Terrorist State of Turkey News District mayor from pro-Kurdish party detained

March 5, 2016 By administrator

Emine Esmer, the co-mayor of Şırnak’s Silopi district, who was elected on the ticket of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was taken into custody by the police Friday morning, the Doğan news agency reported.

Esmer was detained, along with her driver Cemal Yiğit, while she was at the mayoral building. Esmer and Yiğit were taken to a police station. While the cause of the detention remains unknown, the pair had been briefly apprehended in late February on a number of charges such as being a member of an outlawed organization, malpractice and enabling an outlawed organization to utilize public property. They had both been released pending trial by a court.

Turkey detains & deports Russian journalists investigating ISIS oil trade reports

December 8, 2015 By administrator

Kobani had entered Syria from Turkey. REUTERS/Rodi Said –

Russian journalists preparing an investigative report into Ankara’s alleged involvement in the oil trade with ISIS have been detained and deported from Turkey. Moscow strongly condemned the treatment of the Rossiya 1 TV crew, demanding explanations.

We strongly condemn the illegal actions of the Turkish authorities,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “Such an attitude towards the media is absolutely unacceptable.”

On Monday, the press crew of the TV program ‘Special Correspondent’, headed by Alexander Buzaladze, were detained in southeastern Turkey by authorities in civilian clothes. The journalists were preparing an investigative report into the alleged smuggling of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) oil into Turkey.

The trouble for the Rossiya 1 TV crew started only once they arrived at the border, Buzaladze said after the deportation. He told Russian state-owned channel Vesti that while the crew worked in Istanbul and Ankara they had faced no opposition from the authorities.

But as soon as they and tried to film close to the Turkish-Syrian border the crew was “blocked [by] the Turkish security forces” leaving them no time to even “get the camera out.”

The Russian crew was arrested in Hatay province bordering Syria as they were on their way to the neighboring province of Gaziantep. According to Buzaladze, there the journalists wanted to film “the border itself, military hardware, people that work at the border, and the border crossing.”

Turkish authorities were first of all concerned “whether we had a camera,” Buzaladze says.

“The first thing they wanted to know [was] if we had a camera. The camera was left in the luggage compartment, locked in a case. Despite this, they took our documents, we were taken to the police station, later we photographed, fingerprinted, brought to the doctor for a medical examination to confirm that we are in a sane state, and that we are alive and well,” the journalist said.

The crew was later informed by the Turkish side that they were being deported. At the same time, authorities failed to explain the reason behind their move, Buzaladedze notes. The Russian journalists were escorted by police to the airport and put on a plane back to Russia.

Throughout the entire incident the Turkish authorities refused to cooperate with Russian diplomats on the ground. The Russian Foreign Ministry wants to know the real reasons behind the detention of the Rossiya 1 crew, and remains curious as to what “rules” were violated by the Russian journalists.

“The Turkish authorities refused to give explanations to representatives of the Russian Embassy in Turkey who got in touch with the crew shortly after its detention,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The group was deported apparently under the pretext of its members having violated laws for foreign journalists working in Turkey.

Terrorist State of Turkey detains another journalist “Ertugrul Ozkok”

November 30, 2015 By administrator

Turkish authorities have arrested another journalist amid growing concerns over the Ankara government’s attempts to stifle critical media and crackdown on dissidents.

Ertugrul Ozkok, a columnist and former editor-in-chief of the Turkish-language Hurriyet daily, was arrested on Sunday on charges of slander after publishing an opinion piece indirectly criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan back in early September.

In the op-ed, titled “Listen, grand man,” written after the tragic death of Aylan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian child refugee whose body was previously washed up on a beach near the port city of Bodrum, Ozkok denounced the Middle Eastern actors for turning the region into “the most brutal land in the world.”

The article, which did not mention the name of the Turkish leader, further pointed to a “dictator” who thinks the country is the “property of his father.”

Ozkok could face up to five years and four months in prison if found “guilty.”

Terrorist State of Turkey Police Assault, Detain at Least 10 Reporters in Eastern Turkey – Reports

November 13, 2015 By administrator

Turkish police assaulted and detained at least ten journalists in the eastern Kurdish-majority Van Province on Friday, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to Today’s Zaman newspaper, some of the detained reporters are from the pro-Kurdish Dicle News Agency (DIHA), and others are from Turkish IMC TV, known for programs focusing on Armenian-Turkish relations.

Police officers seized the reporter’s cameras, the news outlet said.

Relations Between Turkey and Armenia have long been strained over the issue of the Armenian genocide, Turkey’s support of Azerbaijan in the Karabakh conflict, and other issues. The border between the two neighboring states is sealed.

Turkish tensions with Kurds escalated in mid-summer 2015, when the current Turkish government launched a military campaign against militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Lawyer: Russian businessman German Sterligov detained in Moscow

August 31, 2015 By administrator

Russian businessman German Sterligov who has recently settled in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was detained at Domodedovo airport in Moscow, his lawyer told Lifenews.

According to Arthur Ayrapetov, the matter most likely concerns not international, but interstate CIS search.

On July 28 Azerbaijani authorities declared Russian businessman German Sterligov internationally wanted.

Ayrapetov had earlier informed that the INTERPOL has stopped the search for this Russian businessmen. In his words, the search was stopped because the INTERPOL had seen political motives in Baku’s search for German Sterligov.

Turkish police: detained Two British journalists in southeast Turkey

August 28, 2015 By administrator

DİYARBAKIR – Reuters,

DHA Photo

Turkish police have detained two British journalists from Vice News for reporting from the predominantly Kurdish southeast without government accreditation, security sources said on Aug. 28.

Police detained Jake Hanrahan and Philip Pendlebury in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır province, where they were filming clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants, the sources said.

The two Britons and their Turkish translator were in close contact with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants, the same sources said.

“We are aware of the arrest of two British nationals in Diyarbakir. Our consular officials in Turkey are providing consular assistance and are in touch with the Turkish authorities,” British Embassy officials told Hürriyet Daily News.

A 2-1/2-year-old ceasefire between Turkey and PKK militants collapsed in July after a group close to PKK militants shot dead two police officers. Ankara retaliated with strikes against the group in Iraq and Turkey.

Vice News describes itself as an international news organisation that focuses on under-reported stories around the globe.

August/28/2015

Police Detain Over 40 Demonstrators in Beirut – Organizers

August 26, 2015 By administrator

A representative of an activist group claims that more than 40 peaceful protesters were detained by police in Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday during an anti-government rally.

BEIRUT (Sputnik) — More than 40 peaceful protesters were detained by police in Lebanese capital Beirut on Wednesday during an anti-government rally, a representative of an activist group told RIA Novosti.

On early Wednesday, hundreds of people gathered at the center of Beirut to march in solidarity with those who had been protesting against garbage collection crisis last week. The rally began peacefully, but later turned violent as the police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against the activists.

“We came here to protest peacefully, our guys tried to calm down the provocateurs in order to avoid clashes. We asked our companions to leave the area and continue the rally tomorrow. When there were only provocateurs and us, along with a group of people who had little time to leave, the police began beating everyone. About 40 of our people were detained and delivered to the police stations…,” a senior member of the group behind the demonstration said.

The rest of activists went to protest to the police stations in Beirut, demanding the release of their comrades, the group representative added.

Last week, thousands of Lebanese activists took to the streets of Beirut to protest against government corruption and political inaction amid a spreading garbage crisis. The action turned violent as police applied measures against protesters, and dozens of people were injured and hospitalized.

Following the incidents, Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam vowed justice and threatened to resign if the next cabinet session did not yield results.

The problem of garbage in Lebanon became sharp after the country’s main landfill was closed in July. Since then, thousands of tonnes of garbage have been left uncollected as the officials fail to take measures.

Source: sputniknews.com

Police Disperse #ElectricYerevan Protests, Detain Young Activists

July 6, 2015 By administrator

Yerevan police remove protesters from Baghramyan Ave. (Photolure)

YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–Riot police forcibly unblocked on Monday a central Yerevan avenue that has been the scene of a nonstop demonstration for the past two weeks against a controversial rise in electricity prices in Armenia.

Only between 100 and 200 protesters remained camped out on Marshal Bagramian Avenue when the police began dismantling their barricade. They went on to carefully disperse the small crowd.

Youth activists leading the protests and dozens of their supporters were detained in the process. A police spokesman subsequently put the number of detainees at 46. Police confirmed that nine of those arrested were released.

“I think everyone will be set free within three hours,” General Hunan Poghosian, a deputy chief of the national police, told several opposition parliamentarians who arrived at the scene immediately after the start of the operation overseen by him.

The police did not use batons and a water cannon or attack reporters in sharp contrast with their violent crackdown on a larger number of mostly young protesters who first occupied the street leading to the presidential palace in Yerevan on June 22-23.

That crackdown only backfired, leading thousands more Armenians to block the street and demand that the authorities revoke the more than 17 percent energy price hike. President Serzh Sarkisian announced on June 27 that his government will subsidize the price, meaning that Armenian households will not have to pay more for electricity for the time being.

No To Plunder, a youth group that launched the “Electric Yerevan” campaign, urged the protesters on June 28 to unblock Marshal Bagramian Avenue. Most protesters rejected the appeal. Nevertheless, attendance at the protests fell dramatically in the following days.

The police ended the protests early in the afternoon, just hours before the expiration of an ultimatum that was issued by the new leaders of the movement on Saturday. The latter said they will advance further towards the presidential palace unless the authorities fully and unconditionally meet their demands by Monday evening.

The police warned the remaining protesters to disperse in a statement that was issued shortly before the operation. The protesters sat on the road in hopes of making their dispersal harder. The more numerous police officers did not need much time to drag them away and reopen traffic through the street.

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), Ashot Aharonian, the chief police spokesman, praised the crowd for not putting up strong resistance to security forces. He said none of the detained individuals will be prosecuted or fined.

Aharonian would not be drawn on a police response to possible fresh attempts to occupy Marshal Bagramian Avenue.

Armenia, 38 detained in Yerevan Thursday evening, 2 had guns

January 16, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN. – On Thursday evening, a total of 38 people were taken to police stations from Liberty Square and the surrounding area in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, the Police informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The Police also informed that an administrative offense protocol was prepared against three others who were detained outside the Embassy of Russia in Yerevan.

In addition, guns were found in the possession of two people who were detained on Thursday evening, an investigation is underway, and all others, who were detained on Thursday evening, have been released.

As reported earlier, six members of the Avetisyan family—including a two-year-old girl—were shot dead, and a six-month-old baby boy was wounded in their house in Gyumri on Monday. Valery Permyakov, a serviceman of the 102nd Russian Military Base in the city, stands accused in this crime. Permyakov was apprehended by the Russian border guards near the Armenian-Turkish border, and he was arrested on Wednesday. Valery Permyakov is held in custody at the Russian military base.

The Prosecutor General’s Office had said Permyakov will face justice under Russian law – a move that provoked wave of protests in Gyumri and Yerevan.

Azerbaijan detains prominent rights activist Leyla Yunus

July 30, 2014 By administrator

BAKU – Agence France-Presse

Leyla Yunus is head of one of Azerbaijan’s leading rights groups, the Institute for Peace and Democracy in Baku.

Prominent Azerbaijani human rights activist Leyla Yunus was detained on July 30 and could face charges, a family spokesman said.

The award-winning campaigner was forced into a car in the courtyard of her apartment building in Baku and taken away by three plain-clothes men, said the spokesman, Yusif Agayev.

Yunus was taken to appear before prosecutors in the serious crimes office and “we believe she will be charged,” he added, although he said he did not know the charges could be. Yunus’ apartment was sealed off by police.

A fierce critic of Azerbaijan’s poor rights record, Yunus is head of one of Azerbaijan’s leading rights groups, the Institute for Peace and Democracy in Baku. She was detained and questioned for several hours in April.

Yunus has long worked with Armenian activists advocating the reconciliation of the two countries, which have been locked in a decades-long conflict over the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region. She has won several foreign prizes and honours for her work.

Any display of dissent in Azerbaijan is usually met with a tough government response. Rights groups say the government has been clamping down on opponents since President Ilham Aliyev’s re-election last year.

Aliyev, 52, secured a third term in October polls – seen as flawed by international observers – extending his family’s decades-long grip on power in the tightly controlled Caspian Sea nation.

He first took power in 2003 following a disputed election after the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and Communist-era leader.

July/30/2014