Human rights: More than 5,000 cases filed against Turkey over post-coup purge, says ECHR

January 31, 2017 By administrator

The European Court of Human Rights has called on the complainants to exhaust legal avenues in Turkey before applying at the rights body. The court’s president warned it could be “submerged” by the number of applications.

The president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday announced that 5,363 cases filed by Turkish nationals have been lodged against Turkey over its crackdown in the wake of a failed coup last year.

The “massive influx” of applications against Turkey after July 15 increased by 276 percent compared to the year before, ECHR President Guido Raimondi said.

An additional 2,945 cases had been filed by Turkish nationals last year, although not directly linked to the aftermath of the failed coup, bringing the total to more than 8,000 applications to the European court.

In the wake of the coup, Turkey launched a crackdown against alleged supporters of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, which targeted military officers as well as academics, journalists and academics.

More than 100,000 people have been suspended or fired from their jobs for alleged links to Gulen, who Ankara accused of orchestrating the putsch. Nearly 50,000 people have been arrested for alleged links to Gulen, according to authorities.

‘Submerged’

The court last November rejected an application brought by a judge over her pre-trial detention, saying she failed to exhaust all legal routes within the country.

The complainants’ “fears as to the impartiality of the Constitutional Court’s judges did not in themselves relieve her of the obligation to lodge an application before the court,” the European court said.

Raimondi encouraged the complainants to explore legal avenues available in Turkey, including the country’s constitutional court, before applying to the ECHR.

“It is good to let the Turkish authorities do their job,” Raimondi said, noting that failing to do so could lead the ECHR becoming “submerged by tens of thousands of cases.”

Under Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the country has witnessed relations with the EU falter due to widespread violations of human rights and freedom of speech.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/more-than-5000-cases-filed-against-turkey-over-post-coup-purge-says-echr/a-37294226

Human Rights Watch Reports ‘Azerbaijan Continues to Wage a Vicious Crackdown’

October 25, 2016 By administrator

Human Rights Watch Releases Report on Azerbaijan Entitled ‘Harassed, Imprisoned, Exiled: Azerbaijan’s Continuing Crackdown on Government Critics, Lawyers, and Civil Society’

NEW YORK (Armenian Weekly)—Human Rights Watch—the New York-based international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights—released a report entitled “Harassed, Imprisoned, Exiled: Azerbaijan’s Continuing Crackdown on Government Critics, Lawyers, and Civil Society” on October 20.

The report harshly criticizes the Azerbaijani government’s ongoing human rights violations, specifically on its crackdown on sectors of civil society which criticize the country’s ruling regime.

Human Rights Watch’s report is based on more than 90 in-depth interviews with lawyers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, youth group members, political party activists, and others, as well as detailed analysis of numerous laws and regulations pertaining to the work of NGOs.

Below is the summary of the report. The full report can be read here.

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The government of Azerbaijan continues to wage a vicious crackdown on critics and dissenting voices. The space for independent activism, critical journalism, and opposition political activity has been virtually extinguished by the arrests and convictions of many activists, human rights defenders, and journalists, as well as by laws and regulations restricting the activities of independent groups and their ability to secure funding. Independent civil society in Azerbaijan is struggling to survive.

In late 2015 and early 2016 the authorities conditionally released or pardoned a number of individuals previously convicted on politically motivated charges, including several high-profile figures whose arrests and convictions had drawn vocal criticism from governments, intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental groups (NGOs). Many have sought to frame the releases as an indication of a shift in the government’s punitive attitude towards independent civil society activists and groups.

However, even as the government released some activists, bloggers, and journalists, authorities have arrested many others on spurious criminal and administrative charges to prevent them from carrying out their legitimate work. None of those released had their convictions vacated, several face travel restrictions, others left the country fearing further politically motivated persecution, or had to halt their work due to almost insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles hampering their access to funding. Authorities have also harassed the relatives of those attempting to carry out their activism from abroad, in some cases by bringing criminal charges against them. Numerous lawyers representing government critics in legal proceedings have been disbarred on questionable grounds, apparently to prevent them from carrying out their work.

Based on more than 90 in-depth interviews with lawyers, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, youth group members, political party activists, and relatives of these people, as well as detailed analysis of numerous laws and regulations pertaining to the work of NGOs, this report documents the government’s concerted efforts to paralyze civil society and punish those who criticize or challenge the government through prosecutions and legal and regulatory restrictions.

Erdogan Turkey, Prosecutors target academics, bank regulators in latest post-coup crackdown

August 19, 2016 By administrator

post-coup-crackdown Among the scores of academics currently being sought by the authorities, at least 29 have been detained. More than 40,000 state employees have been detained and 80,000 others have been suspended.

Turkish prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for 84 university academics and 29 banking regulators have been detained in the latest purge to rake Turkey since last month’s coup attempt.

Most of the academic suspects were at Selcuk University, including the university’s former rector professor Hakki Gokbel. The university is in the city of Konya, about 160 miles (260km) south of the capital, Ankara.

So far, 29 academics have been detained. Meanwhile, authorities on Friday also detained 29 inspectors from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) for “irregular inspections.”

The banking investigators are suspected of making examining the accounts of a government-related foundation and of business people, some with close ties to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

A BDDK spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Purge alarms West

Turkey’s Western allies have said they are alarmed by Ankara’s far-reaching crackdown in the aftermath of the July 15 military action that sought to oust Erdogan from power.

Erdogan crackdown reaches the arts, Theater actors concerned “witch hunt”

August 6, 2016 By administrator

erdogan-art Theater actors are the latest group targeted by the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown. Professional associations have labeled it a “witch hunt.”

Many intellectuals and artists unrelated to the coup attempt have now been included in Turkey’s latest lay-off frenzy. One of the victims of the 1980 military coup, director Ragip Yavuz, is in shock: “I was investigated in different periods. I was fired from the theater during the [1980 coup] period. Yet for the first time, I am being investigated to somehow see if I am involved in the Gulen movement and whether I am pro-coup d’etat. This is both shocking and degrading.”

Yavuz is one of tens of thousands of people in Turkey who have lost their jobs following the failed coup. Dismissals began in city theaters around Istanbul. Along with Yavuz, six staff actors and one civil servant were removed due to their alleged ties to the coup. In addition, 20 subcontracted actors were dismissed because of a “lack of performance.”

A joint communique titled “Neither Coup nor State of Emergency” issued Thursday by nearly 20 professional associations – intellectuals, journalists, writers, poets and theater actors and actresses unrelated to the coup – says they are the victims of a “witch hunt.”

“Everyone involved in the coup attempt has to be brought to justice and be punished based on the laws,” reads the communique. “However, the government, seizing this opportunity, is taking steps to liquidate all opposition… to achieve absolute political power.”

‘Art requires freedom of thought’

Levent Uzumcu, one of the co-signers of the communique and the president of the Istanbul Municipal Theater Actors Association (ISTISAN), believes that the state of emergency is being used as a tool against those in opposition to the government.

“It is being used against those who do not approve of the government’s education, economy, or foreign affairs policies,” he said. “When one looks at the names of our dismissed friends, they by no means would be involved with any religious sect or organization.”

“Art requires freedom of thought,” Uzumcu added. “Our colleagues are among the best actors in Turkey. Our viewers know this very well.”

Uzumcu, himself fired from his job, was one of the leading actors during the Gezi Park demonstrations in 2013. He was dismissed right after the protests because of a political speech he gave at a Socialist International meeting in Istanbul. His press briefings and social media posts were also used as evidence against him.

Crackdown needs investigating

Sevinc Erbulak, an actress who lost her job, says she is not happy about being labeled a coup supporter.

“Naturally, I had an opinion and a stance of my own about what has been going on in my country, in what I wrote, drew or thought, or what I said based on what we have been through at the theater,” said Erbulak. “But the situation or the trap or whatever it is we are currently in, is beyond my mind.”

Erbulak added that what needs to be investigated is the source of the current post-coup crackdown.

One of the dismissed actors, Ragyp Yavuz, says many of the productions planned for the opening of the new season in October are now in jeopardy. Quite a few of the subcontracted actors dismissed for “lack of performance” had important roles in the plays, Yavuz said.

The Istanbul Municipal Theater administration refused to answer journalists’ inquiries due to “an ongoing legal process.”

Many vacant positions unfilled

Istanbul Municipal Theater is one of Turkey’s most controversial art institutes due to political interference. According to the performers, the government is trying to have more influence over which plays are performed. There are also increasing calls to close state-funded art institutions.

Uzumcu said that while 180 performers are employed as staff, just as many positions remain vacant. “No one is being hired for those vacant positions,” he said. “Why not? Because if they are filled, city theaters will continue to perform and they don’t want that.”

“I am worried that within this dust storm, before anyone realizes what is going on, all state-funded art institutions, including the Municipal Theater, state theaters, and the Presidential Symphony Orchestra may be shut down by governmental decree,” Uzumcu said. “The butchery we are observing right now is mind-boggling.”

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/theater-actors-concerned-as-turkeys-post-coup-crackdown-reaches-the-arts/a-19452001

Despite Terrorist State of Turkey police crackdown, thousands protest mine construction in Artvin

February 21, 2016 By administrator

Thousands of protesters held demonstrations against Cengiz Holding‘s plans to construct a mine complex in the Cerattape district of Artvin province, known for its forests and water resources, despite a police crackdown and a ban on people entering the provincial capital over the weekend.

On Sunday around 2,000 protesters, most of them women, holding Turkish flags and signs gathered at Otopark Square in a march towards Cerattepe were intercepted by police.

Riot police supported by a number of anti-riot water cannon vehicles stopped attempts by the protesters to enter the area where the mine construction is under way.

After the group’s attempts were blocked, police called on the demonstrators to disperse. When the protesters refused, the police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd despite warnings by some protesters that they had asthma. Dozens of people who suffered adverse reactions from the pepper spray were taken to Artvin State Hospital on Sunday.

A woman who broke her leg in a fall during the protests and a man who was injured after being shot by a plastic bullet fired by police were hospitalized. A police officer who was wounded by a stone thrown by one of the protesters was also hospitalized.

Large crowds who staged the protest aimed at drawing attention to the potential damage to the environment in Cerattepe chanted slogans against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as well as Cengiz Holding, shouting, “Murdering company, leave Artvin.”

The police used tear gas against a group of about 1,000 environmentalists who tried to enter the city to join protests against the project. The group gathered near Cankurtaran after the Artvin Governor’s Office barred people from going to the provincial capital, the Doğan news agency said on Saturday. Police blocked roads to traffic to prevent entry.

The governor’s office also banned announcements from being made on public speakers, reports say.

For the past week, demonstrations have been held to protest the building of the complex in the Black Sea region of Cerattepe by Cengiz Holding.

Turkey: PKK supporters rally in Istanbul against crackdown on Kurds

August 28, 2015 By administrator

The supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey have launched a rally in the city of Istanbul to protest against Ankara’s growing crackdown on Kurdish militants.

In the early hours of Friday, PKK supporters gathered in the Gazi district of Istanbul to show their anger at Ankara’s recent deadly operations against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq.

The protesters reportedly blocked the streets by lighting fires, and engaged in clashes with police forces. Video footage released by Ruptly showed demonstrators throwing Molotov cocktails and fire bombs at police vehicles.

Turkish forces also used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the angry protesters.

Earlier, clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants claimed the lives of seven people, including a seven-year-old boy, in southeast Turkey.

Ankara said the fighting between the two sides broke out after the PKK militants launched a rocket attack against a military outpost in the district of Cizre in Sirnak Province.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.

There has been renewed conflict between the PKK and Turkish security forces since July. Turkey has been launching airstrikes against purported Daesh targets in Syria as well as PKK positions in Iraq after a Daesh bomb attack left 32 people dead in the southeastern Turkish town of Suruc on July 20.

A shaky ceasefire that had stood since 2013 was declared null and void by the PKK following the Turkish airstrikes against the group.

Source: presstv.com