govt-furkan-foundation-seized-criminal-evidence

20-“Journalist Cem Bahtiyar jailed pending trial over terror charges”
https://turkeypurge.com/journalist-cem-bahtiyar-jailed-pending-trial-terror-charges

21-“Enes Kanter faces 4 years in jail for ‘insulting’ Turkish basketball federation head”
https://turkeypurge.com/enes-kanter-faces-4-years-jail-insulting-turkish-basketball-federation-head

22-“Erzurum tea house temporarily closed over Kurdish-language song”
https://turkeypurge.com/erzurum-tea-house-temporarily-closed-kurdish-language-song

23-“Chemistry teacher gets 10-year jail time over Gulen links”
https://turkeypurge.com/chemistry-teacher-gets-10-year-jail-time-gulen-links

24-“64 military academy students, officers sentenced to life in prison over coup charges”
https://turkeypurge.com/64-military-academy-students-officers-sentenced-life-prison-coup-charges

25-“Vision-impaired journalist, under arrest for 7 months, denied access to Braille books in prison”
https://turkeypurge.com/vision-impaired-journalist-arrest-6-months-denied-access-braille-books-prison

26-“Turkish LGBT activist goes on hunger strike in support of transgender woman jailed in Tekirdağ”
https://turkeypurge.com/turkish-lgbt-activist-goes-hunger-strike-support-transgender-woman-jailed-tekirdag

27-“Turkish activist detained in southeast Turkey: report”
https://turkeypurge.com/turkish-activist-detained-southeast-turkey-report

28-“Labour Party Bursa head put in pre-trial detention: report”
https://turkeypurge.com/labour-party-bursa-head-put-pre-trial-detention-report

29-“Video purportedly shows Turkish soldiers beat Kurdish villager in Afrin”
https://turkeypurge.com/video-purportedly-shows-turkish-soldiers-beat-kurdish-villager-afrin

30-“Dear Osman, dear Ahmet, dear Selahattin – speech in EP Plenary, Joint debate Turkey”
https://silencedturkey.org/kati-piris-speech-in-ep-plenary-joint-debate-on-turkey

31-“US Politician Margo Davidson Reflects On Her Visit To Turkish Refugees In Greece”
https://stockholmcf.org/us-politician-margo-davidson-reflects-on-her-visit-to-turkish-refugees-in-greece/

32-“Survey: 1,2 Million People Victimised By Emergency Rule In Turkey”
https://stockholmcf.org/survey-12-million-people-victimised-by-emergency-rule-in-turkey-2/

33-“US Consulate Hands Staff Member Over To Turkish Authorities”
https://stockholmcf.org/us-consulate-hands-staff-member-over-to-turkish-authorities/

34-“İstanbul’s Former Governor Mutlu Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison Over Gülen Links”
https://stockholmcf.org/istanbuls-former-governor-mutlu-sentenced-to-3-years-in-prison-over-gulen-links/

35-“Female Journalists Say Turkish Police Beat Them, Threatened Rape During Raid”
https://stockholmcf.org/female-journalists-say-turkish-police-beat-them-threatened-rape-during-raid/

36-“Religious Group Leader Critical Of Turkish Government Put In Pretrial Detention”
https://stockholmcf.org/religious-group-leader-critical-of-turkish-government-put-in-pretrial-detention/

37-“No Freedom Of Speech In Turkey Even For The Robots”
https://stockholmcf.org/no-freedom-of-speech-in-turkey-even-for-the-robots/

38-“European Parliament Strongly Condemns Human Rights Violations In Turkey”
https://stockholmcf.org/european-parliament-strongly-condemns-human-rights-violations-in-turkey/

39-“Turkish Gov’t Detains Dozens, Including Former Top Judiciary Official, Over Alleged Links To Gülen Movement”
https://stockholmcf.org/turkish-govt-detains-dozens-including-former-top-judiciary-official-over-alleged-links-to-gulen-movement/

40-“Only 1 released in trial of jailed journalists facing coup charges”
https://www.turkishminute.com/2018/02/06/only-1-released-in-trial-of-jailed-journalists-facing-coup-charges/

Türkiye tarafından işlenenen İnsan Hakları İhlalleri | 2/5/2018-2/12/2018

1-“Cezaevlerinde taciz edilen de var, banyosuna kamera yerleştirilen de”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/cezaevlerinde-taciz-edilen-de-var-banyosuna-kamera-yerlestirilen-de-h111981.html

2-“AKP rejimi tutuklu ‘Verem’ hastasına raporlara rağmen ilaç vermiyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/akp-rejimi-tutuklu-verem-hastasina-raporlara-ragmen-ilac-vermiyor-h111909.html

3-“Ümit Horzum ve diğer kaçırılanlara ne oldu?”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/umit-horzum-ve-diger-kacirilanlara-ne-oldu-h111887.html

4-“UNICEF: 2018’in ilk ayında Suriye’de en az 60 çocuk öldürüldü”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/unicef-2018in-ilk-ayinda-suriyede-en-az-60-cocuk-olduruldu-h111795.html

5-“AİHM’den Cizre savunması talebine AKP yönetiminden skandal cevap!”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/aihmden-cizre-savunmasi-talebine-akp-yonetiminden-skandal-cevap-h111772.html

6-“TEM’de bebekler ve anneler çok kötü şartlarda gözaltında tutuluyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/iskence/temde-bebekler-ve-anneler-cok-kotu-sartlarda-gozaltinda-tutuluyor-h111732.html

7-“Hak ihlalleri son 13 yılda yüzde 571 arttı”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/hak-ihlalleri-son-13-yilda-yuzde-571-artti-h112049.html

8-“AYM, Avukata ceza veren mahkemenin hak ihlalinde bulunduğunu açıkladı”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/aym-avukata-ceza-veren-mahkemenin-hak-ihlalinde-bulundugunu-acikladi-h112013.html

9-“Cep telefonunda Gülen’in videolarını izlediği gerekçesiyle gözaltı”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/cep-telefonunda-gulenin-videolarini-izledigi-gerekcesiyle-gozalti-h112008.html

10-“Tutuklu kadın gazeteci Hanım Büşra Erdal için destek mektubu var”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/tutuklu-kadin-gazeteci-hanim-busra-erdal-icin-destek-mektubu-var-h112002.html

11-“Erdoğan rejiminin yatırımları: 140 yeni hapishane yapılıyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/erdogan-rejiminin-yatirimlari-140-yeni-hapishane-yapiliyor-h111927.html

12-“Skandal karar! Polis genç kadına tecavüz etti mahkeme beraat kararı verdi”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/skandal-karar-polis-genc-kadina-tecavuz-etti-mahkeme-beraat-karari-verdi-h111917.html

13-“Alparslan Kuytul, adliyeye sevk edildi; binlerce gönüllü bekliyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/alparslan-kuytul-adliyeye-sevk-edildi-binlerce-gonullu-bekliyor-h111901.html

14-“Erdoğan’a hakaretten üniversite öğrencisi tutuklandı”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/erdogana-hakaretten-universite-ogrencisi-tutuklandi-h111875.html

15-“Oxfam açıkladı: Binlerce kişi sınırda mahsur kaldı, ÖSO haraç alıyor”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/oxfam-acikladi-binlerce-kisi-sinirda-mahsur-kaldi-oso-harac-aliyor-h111789.html

16-“AKP rejimi Furkan Vakfı’nın temsilciliklerini bir gecede mühürledi!”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/akp-rejimi-furkan-vakfinin-temsilciliklerini-bir-gecede-muhurledi-h111784.html

17-“Alperen Ocakları’nın LGBTİ’leri tehdidi ‘ifade özgürlüğü’ sayıldı”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/alperen-ocaklarinin-lgbtileri-tehdidi-ifade-ozgurlugu-sayildi/

18-“Çocuk tacizcisi polise 40 yıl hapis cezası”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/cocuk-tacizcisi-polise-40-yil-hapis-cezasi/

19-“Cezaevlerinde hak ihlalleri raporu: Ters kelepçe, cinsel taciz…”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/cezaevlerinde-hak-ihlalleri-raporu-ters-kelepce-cinsel-taciz/

20-“Cemaat’ten 40 bin, PKK’dan 10 bin, IŞİD’den bin kişi içerde”
http://aktifhaber.com/gundem/cezaevinde-kalamaz-raporuna-karsin-tahliye-edilmeyen-mahkum-yasamini-yitirdi-h111653.html

21-“NASA çalışanı ABD vatandaşı Serkan Gölge’ye 8 yıl hapis cezası”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/nasa-calisani-abd-vatandasi-golgeye-8-yil-hapis-cezasi/

22-“‘Afrin’de tüm hastaneler dolu, ilaçlar tükenmek üzere’”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/afrinde-tum-hastaneler-dolu-ilaclar-tukenmek-uzere/

23-“Firari Hukuk Fakültesi Dekanı Prof. Şen yakalandı, tutuklandı”
http://www.kronos.news/tr/firari-hukuk-fakultesi-dekani-prof-sen-yakalandi-tutuklandi/

24-“Cumhuriyet çalışanlarını ‘katletmek’ mübah mıdır?”
http://www.diken.com.tr/cumhuriyet-calisanlarini-katletmek-mubah-midir/

25-“Oxford’da öğretim üyeliği: Murat Belge ‘Risk Altındaki Akademisyenler Konseyi’ne başvurdu”
http://www.diken.com.tr/oxfordda-ogretim-uyeligi-murat-belge-risk-altindaki-akademisyenler-konseyine-basvurdu/

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Critical Speech by Kati Piri Delivered in European Parliament Plenary, Joint Debate on Turkey

Since the attempted coup of July 15, 2016, the government of Turkey has taken strict measures to silence dissidents from various ideologies both within and outside of its borders. The state of emergency, which was recently extended for the fifth time, and decree laws pave the way for discrimination and segregation on the basis of ethnicity, religion, and political or other opinions. Unfortunately, all the dissident groups have received their shares from the government’s purge.

One of these opposition groups, the Gulen Movement (a.k.a “Hizmet Movement”, meaning service in Turkish), has been the main target since 2013. The Gulen Movement is a faith-based non-political movement focusing on cultural and educational activities. It is composed of a cluster of religious, educational and social organizations inspired by a Turkish scholar, Fethullah Gulen.

Other opposition groups have also been targeted. Especially, Kurdish and Alevi people have been oppressed significantly. For instance, Selahattin Demirtas, co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish political party – Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), is still in prison. Moreover, Osman Kavala, one of the most significant civil society activists working to mend the relationship between Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian people and a businessman sponsoring Amnesty International, is also yet under arrest for alleged ties to the Hizmet Movement.

Since the July 15 failed coup attempt, President Erdogan and the government have been accusing Fethullah Gulen and his sympathizers to have connections with the failed coup. Gulen has repeatedly denied any involvement with the attempted coup. Foreign intelligence units such as Germany’s BND Foreign Intelligence Agency’s chief, EU intelligence-sharing unit (Intern), UK Parliament and US House Intel Chair have all noted that there is no concrete evidence indicating Mr. Gulen’s involvement. Nonetheless, Gulen spoke to global media outlets right after the coup attempt and condemned any effort against democracy. He called for an open international investigation to find out who was behind the coup attempt.

Yet, the Turkish government chose to declare state of emergency, which still continues as of February 2018, to purge thousands of people. Alleged supporters of the Movement in Turkey have been dealing with arrest, imprisonment, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, confiscation and passport seizure. After the failed coup, more than 130,000 people have been arbitrarily detained, and almost 65,000 people have been arrested. Most of them belong to the elite part of the society and are well-educated individuals with different backgrounds such as doctors, lawyers, judges, teachers, engineers and so on. What is striking is that most were imprisoned with no compelling evidence of any criminal activity. As two of the most vulnerable groups, women and children were affected a lot too. 17,000 women and 1914 children, where 688 are babies under age of six, are still in prison under inhuman conditions. There have also been several cases where women with their few days old babies were put in prison just after giving birth. Moreover, more than 4,400 judges and prosecutors have been dismissed indicating around one-third of all judiciary. The government has also shut down 3,003 schools, dormitories, and universities as well as confiscated more than 800 companies worth more than $10 billion, all were founded and owned by dissidents – mostly by the supporters of the Movement.

Kati Piri, member of the European Parliament, has been one of the most concerned individuals regarding the grave situation in Turkey. She has been working on Turkey’s EU membership process as Turkey rapporteur of the European Parliament. She recently gave a crucial speech talking about the ongoing events in Turkey.

Below you can find Kati Piri’s speech delivered on February 7, 2018:

“Dear Osman, dear Ahmet, dear Selahattin,

At the moment that Turkey is going through a difficult period, it needs brave people like you to stand up for human rights and the respect for rule of law. But for having done exactly that, you are now in a prison cell behind bars. While you cannot follow this debate, I hope your lawyers and family will inform you that we have not forgotten you! And we will continue to plea for your release as your arrests are politicized and arbitrary.

Osman Kavala, Ahmet Şik and Selehattin Demirtas are not the only innocent persons in jail in Turkey. While the perpetrators of the heinous coup attempt must be prosecuted and brought to justice, so many people became victims of the massive crackdown on all democratic opposition voices. The numbers are mind-boggling – more than 150.000 people fired and over 50.000 imprisoned. But remember that all these people have a face, have a family, have friends who are hoping that a normalization is still possible.

The state of emergency has led to a situation that the government can rule by decree – without parliamentary or judicial scrutiny. Every aspect in Turkish society has become securitized – meaning, that all who voice criticism against the government’s’ policies, are being labelled as terrorist or terrorism supporters. With that, legitimate and peaceful opposition is being silenced – in real life and on social media. Last two weeks, almost 500 people were detained for peacefully opposing Turkey’s military operation in Afrin.

There is also a structural problem with the lack of independence of the judiciary. And how big that problem is, we could witness last month. First there was a ruling by the Constitutional Court in Turkey to release jailed journalists Mehmet Altan and Sahin Alpay, as their rights had been violated. And although the highest court’s orders were crystal clear, a local penal court decided to keep them in detention.

Last week, we could witness another travesty of justice. The wife and daughters of Turkey’s Amnesty International Chair were waiting in front of the gates of the prison in Izmir to welcome their loved one into their arms after an 8-month imprisonment. A judge had ruled earlier that day for his release on bail. But within a couple of hours, the same judge changed his mind and ordered his re-arrest. And for all those people who have lost their jobs by decree, there is so far little hope for remedy. From one day to another, they have been labeled as terrorists and therewith socially excluded.

High Representative Mogherini, the EU is preparing a mini-Summit with Turkish President Erdogan at the end of March. We could read in the papers that no preconditions have been put on the table. But I hope you can tell us what you expect as results from such a meeting. We, in the Parliament, expect the EU to be loud and clear on human rights in Turkey. Not only because these are the values that our Union is based upon, and Turkey as a candidate should adhere to them. But also because we risk losing credibility and support by a majority of Turkish society if we don’t stand up for their rights in these dark times.”

As the Advocates of Silenced Turkey, we agree Kati Piri’s points, and we call the Turkish government to put an end to these arbitrary and unacceptable applications. We would like to remind the government its responsibilities under the international human rights law and ask to comply with the human rights standards accepted worldwide.

Watch the speech: https://silencedturkey.org/kati-piris-speech-in-ep-plenary-joint-debate-on-turkey

Download as a PDF File: AST_2-7-2018_Kati-Piris-speech-in-EP-Plenary-Turkey-P11

 


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