Deficiencies in effective access to justice in Turkey

Broad laws against terrorism and threats to the state, political pressure, and inadequacies in the judicial system limited access to justice, as did lengthy pretrial detention and lack of transparency in the prosecution of cases related to state security.
The time lag between arrests and presentation of indictments; leaks of information, evidence, or statements; restricted defense access to evidence put forward by the prosecution; and the secrecy of the investigation orders also fueled concerns about the effectiveness of judicial protections for suspects.

The close connection between prosecutors and judges gave the appearance of impropriety and unfairness in criminal cases, while the broad authority granted to prosecutors and judges contributed to inconsistent and uncertain application of criminal laws.

During the year the government adopted judicial reforms to speed up and improve judicial processes.

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Key to solving the Syrian impasse: Russia

Turkey is preparing to host the second Friends of Syria meeting on April 1, following the first one in Tunisia, as the situation in its neighbor -- with which it shares an 877-kilometer-long border -- continues to be in complete “deadlock.” Just like the overwhelming majority of the Syrian people, Turkey has exhibited a strong will that Bashar al-Assad must leave the wheel of the country, but no significant option for how this can be done has emerged so far.

The fragmentation in the international community is bestowing extra life on the Assad regime, but also causing dozens of people to die every day. The death toll has already exceeded 8,000 according to United Nations statistics. The Syrian opposition, on the other hand, claims this number to be above 11,000. And the Assad regime says more than 2,000 security troops have died. In addition to deaths, there have also been increasing human rights violations and displacement of populations. Moreover, thousands of people are reported to have gone missing after they were arrested by Assad's troops. Currently, about 250,000 people have been displaced within the country while at least 30,000 people have sought shelter in neighboring countries.

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ECHR; Veli İsmail Altınok

The applicant, Veli Ismail Altınok, is a Turkish national who was born in 1981 and lives inAdana. He was arrested on 12 April 2007 following a complaint alleging fraud andforgery. After being brought before the criminal court he was placed in pre-trialdetention. Relying on Article 5 § 4 (right to take proceedings to have the lawfulness ofdetention decided speedily by a court), he alleges that the lodging of an objection andthe procedure for automatic review of detention are ineffective. He also complains thatthe Assize Court did not give adequate reasons for ordering his continued detention anddismissing his objections. Relying on Article 5 § 5 (right to compensation), he complainsthat he did not have an effective remedy by which to obtain compensation. Altınok v. Turkey (no. 31610/08)

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Europe May Turn Back 1930

Europe Human Right Court President Jean-Paul Costas incumbency ends at this month. He has been chairing for 13 years. He talked about future of court, Europe, European Union, economic crisis damages to human rights.
According to Kayhan Karaca, reporter of ntvmsnbc.com, Jean Paul Costa is anxious about Europe future.

"We have two possible script view of geopolitical. First script is disaster. Those events at 1930's may repeat today (In Europe). Very serious economic and social crisis, unemployment, authoritarian regimes capture the competence and war. League of Nations demolishes and the passing from the peace to the war and the passing from international organizations to gunfight. This is the script of disaster. We can think these possibilities will repeat. All conditions are available. But although I think international society will resist despite these conditions and the peace will resist to the war. But the fact that we will live hard conditions is real. Climbing over economic crisis which begin 3 years ago will attend during long years. But I don't think script of disaster is inevitable" Costa said.

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Turkey bombed military targets in Syria

Turkey's military struck targets inside Syria on Wednesday in response to a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory which killed five Turkish civilians, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's office said in a statement.

Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement; targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar, the statement said.

"Turkey will never leave unanswered such kinds of provocation by the Syrian regime against our national security," it added.

Davutoğlu had also agreed with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on the need for an emergency meeting of NATO members, the statement said.

A mortar bomb fired from Syria landed in a residential district of the southeastern Turkish town of Akçakale on Wednesday, killing a woman and four children from the same family and wounding at least 13 other people.

A cloud of dust and smoke rose up over low-rise buildings as residents ran to help the wounded. Others, infuriated by the increasing spillover of violence from Syria's civil war, took to the streets shouting protests against the local authorities.

Davutoğlu phoned UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to brief him about the incident and also spoke with senior military officials and Syria crisis mediator Lakhdar Brahimi, his ministry said in a statement.

Davutoğlu signaled over the weekend that Turkey would take action if there was a repeat of a mortar strike which damaged homes and workplaces in Akçakale last Friday.

"It (latest mortar round) hit right in the middle of the neighbourhood. The wife and four children from the same family died," Ahmet Emin Meşhurgül, local head of the Turkish Red Crescent, told Reuters, adding he knew the victims personally.

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Turkey hittings military targets in Syria

Turkish artillery hit targets near Syria's Tel Abyad border town for a second day on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists and security sources, after a mortar bomb fired from the area killed five Turkish civilians.

Turkey's government said "aggressive action" against its territory by Syria's military had become a serious threat to its national security and sought parliamentary approval for the deployment of Turkish troops beyond its borders.

"Turkey has no interest in a war with Syria. But Turkey is capable of protecting its borders and will retaliate when necessary," Ibrahim Kalin, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan, said on his Twitter account.

Political, diplomatic initiatives will continue," he said.

In the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria, Turkey hit back after what it called "the last straw" when a mortar hit a residential neighbourhood of the southern border town of Akçakale on Wednesday.

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Timoshenko: impossible damage?

I hope that the recently proposed changes to the criminal code in Ukraine will make such trials impossible in the future,” said Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the 47-member body, after a Ukraine court jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko for seven years. She was convicted of abusing power.

Enraging:
The judgement has enraged the West, jeopardising Kiev’s plans to join the EU. The verdict has potentially devastating consequences for the country - which could be averted on appeal, as President Viktor Yanukovych was quick to point out.

Timoshenko filed a complaint against Ukraine at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in June, claiming her trial was politically motivated. The ECHR rules on actions brought by individuals and legal entities that claim their human and fundamental rights have not been upheld by national courts. So first, the Appeals Court in Ukraine must uphold the verdict against Timoshenko. If it does, it is likely that she could be awarded damages by the ECHR.

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ECHR judge Corneliu Barsan

ECHR judge Corneliu Barsan said prosecutors who searched his home and confiscated his wife's computer and documents violated the Vienna Convention, which covers both him and his spouse, Gabriela.
But legal advice from the country's top magistrate council said the search was legal as immunity is not granted to judges for their own benefit or to hamper the course of justice. A final vote on the legality of the move will be taken by the magistrates' council on Tuesday.

The vote is set to be closely watched by the European Commission, which has repeatedly criticised the council for being too lenient with misbehaving judges. Romania, as well as Bulgaria, are still being monitored by the EU executive on how they deal with corruption and organised crime. This is also the reason why entry into the border-free Schengen area was delayed indefinitely by the Netherlands and Finland last month.

Gabriela Barsan, who heads the administrative and fiscal litigation department in Romania's top appeals court, is accused - together with a subordinate - of having received jewellery, plane tickets and expensive restaurant dinners in exchange for favourable verdicts. The businessman who allegedly paid the bribes, Gabriel Chiriac, has claimed that he gave them jewellery "out of friendship", Romania Libera newspaper reported.

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