The Human Rights Association Izmir branch (IHD) reported that three Syrian men were burnt alive in a racially motivated killing on 16 November 2021 in Turkey. According to the press release of IHD, a Turkish man (identified just as Kemal) set alight Mamoun al-Nabhan (23), Ahmed Al-Ali (21) and Muhammed el-Bish (17) after pouring gasoline […]

Garibe Gezer, a Kurdish woman has died in a suspicious way in the Kandıra F-Type Prison, which  is known as one of the most notorious secure prisons in Turkey. Garibe, a member of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) died in solitary confinement after speaking out about the sexual assaults and torture she was subject to […]

A court in Turkey has sentenced Basak Demirtas, former People’s Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtas’s wife to 30 months in prison  on “document forgery charges” due to a date typo in a medical report for sick leave. She had medical operations to resolve complications of a miscarriage and her physician is also convicted on forgery. The lawyers stated that the verdict was made deliberately when […]

“Our language, identity and Kurdistan are denied.” said Cemil Taskesen, a Kurdish worker (Turkish citizen)  who is living in Siirt, a province in the South East of Turkey. He spoke to Meral Aksener during her visit to the region. Aksener is leader of The Good Party (IYI Party) which is affiliated with the nationalist far […]

Suleyman Soylu, Turkey’s Interior Minister, once again used hate speech aimed at the LGBTQ community.  LGBTQ was one of the targets in his speech at Hak-Is confederation, a pro-Islamist AKP trade union, meeting.  The Minister said that they  (AKP government) have prevented LGBTQ activities so that “they will not spoil Turkish family values.” Soylu said […]

The Association of Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen (TUSIAD) has called for a change in the current political system of Turkey. TUSIAD criticised the current presidential system in Turkey which they’ve paved the way for by supporting President Erdogan for many years. The Businessmen’s Association called for the need of democratisation and secularism in Turkey at […]

TUGVA (Turkish Youth Foundation), which is affiliated with TURGEV (Turkey Youth and Education Service Foundation) is the latest scandal linked to President Erdogan in Turkey. Erdogan founded TURGEV in the 1990s, and his close family members and his inner circle sit on the board of the foundation. After the corruption scandal about Erdogan’s family in […]

“Cihannuma Kız Ogrenci Yurdu”, a public funded dormitory for higher education in Turkey’s İzmir distict has announced a “moral” dresscode for students. Administration ordered the residents to dress “morally. ” According to Derya Dogan’s report from Yeni Yasam, a public funded dormitory announced to the students that they could no longer walk inside the perimeters […]

Ali Kismir, President of the Press Workers’ Union (Basın-Sen) of northern Cyprus, was detained at Istanbul Airport and deported for “security reasons.” The journalist said that he was deported due to his support for the presidential candidate Mustafa Akinci in the latest election in northern Cyprus. At the time of the elections there were serious […]

A strike involving workers at the Baldur Factory in Sekerpinar Organised Industrial Zone in Gebze, has been called off after a massive win for workers.  Baldur workers who manufacture suspension components and other parts for the automotive industry went on strike for 281 days in order to push for recognition of their trade union rights. Along with the determination of the striking workers, the powerful solidarity of representatives of major labour organisations both from Turkey and abroad paved the way for the victory.   Further background: 

Turkish police raided waste warehouses yesterday in Istanbul on the pretext of public order and attacked workers with tear gas and rubber bullets. Three waste pickers have been arrested. There has been tension for some time between the Governor Office and waste pickers about the recent regulations on waste which are in favour with some big investors in recycling sector. Ali Mendillioglu, […]

President Erdogan once again targeted the Bogazici Resistance and branded the students as terrorists in a speech yesterday. The Turkish president said: “I cannot accept a Turkey where there are students stamping on the rector’s car. We don’t need such students (…) these are terrorists who have infiltrated the university.” Since the start of 2021, Bogazici university students, staff, alumni […]

“Separatist kebab shops” said Devlet Bahceli, “are one of the reasons of unemployment”. Speaking at parliament today Bahceli, Chair of extremist right wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), incomprehensibly blamed the kebab shops for “aiding and abetting terrorism” and argued that they are one of the reasons of unemployment among the country. No one could understand what Bahceli is talking about and soon this nonsense statement became a topic […]

Tulay Hatimogullari, Deputy Co-Chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) was attacked at her home last Friday by two armed men claiming to be undercover police officers. MP Hatimogullari said that this is not an isolated event since abductions of dissidents became widespread recently in Turkey. She also stated that they (HDP) have a pretty […]

Levent Tuzel, the former MP and the former chair of the Labour Party of Turkey (EMEP) faces trial and up to 15 years jail over charges of terrorism and propaganda for participating in the activities of DTK.  DTK stands for the “Democratic Society Congress”, a non- governmental organisation that aims to draw attention to democracy […]

There is a growing “Movement of the Unsheltered” protests against rising living costs and lack of affordable accommodation for students who are enrolled in universities in Turkey. Since last week students in seven cities are sleeping outdoors and camping, mainly at parks where they conduct their vigil. Students also have launched a campaign on social […]

Ercument Akdeniz, the chair of the Labour Party of Turkey (EMEP) said on Tuesday, that the Kurdish question is a fact in Turkey and “the denial of the democratic demands of the Kurdish people is the main source of this question.”  Akdeniz made his statement on Twitter regarding the current discussions about who will be […]

Emine Senyasar, who lost her husband and two sons three years ago is calling for solidarity on Friday, September 24 which marks the 200th day of her vigil for justice. The Senyasar family were subjected to a brutal attack on 14 June 2018 which was launched by the relatives of Ibrahim Yildiz, an MP from […]

Mihrac Miroglu (7) was killed by a Turkish policeman while riding his bicycle in front of his house in Sirnak province in the southeast of Turkey. According to Mezopotamya News Agency, Mihrac died shortly after the crash of an armoured vehicle on 3 September 2021. “The deaths involving the security forces and the vehicles they […]

Seven Kurds from the same family were brutally murdered today in a racist  attack in their home in Konya; a central province in Turkey.   The Dedeoglu family was threatened and racially abused by a gang of 60 grey wolf members earlier this month. The racist group said to the Kurdish family, “We are nationalists, […]

Deniz Poyraz, a party employee at the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Izmir branch was killed today in a brutal attack at the party office.   An armed attacker has been identified as  Onur Gencer. It is believed he entered the building in the early hours despite the presence of constant police force at the gate of […]

Turkish gendarmerie opened fire against villagers protesting the demolition of their barns for a marble quarry in the village of Gurpinar in Van eastern province of Turkey on 26 May 2021. “Where shall we go?” said the villagers stressing that their only source of income is livestock and they are afraid of the death of […]

Trade union leaders and the members of the Turkish Health and social service workers union (SES) were arrested last week. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office claims that the SES members “operated under the name of ‘the public health committee’ but were connected with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).” It is believed that the prosecution’s […]

Sedat Peker, who was convicted for organised criminal activity in 2007 in Turkey, has broadcast a series of videos via his personal YouTube account. He has been in exile in Dubai for the last two weeks. He released allegations against well-known figures in Turkey including Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, former Interior Minister Mehmet Agar and […]

SPOT Statement on Palestine Israel is attempting to ethnically cleanse Palestinian families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied Jerusalem. As Palestinians protest in Jerusalem against these evictions, and Israel’s ongoing programme of ethnic cleansing, Israeli forces have responded with brutality, including an assault on worshippers at Al Aqsa Mosque that has wounded hundreds. Israel […]

Murat Yildiz, a 28-year-old Kurdish man was killed by Turkish soldiers in Dersim (Tunceli) in eastern Turkey on 7 May 2021. Local sources said that Yildiz may have been killed by a drone (UAV) attack which occurred near the village of Agacpinar. Tunceli Gendarmerie Command said in a written statement that three members of Kurdistan […]

On Tuesday, May 11th over 50 Parliamentarians co-signed a joint letter by Crispin Blunt MP and Hilary Benn MP regarding Britain’s relationship with Turkey. The letter outlines the sharp decline in human rights under President Erdogan’s leadership. It called for the Government to take a more active stance in seeking to prevent human rights violations […]

On the 10th Anniversary of the Istanbul Convention SPOT sends solidarity to the hundreds of thousands of women in Turkey fighting back against the Turkish State’s attacks on women’s rights and gender equality. Violence against women has intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic in Turkey and gender inequality has been rife, with women workers more likely […]

The AKP and Erdogan’s regime has banned the sales of alcohol as part of its announcement that there will be a complete “lock down” between 29 April and 17 May in the effort to fight the spread of Covid-19. No support is to be available for workers and those living in poverty.  The decision to ban sales […]

The Constitutional Court in Turkey has rejected another application seeking accountability for the deaths of civilians who died in the basements of buildings in the Kurdish town of Cizre (in the province of Sirnak) during the imposition of curfew 5 years ago. Cizre was turned into a war zone under a round-the-clock military lockdown lasting […]

The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) in Turkey has accused Erdogan and his party of misuse of central bank foreign reserves to uphold the Turkish Lira in 2019-20. Economist have calculated that back then the sales by state banks to support the Turkish lira totalled $128.3 billion.   “Where is the $128 billion?” question […]

“We don’t give up our right to life, stop deaths” protests, a growing movement of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), were due to take place across Turkey today. In Istanbul representatives from various Medical Associations came together in front of the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate to make a press statement about increasing concerns over the […]

Turkish police detained Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, former People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP on Friday at his home. Gergerlioglu’s parliamentary status was revoked last month due to a prison sentence on “terrorism” charges and he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison based on his social media post in 2016 where he retweeted […]

Evrensel, a daily newspaper in Turkey, has once again been fined for using the word “attack” while reporting about the Bogazici resistance. The newspaper has been subjected to considerable harassment since it first went to print in 1995 but recently the AKP government has put the paper on its punishment agenda.   The Public Advertising Agency (BIK) -the authority in Turkey responsible for the distribution of […]

Bogazici University students in Istanbul are still under the attack of the reactionary AKP Government in Turkey and its police force. 12 students were detained on Thursday on campus as they gathered to protest against a university investigation into a student for carrying a rainbow flag during the earlier demonstrations. In addition to yesterday’s detentions, […]

Turkey’s President Erdogan is using executive powers, including arbitrary decrees to imprison politicians, declare anybody he disagrees with as terrorists, and shut down political parties.  He is taking decisions in the middle of the night on issues in which he has no authority. In a country where at least 400 women were killed in the […]

Ozturk Turkdogan, Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD) Co-Chair was taken into custody in the early hours of today in Istanbul. He has since been released.  “This is the latest and obvious example of the pressure on human rights defenders. We will keep informing the public about the process.” said IHD in a statement and […]

A Turkish prosecutor filed a case demanding the closure of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) which won 11.7% support with nearly 6 million votes in the 2018 parliamentary election. Turkey has a long history of shutting down pro-Kurdish political parties. The People’s Labour Party (HEP) in 1993 and People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) in 2003 were […]

A court in Turkey has sentenced Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP to 2 years 6 months in prison on terror charges. Turkey’s parliament also stripped Gergerlioglu of his MP status today. Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a written statement yesterday urging Turkey to not expel Gergerlioglu from the Parliament. Hugh Williamson, Europe […]

Seven students from Bogazici University, two of whom had been held in detention, have been acquitted at the first hearing in which they were charged with “publicly provoking the public to hatred and hostility”. The trial was held today in Istanbul. The prosecutor had demanded that the seven students be sentenced to between 1 and […]

Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, had resigned publicly on social media from his position as Treasury Minister on 8 November. Since then Albayrak has not been seen and suspicions mounted that Erdogan is punishing him.  The opposition party expressed concerns about how 128bn dollars had been spent by the treasury whilst Albayrak was minister and began […]

A group of women congregating to set up the “8 March women’s resistance” exhibition, organised by Avcilar Women’s Platform, were blockaded by the police. The women who were kept waiting under blockade held up photos from the exhibition and staged a sit-in protest.  The Avcilar Women’s Platform met today at Marmara Street at the Egitim […]

Dilan Dirayet Tasdemir, HDP MP for Agri spoke out in response to Suleyman Soylu, Home Affairs minister, who described her as the “MP that went to Gare”.  Tasdemir, reacted to Soylu’s claim that she had previously been to Gare where 13 people recently died, saying “If you have this evidence, why didn’t you pass this […]

The illegal assault of Turkish military in the Iraqi region of Gare has devastating consequences both for Turkey and the region. The attack on Gare, where 13 Turkish security personnel held captive by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and 53 Kurdish guerrillas lost their lives alongside 3 high-ranking Turkish military officials conducting the assault, has raised […]

Anybody who dares to criticise or defend the truth faces arrest and imprisonment in Turkey. The oppression of opposition groups, particularly HDP members continues.  In the past 24 hours house raids and police operations have taken place in 40 provinces. 718 people, including HDP members and leadership,  have been arrested. The arrests in provinces such as […]

The deep socio-economic crisis under the AKP regime has led to working families and individuals facing poverty and desperation, with an increase in suicides particularly amongst young people.  Unal Cetinkaya, a 25 year old construction worker killed himself in what appears to be one of a series of five suicides in the last five days in Kocaeli, Turkey. “These are my final hours. I […]

Aysen Sahin, writer at Evrensel newspaper and women’s rights activist was arrested at her home today and taken to İstanbul Police Headquarters. She shared news of her arrest on Twitter saying “Friends police are at the door, I am being taken to Vatan Police Station. I will get changed and leave. I was unable to […]

Beyza Buldag, a fine arts student at Mimar Sinan university, has been arrested in relation to the Bogazici protests. In her questioning by prosecutors, she was accused of “insulting the president” and inciting the public to hatred and hostility through her posts on Twitter. The reason cited for the allegation was the use of account […]

Tariq Ali, sends solidarity message to the Bogazici resistance in a special interview with Evrensel. TARIQ ALI: I salute your courage. How and when the struggle for academic and other freedoms for minorities of every sort will end I cannot predict. But this moment in the history of modern Turkey will not be forgotten thanks to […]

President Erdogan once again branded the students of Bogazici University as terrorists in a speech to members of his ruling Islamist party today. Throughout his speech, Erdogan took several shots at the protestors who are demanding academic freedom. “This country will not be run by terrorists. We will do whatever is necessary to prevent this. […]

Students at Bogazici University in Istanbul began their protests nearly a month ago against the appointment of a new rector by President Erdogan. As resistance grows, more than 220 people were detained over the solidarity protests in Istanbul and Ankara in the last two days. There are numerous posts on the social media displaying torture […]

Bogazici University students gathered today following a call from the campus solidarity group to protest in support for the students who were arrested on 30 January.  The students were arrested over a collage illustration at a campus exhibition last week.  The exhibition where the mentioned artwork was displayed was part of the ongoing protests against […]

Students from Bogazici University have been arrested because of a collage at a campus exhibition. The artwork illustrates LGBT rainbow symbols alongside an image of a sacred Islamic site.   Arrests come on the heels of academics and students at Bogazici University protesting against a government appointed rector since the early days of January 2021. […]

Farmers across Turkey will march to the capital city on 2 February to protest the agricultural policies of AKP. This is their fifth protest in the last two months. According to Dilan Kutlu’s report from the ANKA Agency, farmers are warning that farming is no longer a viable livelihood and Turkey will face a devastating […]

Gokhan Gunes, a left wing activist has returned to his home six days after he went missing. At the time Gunes’ family had accessed a surveillance camera footage which captured the abduction of the 23 years old worker and stated that Turkish security forces were involved in his disappearance. As the incident created a public outcry, Gunes was dropped off blindfolded in a remote district of Istanbul yesterday morning. “The people who kidnapped and tortured me for days were calling themselves ‘the invisibles’” […]

Gokhan Gunes, a member of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) in Turkey has been missing since 20 January 2021. The disappearance of Gunes, a left wing activist, has brought to the fore the increase in disappearances in Turkey and there is now a widespread call for accountability as to the whereabouts of Gunes.   […]

At least 27,493 people were subjected to torture and ill-treatment by the police or the gendarmerie in Turkey during the 2002-2020 period. A total of 86 people have died as a result of torture under the ruling AKP government according to a report prepared by Sezgin Tanrikulu, regarding torture and ill-treatment in the country. Tanrikulu, […]

In April 2020, the Ankara Bar Association criticised the Ministry for Religious Affairs for claiming that homosexuality and extramarital relationships spread illness in society. At the time, the Ankara Bar Association, criticised  Ali Erbas’ retention of his position as the Chair of the Ministry for Religious Affairs after his comments about homosexuality and noted that “having […]

Didar Bozan, Merve Nur Isleyici and Ceylan Bozkurt were imprisoned for “terrorism” offences for attending press conferences and posting on the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) social media group while they were university students.  The three Kurdish women were convicted of “disseminating propaganda for an outlawed organisation” in 2016 as part of the politically motivated crackdown […]

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) criticised Erdogan on the occasion of January 10 Working Journalists Day in Turkey for targeting an opposition daily newspaper. “If, in 2020, a country’s so-called president is directly targeting a newspaper and telling people, ‘I am not reading that newspaper, you should also […]

Health and Safety Labour Watch (ISIG) published its “Year 2020 Report of Workplace Manslaughters”. According to the report, last year, at least 2,427 workers lost their lives in workplace manslaughters. The report is compiled using information from the national press (66%) and workplace safety specialists, workplace doctors, trade unions and local press (34%). The number […]

In 2018 it was revealed that Erdogan’s AKP, which governed Istanbul for 25 years, was responsible for embezzling 15 million Turkish Lira. In March 2019, the CHP, the opposition party which won the local elections in Istanbul began legal proceedings against the AKP. Following this development the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Adil Karaismailoglu, banned […]

President Erdogan has claimed that under his rule media has become “more vocal and more free” in Turkey. The reality is that Turkey remains the worst jailer of journalists globally and is 154th inin the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.  Speaking on the occasion of January 10 Working Journalists’ Day, Erdogan said “As Turkey, we […]

Bogazici University academics and students continued their fifth day of protests, which were sparked by the latest appointment of the rector Melih Bulu (a member of Erdogan’s Islamist AKP party). Erdogan accuses protestors, who are defending academic autonomy, and those supporting them of being “terrorism-related.” Meanwhile, students are rejecting the accusations and have posted a […]

Evrensel, a daily newspaper in Turkey, which has been under intense pressure since it first went to print in 1995, has been fined for an advert featuring a girl holding a yellow, green and yellow scarf. The advertisement commemorated the 25th anniversary of the newspaper. The Ministry of Trade issued the fine alleging that featuring […]

President Erdogan tightens his grip on universities as he directly appoints Professor Melih Bulu as the rector of Bogazici University, which is one of the most respected universities in the country. Bulu has extremely close connections to Erdogan’s ruling party and is not from the university’s own academic community. The appointment has sparked reaction and […]

Lawyers have criticised police in Turkey who have been waiting for Hacer Yildirim to be discharged from the hospital where she has just given birth. The decision to take into custody relates to the Bylock investigation (which concerns the use of a messaging app the government believes is linked to the Gulen movement).  34 year […]

Baris Yarkadas, ex-opposition MP and journalist continues to release regular reports on attacks on journalists and the media.  The latest report paints a tragic yet unsurprising picture with respect to press and media freedom in Turkey, showing that in December 2020 alone: 35 journalists were brought before the courts, 4 journalists were sentenced to 42 […]

Women across Turkey will take to the streets in protest following the murder of three women in one day.  In 2020 at least 419 women have been killed by men in Turkey. Yesterday three more women died in this way. In Istanbul, Aylin Sozer’s throat was slit and she was burned to death by Kemal […]

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the main opposition the Republican People’s Party (CHP), warns that Turkey is on course for a deeper economic and social disaster and reiterated his call for a snap election. “At present Turkey is ruled by a dictator. All Erdogan’s features are in keeping with the definition of a dictator by any […]

Privately owned Olay TV has been subject to intense questioning by pro-government circles over its nonpartisan coverage of news stories and has been shut down after just 26 days on air on National TV.  Suleyman Sarilar, Chief Editor of the channel said that Cavit Caglar (the channel’s owner) claimed he is under “great pressure from […]

Workers at the Baldur Factory in Sekerpinar Organised Industrial Zone in Gebze, which manufactures suspension components and other parts for the automotive industry, were fired in 2016 for joining a branch of Birlesik Metal Is (United Metal Workers) Union, a progressive labour union.   At that time the workers were forced to become members of […]

Can Dundar, a prominent journalist in exile since 2016, has been sentenced to 27 years in prison. This sentence is considered a continuation of the imprisonment of journalists through the use of arbitrary terrorism charges, as well as persistent harassment and suppression of media freedom by Turkey’s ruling AKP. The sentence issued to Dundar relates […]

Özcan Yaman, an Evrensel journalist in Turkey has been fined 10 thousand lira for an article in which he criticises the Turkish President Erdogan’s son. The article concerned the 2014 telephone calls between the President and his son, Bilal Erdogan, which were leaked to the press. The phone calls revealed the bribes and corrupt way that […]

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ordered Turkey to immediately release from prison the prominent opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas (former co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party – HDP).  The grand chamber ruling found that Demirtaş has had his freedom of expression, liberty and right to free elections breached, stating that his […]

Leyla Guven, former Peoples’ Democratic Party MP (HDP) and co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), has been sentenced to 22 years and 3 months in prison under the pretext of “establishing and leading a terrorist organisation.” The ruling AKP accuse all progressive democratic opposition of terrorism as a means of silencing and suppressing growing […]

Recently the declarations of an increasing number of woman detained on terrorism charges show that Turkish security forces are using strip searches systematically to enforce fear and to humiliate. Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, MP from Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who brought up the claims regarding strip searching of female detainees across Turkey, said that in some […]

Known for his closeness to AKP, Sakarya University Faculty Member Prof. Dr. Ebubekir Sofuoğlu targeted young people by saying ‘Universities are brothels’ In the program named “Derin Kutu”, presented by Sabri Balaman on Akit TV (a mouthpiece for AKP and Erdogan’s propaganda), Prof. Dr. Ebubekir Sofuoğlu, speaking about the generation Z, said that participation in […]

Turkey’s President Erdogan has given a clear instruction to the judiciary to keep the jailed former co-leader of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Selahattin Demirtas, and the human rights campaigner, Osman Kavala, behind bars. When asked to comment on the unjust ongoing detention of Kavala and Demirtas, Erdogan said “Demirtas is a terrorist” and the “judiciary […]

Recently colours of the rainbow have become a political issue in Turkey. A few months ago Egitim-Sen, the Teachers’ Trade Union in Turkey announced that school principals were receiving orders from local education directorates raising concerns about rainbow drawings. According to the Union’s statement, the Ministry of National Education has ordered teachers not to allow students to draw rainbows during the COVID-19 pandemic, […]

It has been reported that on 12 November 2020, a 15 year old child reported that she had been raped and got pregnant, to the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in the southeastern Batman province of Turkey.  Further revelations about the sexual abuse experienced the minor were uncovered by Jinnews, a women-centered news agency, however many […]

Ozcan Erbas, a 16-year-old Kurdish boy was killed by Turkish soldiers in Hakkari -a southeastern province of Turkey- on 30 November 2020. According to the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), SabriErbas, the victim’s uncle, said that Ozcan Erbas was having picnic at Anadag district with his two friends when the soldiers opened fire on them.  “We went to take him after learning about the incident, soldiers did not allow […]

A female Kromsan factory worker in Manisa named Selma Cetin shared her story on social media, after she experienced violence at the hands of an assistant foreman and then had her rights infringed by factory management. The factory management declined to watch the security camera footage and instead decided to fire Selma Cetin by alleging […]

Turkey’s Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) has appointed 11 judges and prosecutors as new members to the Supreme Court of Appeals. The appointment came shortly after President Erdogan’s highly debated announcement about new judicial reforms aimed at stabilising the legal situation – one of the most fiercely debates topic in the country. In the […]

Five years ago, on 28 November 2015, Diyarbakır Bar Association Chair Tahir Elçi was murdered while making a statement to the press in Sur, Diyarbakır.  Elci was a highly respected lawyer who was well known for representing victims at the European Court of Human Rights in a cases relating to forced evictions of Kurdish villages, […]

Economic and social inequality, and violence against women and girls continues to rise in Turkey, but women refuse to bow to the AKP’s regressive policies and attacks on women’s rights. In preparation for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, SPOT, together with Day-Mer Women, have organised an online webinar […]

Kudret Yener’s throat was slit by two men during a violent robbery in the southern Turkish city of Adana in 2017. A criminal court yesterday sentenced the defendants, İsmail and Vural Yetik to aggravated life imprisonment for the murder of the 72 year old woman. Aggravated life sentences of the offenders were reduced to a […]

Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s finance minister, and also the son in law of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday announced his resignation in an Instagram post. Albayrak, who mentioned health reasons for his resignation also deleted his Twitter account at the same time. Albayrak -who was previously Turkey’s energy minister for nearly three years- resigned a day […]

  Omer Yeğit, a Turkish policeman crashed an armoured vehicle into a house in Silopi -a town in Şırnak province in the southeast of Turkey- killing siblings Muhammed (7) and Furkan Yıldırım (6) as they were sleeping inside their house on 3 May 2017. Shortly after, Ali İhsan Su, who was then the governor of […]

As of today at least 111 people died and 1034 people have been injured in İzmir, the coastal city of Turkey, after a strong earthquake struck in the Aegean Sea on Friday 30 October. According to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.6, on the other hand the United […]

Turkey’s coast (Izmir) and north of the Greek island of Samos were struck by a 7 magnitude earthquake yesterday, in which homes were destroyed and many have been killed and injured. Turkey claimed the magnitude was lower, at 6.6, but it is widely accepted that this is inaccurate. Prof Dr Övgün Ahmet Ercan from Istanbul Technical […]

Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magasine, caused a stir by publishing a cartoon, mocking Turkey’s President Erdogan. The front page caricature of the latest edition of Charlie Hebdo, depicts Erdogan in underpants and lifting up the skirt of a woman wearing a hijab to reveal her naked bottom and his speech bubble says “Ooh, the […]

Turkey’s Health Ministry issued a circular today announcing that “due to the coronavirus pandemic measures” resignations of the health workers would not be accepted. According to the document, healthcare workers will not be allowed to take their annual leaves and retirement procedures were also suspended with mandatory exceptions. Healthcare workers in Turkey were resigning to […]

  The governor of Turkey’s eastern province of Van, has once again issued an order which bans all protest marches, open-air meetings and press statements within the boundaries of the city for 15 days as of October 21. The ban which supposed to be temporary under exceptional circumstances has been extended for multiple times since […]

Turkey’s president, Erdogan, has criticised the projection of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad onto buildings following the beheading of a teacher in France and targeted Macron. Erdogan said of Macron that he needs “mental health treatment”. French president Emmanuel Macron, recalled Herve Magro, his ambassador in Ankara to Paris to consult. In relation to Erdogan’s […]

Turkey’s parliament discussed the country’s 2021 budget which aims to allocate 24 billion Turkish lira (£ 2.4 billion) for expenditures of the Ministry of Justice. According to Turkish media the Ministry of Justice plans to spend significant portion of this amount for the construction of 39 new prisons. This means that Turkey’s already extremely high […]

Ali Fuat Atik, the governor of Denizli -southwestern province of Turkey- has stirred a debate on the social media about his attitude towards shopkeepers and workers. As seen on the videos uploaded to various Twitter accounts, Atik was visiting shops as part of Coronavirus inspections and a worker at a restaurant did not recognise him. […]

German authorities have raided the offices of FinFisher, a Munich software company, which makes surveillance tools and has been accused in the past of providing software to oppressive regimes. German prosecutors launched the investigation upon the criminal complaint of GFF (Society for Civil Rights), a Berlin based non-profit human rights organisation. According to “zdnet.com” – […]

Today a Turkish court refused to comply with a retrial order by the Constitutional Court, despite being legally required to do so. The retrial order states that Enis Berberoğlu’s (a former MP from the main opposition Republican People’s Party – CHP) right to be elected and engage in political activities and right to personal liberty […]

Four people from the northern Syrian city of Heseke have died in a border minefield at the Kızıltepe district of Turkey’s Mardin province. According to Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), the horrendous incident was revealed when the survivors of the refugee group were taken into custody and were brought to the public prosecutor’s office for deportation. […]

Mustafa Akıncı, Turkish Cypriot leader, who is running for a second term for presidency, said in a TV interview today that he has been threatened for being a candidate, by an authority who is affiliated with Turkey’s leadership. Akıncı said that they conveyed their message through his own executive assistant and told him that it […]

Turkish police have raided the office of Mezopotamya Agency (MA) and the homes of several journalists in Turkey’s eastern Van province on October 5. MA reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur and Jin News reporters Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala have been detained. Police forcibly deleted the other reporters’ camera shootings of Cemil Uğur’s detention. […]

Despite public outcry in July, the Turkish government has passed a controversial bill which changes the Turkish Bar Associations election procedures. The main purpose of this legislative amendment is to disempower bar associations in larger cities in the country. Bar associations are fierce critics of the government and their violations of human rights. The amendment […]

Utku Çakırözer, MP from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has published the Press Freedom Report in Turkey for September 2020. Çakırözer said that “September is the darkest month of this year with regard to freedom of press.” According to the report, during September more than 60 journalists were on trial and 14 journalists face […]

Ayhan Bilgen, ex-MP from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the co-mayor of Kars province in the east of Turkey, was detained on 25 September for participating in the October 2014 protests against the siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani by Islamic State, alongside of many other prominent members of the party. And […]

Turkey, the world’s worst jailer of journalists, continues its crackdown on dissident voices. Turkey has introduced new legal provisions, which controls and monitors use of social media platforms. Social media is currently the main channel for opponents and campaigners, and these new rules threaten the existence of social media platforms in the country both through costly […]

Halk TV in Turkey has been ordered to black out its screen for 5 days by the TV and Radio governing body (RTUK) for a program they broadcasted. The body accuses the channel of offending and underestimating the Turkish Armed Forces. It also accuses the channel of going against the rules set by the governing body which […]

In the early hours of 25 September in Turkey, 82 people, including former executives and prominent members of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), were arrested for participating in the October 2014 protests against the siege of the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani by Islamic State. Back then huge protests took place in Turkey’s southeast in which protestors […]

Every day Turkey is becoming a more eco-destructive country and a highly controversial project is again on the country’s agenda. The Biogas plant project at Çapaklı, a village in Turkey’s western Manisa province, is another example of the Turkish government’s support of construction with no regard for the environmental impact. Residents of Çapaklı, a village […]

The resistance against the mining operations of Canada-based Alamos Gold Inc and its Turkish subcontractor Doğu Biga Mining at Mount Ida (Kazdağları) in Turkey’s north western Çanakkale province has been continuing for 425 days. Activists say that the mining project will harm the natural cycle irreversibly by contaminating soil and water sources to extract gold. […]

  Yusuf Karatas, columnist for Evrensel Newspaper has been sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison for participating in the Democratic Society Congress (known as the DTK) panel in 2011. Karatas spoke at the DTK as a member of the executive of the Labour Party of Turkey (Emek Partisi, or EMEP). Like Karatas, other executives […]

Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban were detained on September 11 by soldiers conducting an operation in the Çatak district of Van province in the east of Turkey. According to eyewitnesses the two men were subjected to torture in the village square and then detained in a military helicopter. Other villagers who defied the detention were […]

Turkish courts have ruled in favour of confiscating Can Dündar’s property. Can Dündar was imprisoned for espionage in Turkey after exposing the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation’s (known as MIT) complicity in the provision of arms to ISIS. Dündar had taken the decision to publish the story when he was the chief editor of Cumhuriyet. During […]

100 musicians commit suicide in Turkey It has been announced that 100 musicians and singers have committed suicide in Turkey since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has caused significant hardship for those employed in the music  industry.  Throughout the pandemic there has been no government support provided to artists and musicians, many […]

Like countries all over the world, coronavirus continues to threaten lives in Turkey. Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the racist MHP (nationalist movement party) has called for the shutting down of the Turkish Medical Association. The Turkish Medical Association had said previously  that the Government are withholding the truth from the public and that the […]

  Doğan Çetin, who was doing his compulsory military service in the western Turkey in Edirne was physically attacked by two soldiers for saying “wish we had been educated in Kurdish”. The attack took place on 15th August during which Çetin fractured his nose and forehead.  Çetin, who filed a complaint with the police, said […]

In Mardin, a city in the south east of Turkey, where the people’s democratic party (HDP) won the local mayoral election, the government has dismissed the elected representatives and appointed Mustafa Yaman as the new administrator and also appointed a male administrator to the Women’s Office within the council. The appointed Abdurrahman Sahin is also […]

The Bar Human Rights Committee (“BHRC”) has published the Turkish version of its trial observation report of the “Gezi Park” trial of sixteen leading civil society individuals in Turkey. The report was first published in English in May 2020. BHRC closely monitored the “Gezi Park” trial of sixteen leading civil society individuals in Turkey and […]

We stand in solidarity with the SF Trade workers who were sacked for their membership of Deriteks and are now facing a compensation claim for 200,000 TL SF Trade in Izmir Turkey, which produces luxury goods for international brands, has taken to court four leather workers who they previously unfairly dismissed for union membership. The women […]

    Following a decision by Ankara 4. Criminal Court Judges Journalist Muyesser Yildiz is to remain in prison. It was noticeable that the judges made a decision without waiting for Yildiz’ lawyer to attend the trial. Muyesser Yildaz was the Ankara News Director of OdaTV and has been in prison for the past three […]

The AKP government claims to “bring to life new projects” and is having bridges, hospitals, tunnels, airports, dams and roads built all over the country. Private companies are carrying out these works which are being presented as “government services” to the public.  But all of these companies have “customer guarantees”.  When the companies building these […]

  A mother and daughter were arrested yesterday in Munzur for protesting the police failure to find their daughter and sister Gulistan Doku, a student at Munzur university who has been missing since 5 January. Gulistan’s mother, Bedriye Doku and her sister, Aygul Doku began a peaceful sit-in protest against the failure of the authorities […]

The President of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Robert Spano paid a controversial visit to Turkey and met with President Erdogan. Many members of the judiciary and lawyers have criticised the visit. Spano, after a number of engagements, met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who had previously said that the ECHR decision calling […]

Despite warnings workers continue to die in workplace accidents. This year already there have been 1306 workplace deaths in Turkey. In August 208 workers died in workplace accidents because of lack of safety precautions. The construction industry had the highest number of workplace deaths, but “accidents” are killing workers in mines, agriculture and factories too […]

It is reported that 16 workers from the Kurdish region of Mardin Mazidagi, who went to Western Sakarya as hazelnut pickers were attacked by their employers and villagers. The workers had to return to Mardin after the attack. One of the victims of the attack, Baris Demir, said that they did not have any issues […]

As of 3rd September access to all news stories relating to the arrest of Uşşaki Cult Leader Fatih Nurullah’s sexual abuse of a 12 year old girl have been blocked in Turkey. Nurullah, who is known for his closeness with Erdogan and the AKP, is reported to have offered 70,000 Turkish Liras to the child’s […]

    Media freedom is quickly becoming a thing of the past in Turkey. TELE1, a television channel that is not aligned with the Government, has been punished with a five-day black-out for critiquing President Erdogan and the AKP government.   The Supreme Council for Radio and Television (RTÜK) , which is known for its close […]

The Turkish state is destroying historical sites belonging to Assyrians, Jews, Armenians, Kurds and Christians across the country. Just recently the world famous Hagia Sofia Museum was converted into a mosque, and buildings of worship belonging to minority faiths Turkey regularly face either forced conversion into a mosque or wilful neglect and disrepair by the State. […]

On 1st September the 2020-21 judicial year was opened with a ceremony at the presidential palace in Turkey. The Bar Associations were not invited to the ceremony. In their absence, President Erdogan boasted about the reforms to “rights and freedoms” they had implemented and justified the purge of lawyers who stood in solidarity with the […]

The Platform for Ending Femicide in Turkey has published their report on the murders of women in Turkey in August 2020. The report reveals that in August, 27 women were killed by men, and 23 women were found dead under suspicious circumstances. Of the 27 women murdered, the motivation was unclear in 16 cases. In […]

Baris Yarkadas, ex opposition CHP MP and journalist, released a report on attacks on journalists and the media in August. Yarkadas publishes the report monthly, which shows that attacks on the media have been significant in August. The report shows that in August: 2 journalists were arrested, 2 journalists detained, 4 journalists faced trial, and […]

Countries all over the world have been recognising World Peace Day and calling for peace on 1st September. Meanwhile in Turkey calling for peace is considered as “terrorism”. The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) wanted to call for peace in Diyarbakir, Van and Ankara but were met with police prohibitions and many people were arrested. The […]

Ebru Timtik, who was on indefinite hunger strike demanding a fair trial, has died in Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Hospital after 238 days. Timtik’s only demand was a right to fair trial and she had called on the Minister for Justice to intervene, but despite numerous warnings the government stood idly by – choosing instead to […]

Floods hit the shores of Giresun in the Blacksea region of Turkey. Huge devastation hit the area of Dereli in particular. So far 8 people have died and 11 are missing. 17 buildings have collapsed and 351 buildings are damaged. Over 100 villages have become blocked off and 78 residential areas have lost their electricity.  […]

The health of two lawyers, Ebru Timtik and Aytaç Ünsal, on indefinite hunger strike demanding a fair trial has reached a critical point. Ebru has been on indefinite hunger strike for 240 days and Aytac for 210 days. Their health is at risk and the Turkish government is standing idly by. The Justice Minister has […]

The Turkish Bar Associations stand firm against attacks on their independence Last week the main agenda across Turkey was the Government’s plan to change the way that the Turkish Bar Associations are organised and their electoral system. The Bar Association’s believe that the legal changes proposed would make the Bar Associations undemocratic and would result […]

SPOT Webinar – The Struggle for Democracy in Turkey Join us live on Facebook and Zoom: Sunday 21 June – 5pm  

Attacks on democratic opposition escalates and municipalities are prevented from supporting residents impacted by Covid-19     You can read the full statement here:  SPOT Turkey Update – June 2020    

20 international and local media freedom groups sent a joint public letter to the General Director of Turkey’s Public Advertising Agency, Rıdvan Duran, regarding the suspension of public ad bans imposed on the newspapers. The International Press Institute (IPI) and 19 other international press freedom and freedom of expression groups sent a joint public letter […]

Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Chairwoman Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Human Rights Association (İHD) Chairman Öztürk Türkdoğan evaluated the police violence cases for Evrensel. Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) Chairwoman Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Human Rights Association (İHD) Chairman Öztürk Türkdoğan reacted to the incidents of police violence from various parts […]

The leaders of the ’68 youth movement Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan, Hüseyin İnan were commemorated on the 48th anniversary of their executions. People’s Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO) and the leaders of the youth movement of ’68, Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin Inan were executed by the junta on March 12. They were commemorated […]

10 Members of the European Parliament called on Turkey’s Public Advertising Agency to lift the indefinite ban on Evrensel. In a letter addressed to Rıdvan Duran, the general director of the Public Advertising Agency (BİK), the authority in Turkey responsible for the distribution of state advertising, ten members of the European Parliament called for the […]

Cengiz Bektaş, one of Turkey’s leading architects who for long years wrote articles in our newspaper, has lost his life. We have lost our newspaper’s columnist, architect and poet Cengiz Bektaş. Holder of the Aga Khan and Mimar Sinan Grand Awards, Bektaş had been undergoing treatment for diabetes-related heart failure in an intensive care unit […]

The Turkish state’s attacks on human rights, workers rights and democracy is relentless, and President Erdogan’s war politics is fuelling further tension and instability, not just in Turkey but across the region. It is in this context that we have pulled our sleeves up and are finalising preparations for SPOT’s 4 th Annual Conference, which […]

As President Erdoğan’s Idlib obduracy and AUAV strikes continue, the ruling media is making “national pride from national arms” propaganda, and son-in-law Selçuk Bayraktar is making money, too. Object of the power holders’ relentless obduracy, Idlib remains high on the agenda. Compared to before, it has become tougher to air the voice of truth among […]

The Labour Party (EMEP) made a written statement after the soldiers’ deaths in Idlib, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign forces in Syria, including the Turkish soldiers. The Labour Party (EMEP) made a written statement after the soldiers’ deaths in Idlib, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign forces in Syria, including the Turkish soldiers. The […]

With it now apparent that the Erdoğan administration’s aims are no longer feasible, one could describe the way it has become bogged down thanks to its obdurateness over its Syria policy as its “jihadist impasse and Kurdish quandary.” There is no let-up in either the Erdoğan administration’s obdurateness over Idlib or the deaths of soldiers […]

Turkey is pushing refugees over the border and Greece is pushing them back. What we are watching is a Turkish-Greek jointly produced film of shame. The refugees are like a ping-pong ball toing and froing across the tennis table. The right-wing government in Greece is pitiless towards refugees. Be they old, children or handicapped, the […]

Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş has made a statement following the death of 33 soldiers in Idlib. Former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, detained for more than three years in Edirne Prison, has sent a message regarding the 34 soldiers who were killed in the air raid staged by the Syrian army in the Syrian town […]

Erdoğan appears to have reached the stage of holding “martyrs” in a tighter embrace and saying, “God willing, the mound of martyrs will not remain empty” in accentuating the religious-ideological grounds for his policy. Speaking at a foundation-laying ceremony for the tram line in Izmir’s Kınık sub-province, for the second time in the past two […]

Prof. Dr. İlhan Uzgel and Russia expert Kerim Has assessed the latest developments in Syria and Idlib for Evrensel. The Idlib tension continues to mount. The Ministry of National Defence announced the deaths of two soldiers and the wounding of another five soldiers in İdlib. At around the same time, the Anadolu Agency intimated that […]

The picture painted in Idlib conjures up the words spoken by Russian playwright Chekhov to emphasise the connection of the stage set: “If in the first act there is a rifle hanging on the wall, it absolutely must go off at the end of the play.” Each day fresh news of conflict and death comes […]

The International Press Institute (IPI) has announced that the announcement ban given to BirGün has been lifted by the Press Notices Institute and appealed for the same ban issued to Evrensel to be lifted at once. The International Press Institute (IPI) has announced that the announcement ban given to BirGün has been lifted by the […]

The Press Advertisement Agency has dismissed our objection to the announcement and advertising decision it issued whereby more than one newspaper may not be purchased. The Press Advertisement Agency (PAA) has once more dismissed the objection we made to the announcement and advertising ban penalty it imposed premised on newsagent sales. The Press Advertisement Agency […]

The Board of Judges and Prosecutors has authorized a probe into the judges which ordered acquittal in the Gezi trial. Prior to the decision authorizing the probe, Erdoğan said, “They set out with a manoeuvre to have him acquitted.” Chamber One of the Board of Judges and Prosecutors has authorized a probe into the bench […]

The court panel in the Gezi case gave the verdict of acquitting 9 people and discharging Osman Kavala, the only defendant of the case in detention. The files of 7 people abroad were set aside. The sixth hearing of the Gezi court case of 16 people accused of “attempting to do away with the government […]

President Tayyip Erdoğan said: “Whoever says, ‘What business does Turkey have in Syria?’ is either unaware or intentionally an enemy of this people.” In the speech he made at his party’s parliamentary group meeting last tuesday, President and AKP General Chair Tayyip Erdoğan targeted those who criticize Turkish troops coming under fire and a state […]

IPI-led international press freedom mission called for an immediate end to the ban on public advertising on the two independent newspapers Evrensel and BirGün. The International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters without Borders (RSF), the Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS), the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called for an […]

CEREN SAGIR reports on an important workers’ struggle at SF Trade Leather in Izmir, Turkey BRITISH luxury fashion company Mulberry says it prides itself for being “ethically sourced.” Volkswagen Group UK Ltd says it has a “zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern slavery.” And Mercedes-Benz UK claims to have a “zero-tolerance policy towards violations […]

According to Press Advertisement Agency (BİK) reports, readers buying more than three newspapers presented as a reason for cutting ads off for Evrensel. Press Advertisement Agency (BİK) refused our appeal against the decision to stop allocating public sector advertisements in our newspaper. The reasons put forward for the decision were scandalous. One reader buying two […]

Lawyer Ahmet Ergin discusses rulings the Constitutional Court has passed on strike bans: “Constitutional Court case law provides guarantees to workers intent on striking.” A fresh strike is in the offing for metal workers, their wages eroding day by day under conditions of economic crisis. Disagreement reigned at the Turkish Employers’ Association of Metal Industries […]

The cancelled press cards of Evrensel newspaper staff have been restored. The cancelled press cards of Evrensel newspaper staff have been restored. When some Evrensel staff members consulted the “Press card search” section today, they saw the wording “in use” in place of the comment “annulled” they had previously seen. However, no comment in this […]

As all know, is it not Erdoğan and the AKP who has not only been “the political wing of the coup” or Gülen but its partner? Was there not a partnership of power? First and foremost, my condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the Elazığ earthquake. And my get-well-soon wishes […]

END TURKEY’S ATTACKS ON DEMOCRACY AND MILITARY AGGRESSION NOW     As the general election approaches voters are looking to our Parliament to recognise the impact that our foreign policy is having on the safety of innocent civilians not just in the UK but all over the world. Democracy is under attack in Turkey, with trade […]

EMEP Chairwoman Selma Gürkan was sentenced on the count of ‘terrorist organization propaganda’ for her critics on the Afrin operation. Eylem NAZLIER İstanbul In a case brought for the speech she made in front of the judicial complex at the hearing of EMEP members who had been detained for handing out “No to war” leaflets, […]

​​​​​​​ Saying, “I’ve been living in Turkey for about six years. I’ve learnt about both labour and exploitation here,” a Syrian worker calls for workers’ unity. A Syrian refugee worker I’m a 22-year-old Syrian refugee textile worker in Çağlayan. Fighting IS in Syria while aged sixteen, I fled Syria and came to Turkey at seventeen […]

With the proclamation of a ‘Turkey alliance’, Erdoğan wants to force the opposition to unite around his policies in such matters as the Kurdish problem. Not long after President Erdoğan’s comment, “In issues pertaining to our country’s survival, we must put our political views and differences to one side and act in a unity of […]

8 Cumhuriyet staffs set to go back to jail said, “May things go well for us on the inside and you on the outside.” Eylem NAZLIER İstanbul Those sentenced to less than five years in the Cumhuriyet newspaper trial and whose sentences have been upheld by the appeal court are now expected to go to […]

Opposition CHP’s İstanbul candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu takes office as İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor. After 25 years, the İstanbul Metropolitan Mayoralty has passed from the AKP to the CHP.  İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor-elect for the CHP, Ekrem İmamoğlu, gets the certificate of election from provincial election council. Following seventeen days of objections, Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has […]

The international ‘I Subscribe’ campaign’s second round supports the daily newspapers Evrensel and BirGün in Turkey. The second round of the international I Subscribe campaign, which encourages reader subscriptions to support independent newspapers in Turkey, is now open. I Subscribe is an initiative backed by the International Press Institute (IPI) and several other leading press […]

Prosecuted for having signed the peace declaration titled, “We will not be party to this crime,” 27 peace academics have been handed down jail sentences. The joined case of 27 academics being prosecuted for having signed the peace declaration titled, “We will not be party to this crime” was heard at Istanbul Serious Crime Court […]

The bringing to prominence of both Cumhuriyet and the “Gezi trial” on the eve of the elections is most certainly no coincidence and it would be no mistake to view it. Under normal conditions, even in Turkey, the political climate would soften as elections approached. Events such as protests, meetings and rallies, which normally encountered […]

Aggravated life imprisonment is being sought for sixteen people including Osman Kavala under the investigation conducted into the Gezi Park Resistance. The investigation involving sixteen people, including Osman Kavala who has been in prison for fifteen months and actor Mehmet Ali Alabora, into the Gezi Park events has been completed. Aggravated life imprisonment is sought […]

The Appeal Court has upheld the sentences handed down in the Cumhuriyet newspaper trial. The ruling sees eight people who were sentenced to less than five years returning to prison. The Appeal Court has upheld the sentences that Istanbul Serious Crime Court No 27 imposed on Cumhuriyet newspaper’s former managers and columnists. The ruling sees […]

The period set by the SEC for announcing local election candidates has ended. Final adjustments have been made to the alliances. Birkan BULUT Ankara The Supreme Electoral Council (SEC)’s deadline for nominating local election candidates has ended. The picture to emerge following last-minute adjustments is that the AKP-MHP has broadened the alliance as its electoral […]

Because they live in palaces, they see unemployment, poverty and deteriorating living conditions for common people as just a rule of the game that they are playing. The unemployment statistics in Turkey from November show not just the shocking growth in unemployment but also signal that unemployment will reach intolerable levels in 2019. Unemployment consistently […]

Former Evrensel responsible editors Çağrı Sarı and Cem Şimşek appeared before the judge. Çağrı Sarı’s hearing was adjourned while Cem Şimşek was acquitted. The adjudicatory hearing took place in former Evrensel responsible editor Çağrı Sarı’s trial over the Paradise Papers being heard at Bakırköy Penal Court of First Instance No 2, brought under a complaint […]

Why have vegetable and fruit prices gone up in Turkey? Will direct sale points cure citizens’ woes? Are market traders to blame? We made a collation of the points of concern. Sinem UĞUR İstanbul The direct sale points proposed by the AKP-Erdoğan government with the purported aim of reducing fruit and vegetable prices have been […]

Description Join us to hear from Can Dundar, Deniz Yucel and Aidan White, who will share their experiences of the Turkish government’s purge of the media and censorship of journalists seeking the truth. Location                                             Date and Time NLCH                                                     Sun, 17 March 2019 22 Moorefield […]

We are publishing the statement submitted to the court by our Editor-in-Chief Fatih Polat, who is on trial charged with “defaming the President.” Our Editor-in-Chief Fatih Polat, who is being tried on the charge of defaming the President for one of his articles and whose imprisonment for between one year and four years is sought, […]

Dr Deniz Yıldırım: “The CHP gives the appearance of a party that has succumbed far more to a quarrel over the internal sharing of power absent the ability for a broad, encompassing political line to be charted.” The main opposition CHP party, subject of great speculation for months especially as to who its provincial and […]

The prosecutor has called for EMEP Chairwoman Selma Gürkan’s punishment on “terrorist organization propaganda” charges for her Afrin comments. Making his recommendations at the proceedings in which Labour Party (EMEP) Chairwoman Selma Gürkan is being tried on “terrorist organization propaganda” charges, the prosecutor sought Gürkan’s imprisonment for up to seven and a half years. A […]

Claims of bogus voters have been brought into parliament before the local elections in Turkey on March 31, 2019. HDP Iğdır Member of Parliament Habip Eksik has brought the irregularities and bogus voter records detected on the voters roll announced for the local elections in Turkey on March 31, 2019 onto the parliamentary agenda. Eksik […]

A further 501,000 people joined the ranks of the jobless to make a total of 3.788 million. The youth unemployment rate rose by 3% in October to 22.3%. In October 2018, the unemployment rate in Turkey registered a year-on-year rise of 1.3% to stand at 11.6%. In the period in question, the records showed a […]

Put to one side such advertising as ‘Turkey displayed its strength against the US’ and ‘Erdoğan has become world leader’ and look at the reality. Following US President Trump’s announcement in the phone call he had with President Erdoğan that they would withdraw their troops from northern Syria, I inquired, “Is Trump’s withdrawal decision Erdoğan’s […]

Looking ahead from 2018, it appears that Turkey’s neo-Ottoman Syrian policy involving two ‘red lines’ will have a very hard time of it in 2019. Apart from deeply embroiling Turkey in “Syrian crisis,” Trump’s announcement in the final days of 2018 that he would withdraw US troops has turned 2019 into a year of “dealing […]

Last year in Turkey, 440 women killed. 131 of the deaths entered the records as being suspicious and the perpetrators were not found. The We Will Stop Femicide Platform has produced a report quantifying violent incidents against women in 2018. The report points to an increase in women murders as against previous years. According to […]

Bahçeli, Erdoğan and Yıldırım’s fears, on both the national scale and in İstanbul, about the local election appear not to be without foundation. President Tayyip Erdoğan announced the AKP and MHP’s İstanbul Metropolitan Mayoralty candidate today. Their candidate is Parliamentary Speaker Binali Yıldırım! The first question this invites is, “Can no metropolitan mayoral candidate for […]

What are Syrian refugees living in Diyarbakır’s Bağlar sub-province going through? Syrians living in the area told us. Fırat TOPAL Orhan KURUL Diyarbakır Disputes that have been raging of late between Syrian refugees and the Turkish population are turning into a lynch campaign against refugees both on social media and in the streets, and attacks […]

2018 saw unemployment, insecurity, poverty and death becoming cloaked in acceptability, the erosion of wages and an increase in workers’ deaths. The CHP Labour Offices under the coordination of CHP Deputy General Chair Veli Ağbaba have compiled a report on developments that took place in the world of labour and work. The report, which draws […]

The minimum wage stays at the hunger level. The minimum wage, directly affecting ten million workers, has been set at 2,020 lira in 2019. The Minimum Wage Determination Commission has convened for the fourth time to set the minimum wage effective in 2019. The Minimum Wage Determination Commission has set the minimum wage, directly affecting […]

We spoke to Gebze Trade Union Alliance Term Spokesperson Süleyman Akyüz about the minimum wage and struggle against the crisis. We spoke to Gebze Trade Union Alliance Term Spokesperson Süleyman Akyüz about the minimum wage, crisis and struggle against the crisis. The key points from Süleyman Akyüz’s observations were as follow: “Although the crisis started […]

The strike at Süperpak lasting 186 days against the imposition of a zero raise has ended in victory for the workers. Metehan UD İzmir The 186-day strike at Süperpak has ended following the securing of a raise of 280 lira gross in the first year and, in the second year, 300 lira gross for the […]

An investigation has launched into well-known actors Metin Akpınar and Müjdat Gezen, who spoke critically of President Tayyip Erdoğan. Actors Metin Akpınar and Müjdat Gezen, who spoke critically of President Tayyip Erdoğan while appearing on a TV programme, came under fire from President Erdoğan following a roasting in the regime press. With them singled out, […]

Steve Sweeney from the Morning Star wrote an article about the pressure on media in Turkey and called for solidarity with Evrensel. Steve Sweeney Fatih Polat gives me a warm welcome at Evrensel’s main offices in Istanbul. I have met the newspaper’s editor-in-chief a number of times over the years and we have built a […]

How will Trump’s withdrawal decision from Syria and its potential consequences affect Turkey’s regional policies? News of Trump’s decision to withdraw his troops from Syria following the phone call he made with Erdoğan seems to have created an atmosphere of a great victory on the ruling front and in its media. “Experts” strutting their stuff […]

Turkey: Fighting for democracy under authoritarian rule Description Our 3rd Annual SPOT Conference provides an opportunity to hear from those who have seen and experienced the reality of life under Erdogan’s authoritarian regime and invites you to find out more about what we are already doing to build international solidarity and call to account both […]

Government fears another Gezi: we stand with the people’s artists, journalists and academics. Turkey has become a country where anybody that protests, refuses to obey and is not one of the ruling government is declared as an enemy. It has been over 5 years since the Gezi resistance but the Public Prosecutor of Ankara has […]

We are publishing the text submitted to the court by Evrensel columnist Prof. Dr Şebnem Korur Fincancı, who was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. We are publishing the text submitted to the court by Evrensel columnist, academic & chair of Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Prof. Dr Şebnem Korur Fincancı, who was sentenced to thirty […]

The German Federation of Journalists, the German Journalists Union and Reporters Without Borders have launched a campaign in support of Evrensel. In a display of sensitivity over the repression of the press in Turkey, German journalism organizations and journalists have launched a campaign in support of Evrensel, an independent labour-movement-focussed daily and one of the […]

Turkey ranks 130th for sexual inequality in the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Gender Gap Report. The World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Gender Gap Report shows the level of social sexual inequality has reached in Turkey. Ranked 105th in 2006, Turkey has dropped by 25 places over twelve years. The countries ranked lower than Turkey […]

Evrensel columnist, academic & chair of Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Prof. Dr Şebnem Korur Fincancı gets 30-month prison. Evrensel columnist, academic & chair of Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Prof. Dr Şebnem Korur Fincancı gets 30-month prison. Fresh documents have been appended at the decision stage to the file of Evrensel columnist Prof. Dr […]

Terrrorism charge has been laid against our reporter Cansu Pişkin citing as grounds her report on the detaining of the Bosphorus University students. A further trial has been added to those brought against Evrensel for our news coverage. A charge has been laid against our reporter Cansu Pişkin citing as grounds her report on the […]

Evrensel is facing court and a penalty of 100,000 TL because of a news story, criticizing the government’s economic programme. Evrensel is facing court and a penalty of 100,000 TL because of a news story published on 13 July 2018 arguing that the government’s economic programme signalled an attack on worker’s rights. The responsible editor […]

If there is going to be a winner in the escalating tensions in Manbij and East of Euphrates, this is not going to be Turkey – will be Russia and Iran. For some time, the government-controlled media have been broadcasting programmes aimed at escalating the tensions surrounding Manbij and the East of Euphrates. They are […]

The Labour Party (EMEP) Chairwoman Selma Gürkan is on trial, because of criticising the Erdoğan government’s war policies. Turkish government started a military intervention in Afrin in January 2018; fanning the flames of war in Syria. This was an operation named ‘Olive Branch’. The Labour Party (EMEP) has always been critical of this intervention in […]

One of President Tayyip Erdoğan’s priority objectives of the visit to Germany is to attract more German investments in Turkey. Which compromises and commitments took place in Erdogan’s interviews with the German monopolies providing investing more in Turkey? Getting economic relations back on the track and attracting more German direct investment to Turkey was at […]

We have 10 questions about Syria to President and AKP Leader Tayyip Erdoğan, who argued, they did not do anything wrong in Syria. The president and AKP leader Tayyip Erdoğan, in assessing the agreement he made with Putin in relation to the Idlib issue during the parliamentary group meeting of his party the previous day, […]

EMEP Chairwoman Selma Gürkan: New Economic Plan (NEP) creates new opportunities for monopolies and poverty for the people. “President Tayyip Erdoğan and many government representatives deny the crisis triggered by the drop in the value of Turkish Lira, as “foreign manipulation”, saying “there is no crisis, there is psychological problems”. But the New Economic Plan […]

We can assert that Putin has gifted Erdoğan the feeling of a small success which will only prove to tie into his own success in the long run. We had witnessed how Russia, Iran and Turkey had wanted to walk along the same line by espousing different positions in the summit on Idlib they held […]

Several trade unionists in Britain called on the Turkish government to release 24 workers who protested for their basic rights, including edible food. Arif BEKTAŞ London Several trade unionists in Britain including RMT, UNITE, BFAWU and TSSA called on the Turkish government to release 24 workers, who protested for their basic rights, including edible food, […]

Unite supports exiled Kurdish journalist Following its support of a TUC Congress motion against the authoritarian tactics of the Turkish government, Unite has spoken in support of a young Kurdish journalist who is exiled in London after her home was raided by Turkey’s authorities. Under the county’s dictatorial president Recep Tayyip Erdogan the state has […]

The owners of Hayatın Sesi TV, Mustafa Kara and İsmail Gökhan Bayram and General Director Gökhan Çetin, charged with 3 years, 9 months imprisonment. The owners of the Hayatın Sesi TV, Mustafa Kara and İsmail Gökhan Bayram and General Director Gökhan Çetin, charged with 3 years and 9 months imprisonment with claims that they have been […]

A Turkish court has arrested 24 workers after protests over labour conditions at the construction of İstanbul’s new airport. A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered 24 workers and union activists to stay in jail after they were detained in a mass crackdown over protests on working conditions at İstanbul’s new airport. WHAT HAPPENED? Police and […]

Prof. Dr. Mustafa Durmuş: No matter what you do, there is no chance of this economy to grow like before, we are headed towards a big crash. One US dollar was 3.40TL in September 2017 and today it is around 6.40TL. Inflation in August reached 18%, the highest level in 15 years, and experts say […]

Saturday Mothers subject to police violence on 700th week of vigil for disappeared loved ones                           On the 700th week of one of the longest running peaceful protests in Turkey, the Saturday mothers and their supporters congregated in Galatasaray Square at midday. Across Europe solidarity vigils were held to support the demands of the Saturday mothers and […]

Trump cannot be held responsible if a country’s leader cannot find any example to turn to when he talks about ‘domestic and national goods’. I stated before that, there will be sharp decreases in the value of Turkish Lira (TL) beginning in autumn, and the government will head to the local elections with a quite […]

Erdoğan and his rulership brought the country to the economic and political crisis and ruin and worthless isolation. Having attempted in 2011 to become the leading country in the intervention in Syria, and becoming enemies with its neighbours, Turkey was also abandoned by imperialist powers that initially supported this policy. At the time, to cover […]

What the labourer people and the workers should do is to stop thinking of someone else’s ship, but to own themselves and their own future On ordinary days no one speaks of the ship. Or when the ship is mentioned, the debate goes on another direction. Remember. There was a ship debate once in a […]

‘The U.S.’s sanctions against Turkey must be ceased’, states Selma Gürkan, chairman of EMEP, but also makes a call to stand against AKP’s policies. “The U.S.´s sanctions against Turkey must be ceased”, states Selma Gürkan, the chairman of the Labour Party (EMEP), and argues that the expansionist policies of AKP must also come to an […]

Political Scientist Süreyya Algül: There is no condition that Erdoğan can govern the country under the ordinary rule of law any more. In our interview with Dr. Süreyya Algül, we discussed the 15 July coup attempt, which will be in the second year in a few days, with the role of restructuring the state. How […]

What are the powers of Tayyip Erdoğan who was elected as the first president of the new system on 24 June 2018? How will the government take form? What is “Presidential System of Governance” which was brought about by the election on 16 April 2017? What are the powers of Tayyip Erdoğan who was elected […]

One of the important questions of the post-election period is foreign policy… Where is Turkey to steer towards? With the ending of election period in Turkey, the road is now paved for the presidential system. In the new system, most of the function of the Assembly is due to be slashed with the office of […]

Regardless of what the figures say about the results; this is in fact the rulership of those who lost and are destined to lose. Historical examples have shown that a weak rulership is more oppressive and aggressive. A ruler that dresses every word with the clatter of chain and sword, the sound of guns and […]

The Labour Party (EMEP) called for the struggle to establish a new state order on the basis of a constitution, securing democratic rights and freedoms The Labour Party (EMEP) Executive Board (GYK) assessed the results of the June 24th elections. During the two-day meetings, the election process, the election day, and the events that followed […]

Following Sunday’s presidential and parliamentary elections Turkey has moved into a dangerous period of one-man rule, with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan taking on unprecedented powers as the country shifts from a parliamentary democracy to an executive presidency. The role of prime minister has been deleted and Erdogan can now appoint ministers, the judiciary and set […]

İhsan Çaralan analysed the winners and losers of the June 24th elections in Turkey. The “raid election” for deputy and presidency on 24th June resulted in the Erdoğan’s and the AKP-MHP alliance’s win. In the election, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan got 52.4 per cent of the votes and Muharrem İnce got 30.8 per cent. So, Erdoğan […]

People are saying that there will be a repeat of the terror environment after the 7 June elections, and repetition of the elections like on 1 November HDP was revealed as the real reason for the transition to the presidential system. With 80 MPs and the number of MPs projected to grow, it was assumed […]

All facts point to the same direction about the reasons for the championing of the Qandil operation by the government: Operation to win the elections! In the background of the decision to have a raid election on 24 June were government calculations to save itself before both the nationalist wave generated by the Afrin operation […]

While the picture in Afrin is so clear, let’s ask this question: Do you still believe Turkey was the winner in Afrin? 4 months ago, the Afrin operation was brought by the government as the “national survival” problem of the country and the operation was initiated in a “national mobilization” atmosphere. Such an atmosphere was […]

During uncertain times like today, vast media monopoly in the service of the ruling power makes it much more difficult to get a clear picture. Despite the turbulence of serious economic problems in Turkey, prior to the June 24 elections, the observed political response to the situation and interpretations on the street do not reveal […]

The accepted shared formula of the election propaganda is that ‘these are the most important elections of the Turkish Republican history.’ The accepted shared formula of the election propaganda is that “these are the most important elections of the Turkish Republican history.” What renders the 24th June elections so important is the ambition to facilitate […]

We can thwart the AKP-MHP alliance calculations and reveal the carelessness of the ‘National Alliance’. Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party(HDP), Selahattin Demirtaş’s attorneys’ application for release was rejected by the court. The court rejected the application stating that “at this stage, the conditions of the legal control would be insufficient”. In this way,  […]

Co-chair of HDP, Pervin Buldan: If HDP fails to surpass the electoral threshold, this will be a problem for the other political parties in Turkey. Serpil İLGÜN With the confirmation of candidates for the presidency, the focus for the elections shifted to which party will have the majority in the Parliament. It is accepted by […]

Erdogan’s visit to the UK is an opportunity to whitewash his government’s dire human rights record and detract attention from Turkey’s increasingly authoritarian anti-democratic politic. Without international pressure Erdogan will continue unhindered, using the state of emergency and the anti-democratic decrees to maintain his authoritarian rule. The purge of public sector workers, clamp down on […]

If the robots have been exploited by capitalism, will they attend May Day marches for that reason? An interesting caricature appeared on Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the most prominent newspapers in Germany. In this caricature by Oliver Schopf, four robots are marching with a May Day banner. One of the robots appear to be holding […]

There’s not even a single pledge for women at Erdoğan’s manifesto for elections but expects the women to shoulder the entire burden of the government. A lot has been scribbled about Erdoğan’s “Covenant Manifesto”; let us take a look at what is said under the “women” section… 1- Asserting that “we have women awaiting a […]

’24th June is a critical point in strengthening the one-man regime. It is important that HDP surpasses the electoral threshold to stop this advance.’ Serpil İLGÜN Those that will be running against Erdoğan in the Presidential election and which parties will enter alliances in the parliamentary elections were decided within the last week. As expected, […]

More than a million people tweeted to call time on President Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday, making the word ‘Tamam’ (Enough) a trending topic worldwide. More than a million people tweeted to call out President Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday, making the word ‘tamam’ (meaning ‘enough’) a trending topic worldwide after he said, “If one day our […]

The people who came together around the values of May Day clearly stand opposed to a ‘one party, one-man regime’. Workers all over the world, from Tokyo to Paris, Sydney to Havana declared not just their demands against capitalist exploitation but also protested imperialist war ambitions. Of course 1 May 2018 was also celebrated in […]

The case of Hayatın Sesi TV, which was shut down based on a Decree of Law issued under the State of Emergency has been postponed to 19 September.   The fourth hearing of the Hayatın Sesi TV, accused of propagating for ISIS, PKK and TAK, took place on Tuesday. Birol Sarıkaş, President of Cam Keramik- […]

It is very clear that the AKP-MHP partnership has been preparing itself for an election since last year with a ‘raid election plan’. Just hours after the “raid election” election was declared by the Erdoğan – Bahçeli coalition, the state of emergency was prolonged for another 3 months by the Turkish Parliamentwith the support of […]

Tensions with Europe are rising again in the build-up to the election. Germany, Austria and Netherlands will not permit election campaigns. The election campaign and voting in the Turkish elections, to be held on 24 June, is again planned to start with Germany and other European countries. Approximately three million voters originating from Turkey have […]

The court sentenced 14 journalists and executives from Cumhuriyet newspaper to various prison terms over terrorism-related charges. The 27th High Criminal Court of İstanbul on Wednesday sentenced 14 journalists from Cumhuriyet daily to various prison terms over terrorism-related charges. Cumhuriyet Editor-in-Chief Murat Sabuncu, CEO Akin Atalay, and Orhan Erinc, plus journalists Ahmet Sik, Aydin Engin, […]

A school teacher, Ayşe Çelik, who said ‘do not let children die’ was sent to prison with her baby daughter in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Ruken SÜPHANDAĞ THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE On 08.01.2016, a school teacher by the name of Ayşe Çelik called a popular talk show presented by Beyazıt Özturk on Kanal […]

Demirtaş’s trial and his defence is very important and should not be lost within the wide range of other ongoing issues. At a time when Turkeys, ‘security’ policies are aimed at decimating the limited freedom that is left in the country, the century-old Kurdish Question is going through a critical period in terms of its […]

EMEP Chairwoman Selma Gürkan: We call on the working class and all other oppressed and exploited classes to teach a lesson to the Government. The statement released, regarding the decision to go to a snap election on 24 July, from Selma Gürkan, chairwoman of EMEP, read: “Turkey entered a hurried election period with a decision […]

President Tayyip Erdoğan announced early elections in Turkey on June 24, 2018. President Tayyip Erdoğan announced early elections in Turkey on June 24, 2018. Erdoğan says the legal process for early elections, including preparations by Supreme Electoral Council, to begin immediately. Erdoğan made this announcement after he met with his ally, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) […]

EMEP Chairwoman Selma Gürkan criticised MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s call for early elections: Troubled government seeks a solution in early election. Labour Party (EMEP) Chairwoman Selma Gürkan criticised Erdoğan’s ally, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli’s call for early elections. Selma Gürkan’s statement is here: “Call for an early election made by government partner […]

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called for early elections on Aug. 26, 2018. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli called for early elections on Aug. 26, 2018. “It should be known that the MHP wants early elections after the adjustment laws are enacted,” said Bahçeli, speaking at the party’s parliamentary group on […]

Labour Party: These attacks aim to materialise their imperialist interests in Syria and in the Middle East, and they target the peoples of the region. The Labour Party (EMEP) condemned the attacks on Syria initiated by the US, Britain and France. EMEP’s statement is here: “In the early hours of Saturday, 14th April, the US, […]

Turkey, which is allied to Russia in Afrin, is working with the USA in Ghouta. Can Turkey really ally itself with Russia and USA? The power struggle within the “fields” of Syria between USA and Russia is spreading with aggression. The aggression does not stop with the exchange of words, it is spreading throughout the […]

One of the questions that arise at this juncture is the kind of position Turkey will take on the face of a possible conflict between US and Russia.   Tensions escalated following the claim that the regime forces conducting an operation against jihadist groups have used chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta in Syria have brought […]

At least 11 people were detained across Turkey over social media posts on the charge of ‘propagandising for an illegal organisation’. Social media users including the Labour Party (EMEP) executives and the Federation of Opinion Clubs (FKF) members were detained on charge of “propagandizing for an illegal organisation” in a raid launched this morning in […]

Who can argue that the jihadi group placed (by Turkey) on the borders does not or will not pose a risk in the future? A few days ago, some agencies reported on an agreement that the most important radical Islamist group Jaysh al-Islam in East Ghouta (Army of Islam) would relocate to Jarabulus which is […]

English PEN presents a report on the situation of freedom of expression in Turkey and engages in a critical evaluation of the violation of the rights. English PEN launched a report, ‘Turkey: freedom of expression in jeopardy. Violations of the rights of authors, publishers and academics under the State of Emergency’. Researched and written by […]

Evrensel Editor-in-chief, Fatih Polat, assesses the sale of Doğan Media Group to the Demirören Group, known with its ties to the government. The sale of Doğan Media Group to the Demirören Group is of critical import in many respects within the field of media. The tension in between President Erdoğan and this group, reflecting media […]

The whole of the Doğan Media Group owned by Aydın Doğan (including CNN Turk, Posta Daily and Channel D) has been sold to Erdoğan Demirören. The flagship of the Turkish press, Hurriyet Daily, has been sold to a group close to the AKP government. But the sale is not just limited to Hurriyet, the whole […]

The Turkish Parliament approved a new law giving the Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) the authority to regulate all kinds of internet broadcasting. According to the new legislation, all broadcasters that want to provide radio, television, and other types of broadcasting services on the internet will have to obtain a licence from RTÜK, […]

Hundreds of thousands of people celebrated Newroz in towns and cities across Turkey, including Diyarbakır, İstanbul, Van and İzmir. People gathered in Van, Urfa, Cizre, Nusaybin, Mardin, Siirt, İstanbul, İzmir and the Turkish capital of Ankara, among other cities, marking the holiday. Celebrations in some towns and cities, including Kars, Ağrı, Iğdır, Muş, Doğubayezit, Derik, […]

We talked the 2019 elections and the discussions on alliances with the Labour Party (EMEP) Chairwoman Selma Gürkan. AKP [The Justice and Development Party] and MHP [Nationalist Movement Party] declared that they will enter the elections in 2019 as a ‘Presidential Alliance’; this led to an escalation in the attempts to introduce legal changes to […]

Perhaps, I should start with what should be said at the end. Just as the start of the military operation in Afrin cannot be explained by the determination of Turkey, the withdrawal of the Kurdish forces from Afrin and the fall of Afrincannot be explained by the situation of the Kurds alone. The struggle for […]

  Administrators and members of Turkish Medical Association (TTB) who were pointed as a target by Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan for calling for peace against Afrin operation have been detained. Turkish police conducted raids on the homes of 11 administrators and members of TTB, including TTB President Raşit Tükel and members of TTB Central Council. […]

On Saturday, 20th January, Turkish war planes launched air strikes on Afrin, one of the three Kurdish cantons in Northern Syria. We oppose all outside intervention in Syria, from whatever side. We see this latest intervention as one which can only worsen the situation, while in particular targeting the Kurdish YPG. We note that the […]

We are pleased to announce that Solidarity with the People of Turkey (SPOT) and Academics for Peace – UK (BAK-UK) organised a fantastic fundraising event at the NEU /  NUT Head office on 23rd November. The event was attended by more than 100 people including academics, teachers, trade union representatives and political activists.  There were speeches from […]

We stand with the Alevi communities in Turkey Last week members of the Alevi community in Turkey’s Malatya province voiced concerns after, at least, 13 houses were marked with red cross by “unknown” individuals. Red crosses marked with red paint were spotted on the outside walls and doors of several households belonging to Alevi people […]

Press freedom and democracy are under attack in Turkey. The situation has intensified since last years failed coup attempt. A third of the worlds total jailed journalists are in Turkish prisons and many  newspapers and media outlets have been closed down by the government. Legitimate organisations including the Democratic Society Congress (DTK)- which operated freely […]

DO NOT BE A PARTY TO CRIMES IN TURKISH HIGHER EDUCATION A group of academics are calling on all institutions of higher education, funding councils, academic and professional associations, and individual faculty members to boycott the Turkish higher education system. The aim of the academic boycott is to put pressure on government so that all dismissals are […]

As Solidarity with the People of Turkey campaign group we are horrified by the terrorist attack on young concert goers in Manchester on Monday nightand condemn those responsible. We would like to send our condolences to those who have lost their loved ones and to the injured. The hard work and courage of the emergency […]

Evrensel / Ihsan Caralan The “Trump–Erdogan” Summit which took place the previous day, described by president Erdogan as a milestone, lasted for only 20 minutes. If we consider that this dialogue included the need for translators between the two, there remains a maximum of 5 minutes each to discuss important issues between Erdogan and Trump. […]

A Turkish academic, Nuriye Gulmen and primary school teacher Semih Ozakca, have been on hunger strike in Ankara for the last 73 days to protest against their dismissal by the government. They are among the more than 150 thousand public workers who were dismissed from their jobs by government decrees following the failed coup attempt […]

Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for the owner and three employees of the opposition daily Sozcu. The office of the newspaper was raided yesterday. Officials accuse the newspaper of supporting people allegedly involved in last July’s failed coup. The newspaper is accused of having ties to the so-called “Hizmet” movement led by the self-exiled […]

10 May 2017 Unfortunately, Turkey is doing the opposite of what it needs to do. Maybe before even it realises what troubles this might bring. Fehim ISIK In Syria, we have moved onto the stage of delicate calculations. Proxy wars waged by use of various organisations have for some time been replaced by those who […]

Evrensel newspaper’s ex-editor in chief Vural Nasuhbeyoglu and ex-publisher Mehmet Arif Kosar were each served with 7 thousand Turkish Liras. Meltem AKYOL İstanbul Journalists have been swamped with imprisonment and fines just 2 days after President Tayyip Erdogan’s announcement that they fully defend freedom of expression. Evrensel newspaper’s ex-editor in chief Vural Nasuhbeyoglu and ex-publisher […]

Why was the President Erdogan re-joining his party and the judicial restructuring prioritised? What should we expect in 2019? Serpil İLGÜN Work on the restructuring of HSYK (Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors) as HSK (Council of Judges and Prosecutors), one of the first articles brought to TBMM (the Turkish Parliament) following the referendum on […]

(Evrensel, 16 Mayıs 2017) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump had their first face to face meeting on Tuesday, 16 May. This is how political scientists Sinan Birdal, Sezin Öney and Fatih Yaşlı interpreted this meeting. ‘Aim of this visit was to be photographed together’ Sinan BİRDAL – Guest Associate Professor […]

08 May 2017 Chairman Khaleed Mashaal announced the new political programme of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Why is a change in line? Kamil Tekin SUREK First the new Charter was introduced on 1 May, followed by the change in Political Leadership. Despite the Hamas leadership statement that the changes were a result of long-term discussions, […]

30 years ago, I was a leftist university student, living in exactly the same house that I am living now, then with my mother. I remember how much my mother would be worried each time our doorbell rang from downstairs. Neither her nor I were feeling safe in our own house. And the threat came […]

Serpil Berk, Diyarbakir Raci Bilici, the Chairman of the Diyarbakir Human Rights Association (IHD) evaluates the human rights violation report for the first quarter of 2017. In the past few days the Diyarbakir IHD shared with the public in the regional provinces its report of rights violations that occurred in the first quarter of 2017. […]

(Fehim Işık, Evrensel, 10 May 2017) In Syria, we have moved onto the stage of delicate calculations. Proxy wars waged by use of various organisations have for some time been replaced by those who have designated the proxies. It seems that it is now the time of “correction”, and one of the main issues is […]

No and Beyond was established as an independent citizen organization, to contribute to the creation of a healthy electoral environment, before and after elections against possible infractions of the rules in the April 16, 2017 referendum. No and Beyond received voluntary applications in almost 50 cities and served at the polling place with close to […]

(İhsan Çaralan, Evrensel, 02 May 2017) Celebrations were held in many countries yesterday, on May Day, the day of unity, solidarity and struggle of the working class. Workers chanted their demands, claiming the values of May Day and the ideals for a world without  exploitation and wars and for fraternity of humanity as a whole. […]

(İhsan Çaralan, Evrensel, 27 April 2017) Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) decided to put Turkey on “political and legal monitoring”. The resolution was passed with 113 votes, with 45 against and 12 abstaining. “The absence of European standards in the functioning of Turkey’s democratic institutions” was presented as the reason for PACE’s […]

Evrensel (24 April 2017) Serpil Ilgun from Evrensel Daily talked to Murat Somer, Associate Professor of Political Sciences and International Relations from Koc University in Istanbul about the Turkish referendum and its social outcomes. Somer: The ‘No’ bloc owes its success to its calm. The results have given them self-confidence and this needs to be […]

(Fatih Polat, Evrensel, 19.4.17) Due to its extremely oppressive atmosphere, the very public vote rigging and the unravelling political picture in its aftermath, the referendum of 16 April 2017 has been the most controversial vote in Turkish political history. High Election Council’s (YSK) decision to accept unsealed envelopes and ballots while voting still continued – […]

(Mustafa Yalciner, Evrensel, 18.4.17) Scarcely 51.4% of ‘yes’ vote has been reached! 48.6% said “no.” All the big cities, the industrial regions, with the exception of the city of Bursa and Kocaeli, declared “No, We Will Not Accept a One Man Dictatorship.” Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Mersin, Diyarbakir… have all said its not possible but […]

Approximately 50 million voters headed over to the ballot boxes on 16 April to vote on the referendum for constitutional changes in Turkey. The public were presented with manipulated figures, purporting to show a victory for the Yes vote, equivalent to 51.4% ‘yes’ and 48.6% ‘no’. All big cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, […]

As you know tomorrow is a hugely significant day for Turkey, where citizens are being asked to make a significant decision about the future of their country. The people of Turkey will tomorrow vote on a new constitution which, if passed, will result in the granting of ultimate executive powers to the President and will […]

In the face of rising authoritarianism and right-wing populism, academic freedom is under severe threat in contemporary Turkey. Governmental repression on academics became all too apparent when the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, instigated a campaign of persecution against academics – Academics for Peace (BAK) – who signed a peace petition in January 2016. The […]

As Turkey’s constitutional referendum is approaching, we are, once again, witnessing an intensification of state violence in the Kurdish provinces of Turkey. For more than a week, there has been no communication with the people of Xerabê Bava (Koruköy), a village in Mardin-Nusaybin. The village is under round-the-clock military curfew and there have been claims […]

In the last seven months, following the failed coup attempt, nearly 100,000 civil servants have been removed from their posts in Turkey. This includes teachers, police officers, soldiers, academics and lawyers. Among these there have been many academics known for being signatories to the [“We will not be a party to this crime”] peace petition. […]

LEADING trade unionists have demanded that Theresa May stop selling arms to Turkey, accusing her of propping up one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.The call was made at an emergency press conference on Wednesday night, organised by Solidarity with the People of Turkey (Spot), after a new decree issued under the state of emergency […]

The policies of the AKP government, which have been ruling the country for the last 14 years, have pushed democracy to the edge. The severity of the situation exceeds even the circumstances of the military coup in 1980.By using the failed coup attempt of July 15th as a pretext, the government is arresting and firing […]

The planned strike action by steel workers in Bursa, namely Asil Celik, has been banned for “security reasons” according to the Council of Ministers. However, we believe that the emergency state which has recently been extended is used as a pretext to deny workers the right to protest or strike. The decision by the minsters […]

Over the Christmas period we convened a delegation of journalists and activists from the UK. This delegation travelled to Istanbul last week to meet with prominent individuals and groups that are being persecuted for opposing the politics of the ruling AKP government. The delegation, which included journalists from the Guardian, Morning Star, The Telegraph, PEN […]

The rise in unemployment and the fall of Turkish Lira against the dollar has prompted the president to name those who hold dollars instead of Turkish Lira as terrorists and attacked institutions for not releasing cash into the markets.  In the same breath, without a hint of irony, the president threatens to remove the citizenship […]

A new constitution has been passed by the Turkish Parliament. The new controversial constitution substantially expands the powers of the presidency under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and removes the office of the Prime Minister. The new constitution, which is expected to be put to a referendum in the spring, is opposed by pro-democracy groups and politicians […]

Özgür Gündem guest editors’ trial adjourned until 21 March 2017   The trial took place today at Çağlayan High Criminal Court, İstanbul of Ahmet Nesin, Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Financı and RSF reporter Erol Önderoğlu. The three acted as guest editors in support of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem in association with which Aslı Erdoğan […]

Even as extremist groups gain momentum across the country and innocent citizens die at the hands of brutal terrorists, the AKP government intensifies its attacks on democratic rights and freedoms. On 29 December 2016,a prominent investigative journalist Ahmet Sik was arrested over his social media posts. Ahmet Sik was due to join a photo in […]

During the New Year celebrations last night, a gunman stormed the well-known Reina nightclub in Istanbul killing 39 people and injuring a further 65. The attacks followed a series of statements in preceding weeks by Turkish officials and ultra-nationalist muslims denouncing Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations as evil and anti-Islamic. Mehmet Gormez of the […]

The Solidarity with the People of Turkey (SPOT) will be sending a further  delegation to Turkey on 11 – 14 January 2017. The aim of this delegation is to: • meet with prominent progressive individuals and organisations in Turkey, • observe the effects of the ongoing state of emergency, • create wider public awareness in the UK, and […]

A delegation of representatives including PEN International, Morning Star and SPOT travelled to Turkey last week to observe the trial of two Evrensel journalists (Cemil Ugur and Halil Ibrahim Polat), who faced 15 years in prison and were accused of being members of terrorist organisations following their reporting of a rally in Diyarbakir earlier this […]

Prior to terror attacks in Turkey and following the consensus between AKP and the nationalist party MHP, formal proceedings to introduce the executive presidential system in Turkey have been presented to the parliament. Proposed changes seek to give the president extended executive powers while abolishing the prime ministry.

On 10 December 2016 two terror attacks in Istanbul resulted in the death of 46 people and injured 166. On 17 December another terror attack took place, this time in the city of Kayseri, killing 14 people and injuring a further 56. Whilst the relatives of the deceased and the injured were still recovering from […]

Aysen Guven, Television presenter at Hayatin Sesi TV and arts editor at Evrensel Daily Newspaper. 5 July 2016 Aysen Guven shares her observations of developments in Turkey in relation to press freedom.   In terms of press freedom we are witnessing one of the most difficult periods in Turkey. Everyday someone is put on trial, […]

CONFERENCE REPORT 29 October 2016 @ NUT Headquarters, London     As Turkey heads towards a dictatorship, standing up for democracy is not just in the interests of the people of Turkey, it is also essential for the future peace, security and democracy of Europe and the Middle East.   A message from SPOT The […]

17 November 2016 will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of Turkey for women and girls. On the evening of 17 November, AKP MPs proposed and voted in favour of draft legislation which paves the way for the normalisation of sexual violence and legalises the marriage of survivors with perpetrators […]

Supporters of SPOT are encouraged to attend a solidarity demonstration with Turkey at 12:00 noon on Sunday 11 December 2016 outside the Turkish Embassy, 43 Belgrave Square, SW1X 8PA London to condemn the attacks on the progressive forces in Turkey, including MPs, journalists, workers and the NGOs. The protest is organised by Britannia Democratic Union […]

The Austrian parliament has unanimously adopted a motion calling for a ban on selling arms as well as dual-use products for military or police purposes to Turkey. The move provoked an outcry among politicians and civil servants in Turkey. The motion called on the Austrian government to consider the threat of armed conflicts, as well […]

This week the European Parliament voted to suspend accession talks with Turkey while the state of emergency continues. In response to this decision President Erdogan of Turkey threatened to open the Turkish borders and allow migrants to enter EU. Turkey also threatened to join the Shanghai Pact instead of the EU, despite the fact that […]

The Turkish government was forced to do a U-Turn on a proposed new bill which, if passed, would have allowed rapists to avoid punishment if they married their victims. Hundreds of thousands rallied against the proposed new law, which was widely condemned across the world. Nonetheless, the prime minister has the audacity to claim that […]

Below you will find the details of Martin’s visit to Turkey and the actions they will be taking in solidarity with the teachers who have been under attack following the purge in the public sector by the current AKP government. http://www.mpdnut.com/2016/11/turkish-teachers-urgently-need-our.html

There are growing concerns in Turkey due to the rise in unemployment (11%), interest rates and the record breaking rise of the dollar against Turkish Lira. Government representatives have tried to downplay the deteriorating economic conditions but have failed to reassure the people or the global markets.