Police violence the revolt; Occupy Taksim Square

Tension remained high in Turkey on Wednesday morning on the sixth day of protests against the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Again, thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul and Ankara. Despite the "apology" from the government to victims of police brutality the previous day, thousands of protesters stormed at night Istanbul's Taksim Square, where they chanted slogans calling for the resignation of the Prime Minister. Apologies all necessary that the repression of forces is in the viewfinder.

Indeed, those are the police violence, as thousands of people, led Tuncay Alcpinar to occupy Taksim Square. At age 39, he was a victim of false imprisonment. He spent the year 2011 in detention. Overnight, he was arrested, accused of drug trafficking, and imprisoned twelve months without trial, without any presumption of innocence.

"I had to wait a year in prison. A year there is finally a confrontation in court with a police officer. It happened. He did not even look at me. He just said that n was not me, "testifies to the Turk in Europe one microphone. According to him, the Islamic-conservative power has increased repression. "Since Erdogan (Prime Minister, ed) is in power, it became systematic. They put you in jail. Then they ask you to take care of yourself to prove that you're not guilty. Only not possible, such a system, "laments Tuncay Alcpinar.

For several days, the police are in the viewfinder, accused of brutality against protesters. "You see the events: the police violence hit hard but it always ends up staying in prison violence is psychological And that remains forever.." Said the Turk, told Europe 1. Tuncay Alcpinar is far from alone. It is well aware when discussing with students on the barricades. Too familiar with the problem: more than 2,800 of them are currently in prison in Turkey.

ankara , istanbul , protests , taksim , Turkey , Turkish

Pentagon: The Turks made the call (Uludere)

ULUDERE: U.S. military officers at the Fusion Cell in Ankara couldn't tell whether the men, bundled in heavy jackets, were civilians or guerrilla fighters. But their location in an area frequented by guerrilla fighters raised suspicions. The Americans alerted their Turkish counterparts.

Turkey—After winding along a narrow mountain ridge, a caravan of 38 men and mules paused on the Turkish-Iraqi border. Then they heard the propellers overhead. Minutes later, Turkish military aircraft dropped bombs that killed all but four of the men.

The strike in late December was meant to knock out Kurdish separatist fighters. Instead it killed civilians smuggling gasoline, a tragic blunder in Turkey's nearly three-decade campaign against the guerrillas. The killings ignited protests across the country and prompted wide-ranging official inquiries.

The civilian toll also set off alarms at the Pentagon: It was a U.S. Predator drone that spotted the men and pack animals, officials said, and American officers alerted Turkey.

The U.S. drone flew away after reporting the caravan's movements, leaving the Turkish military to decide whether to attack, according to an internal assessment by the U.S. Defense Department, described to The Wall Street Journal. "The Turks made the call," a senior U.S. defense official said. "It wasn't an American decision."

The U.S. role, which hasn't previously been reported, revealed the risks in a new strategy for extending American influence around the globe. It raises an outstanding question for the White House and Congress: How far do we entrust allies with our deadly drone technology?

ankara , echr , International , national , news , Obama , Turkey , United States

Turkish air strike killed 36 civilians

The deaths of 36 people, who may have been locals smuggling in goods from northern Iraq, killed in an overnight airstrike by Turkish warplanes in southeastern Turkey have led to doubts about the intelligence sources on which the military relied before conducting the operation.
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Chairman Hüseyin Çelik held a press conference Thursday evening, saying the incident was the result of an “operational accident” that was caused by a mistake or intelligence failure. He said both a legal and an administrative probe were underway to name those responsible for the deadly error. “If there was a mistake, it will not be covered up in any way and the necessary legal action will be taken.”

A statement from the Şırnak Governor's Office said 35 people were killed and another was injured in the airstrikes. However, hospital records indicate a death toll of 36.

The Turkish military released a statement Thursday that said the area struck was the Sinat-Haftanin region of northern Iraq, where the primary Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases are located and where there are no civilian inhabitants.

“Administrative and judicial investigations are underway and procedures are being followed with respect to the incident,” the General Staff said.

ankara , Articles , echr , freedom , International , Iraq , Social , Turkey

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.

ankara , Article , echr , International , national , news , Political , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , Syria , Turkey

Turkey’s Somalian Children

Turkey is carrying out a big aid campaign, led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for Somali who are suffering in the grip of drought.

In an effort to position himself as the leader of Muslim countries in the Middle East region, Erdogan is trying to show the slamic World that he is not indifferent to the Muslim Somalis. He stands up to Israel in order to gain sympathy of Muslim countries.

However, he is ignores those of his own citizens who are trying to lead their lives under very difficult conditions in Turkey. Because of the economic crises that have been experienced in Turkey, bankrupt businessmen live under very difficult conditions, and they are sought by the courts and police because of their debts.

When these businessmen are caught by the police, they are put into prison for five years. They do not have a prominent address and they constantly change the place they live in order not to be caught. They are unable to receive treatment when they get ill, because in hospitals, the police check whether the person is sought or not by the courts. And if they have a job, they can in no way benefit from social rights, because they cannot register for social security.

ankara , Article , Articles , echr , Economic , European Union , freedom , Human rights , International , law , news , Political , prison , Protocol , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , Rights , Somalian

Nicknamed: Kemal Gandhi

Born in 1948 in the Nazımiye district of Tunceli, an area where the population is predominantly ethnic Kurds, Kılıçdaroğlu would never have forecast that he could one day become the chairman of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP. Nor would his family and friends.

His parents were from modest Anatolian families. His father was an ordinary state employee at the land registry office with limited income to raise their seven children.

Kemal was the only one in the family who graduated from university Kılıçdaroğlu’s family comes from a local tribe called the Kureyşan, known as a holy kin group among the Alevis. The tribe is considered to have descended from Caliph Ali and Kılıçdaroğlu does not deny this. This also brings clues about his dignified character and cool and tolerant approach to almost every issue, even in strained times. The reflections of this culture and philosophy of Alevi belief surely can be found in Kılıçdaroğlu’s identity.

ankara , echr , Economic , news , Political , Social , Turkey

Human rights violations in Turkey

In an annual report released on Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the top judicial body to rule on human rights violations in Europe, found that Turkey is by far the worst violator of human rights among the 47 signatory states of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In statistical data on violation judgments by country for the period between 1959 and 2009, Turkey topped the chart with 18.81 percent of all violation judgments, followed by Italy with 16.57 percent and Russia 6.34 percent. Within this timeframe, 2,295 judgments were entered for Turkey and only in 46 cases did the court find no violations. The most common human rights violation committed by Turkey was the denial of the right to a fair trial. Italy scored second with 2,021 judgments against it.

In 2009 alone, Turkey again topped the list in terms of violations of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. In a tally of the number of judgments entered for Turkey, 356 cases out of a total of 1,625 put the country in the worst violator class. In only nine cases out of the 356 did the court find there was no violation, while stating that at least one violation occurred in the rest of the cases. Russia followed Turkey in 2009 with 210 judgments against it.

ankara , Case-Law , echr , European , law , Political , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , Turkey

Obama discusses regional upheaval with Erdogan

US President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have agreed that peoples' demands for legitimate and natural democratic rights should be recognized by their leaders, as political upheaval continues to rock the Middle East, from Egypt to Tunisia and from Lebanon to Yemen.

Obama initiated a telephone conversation with Erdoğan on Saturday night, the Turkish prime minister's press office said in a written statement released on Sunday.

President Barack Obama stated that he attaches importance to assessing new developments in the region with Prime Minister Erdoğan as the leader of Turkey, which has strong democratic customs in the region, and as a leader who came to power by gaining successful election results many times, the statement said, noting that the two leaders reached consensus that the legitimate and natural rights of the people of the region should be provided for and their calls for democracy should be heeded.

ankara , capital , echr , Human rights , istanbul , Obama , Political , Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , Turkey , United States

Human Rights Defenders "Where are"

Within the frame of the liberal economy. Trade and commercial relations between merchants are carried out by means of post dated checks in Turkey.

The banks give out blank checks to their customers and the merchants use these checks in trading of goods and services by filling them out by giving 6 months, 1 year or longer periods of maturity to them.
The financial crisis in the world has affected profoundly our country; as a result, the merchants were unable to pay their post-dated checks on their due dates.

According to Article 38/8 of the Turkish Constitution, as amended in 2001 taking into regard the European Convention on Human Rights, "no one can be detained from his/her freedom due to only his/her failure to fulfill a contractual liability”. As such, prohibition of detainment of freedom due to only failure to fulfill a contractual liability (i.e., provision for “no imprisonment for debt”) has been added to our constitution. This provision, taken from the Article 1 of the Protocol constituting the 4th Annex to European Human Rights Convention, underlines that imprisonment due to failure to perform a contractual relation will be contrary to the human freedom and honor.

ankara , Article , Attorney , Case-Law , echr , Economic , International , law , national , news , Political , Turkey

Erdogan discusses missile plans with Obama

A G-20 summit in Seoul offered Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the opportunity to once more express Ankara’s reservations about NATO’s planned anti-missile system during a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama.

Erdoğan responded affirmatively when asked on Friday whether NATO’s US-backed plans were on the agenda of his talks with Obama. “We conveyed our sensitivities to him,” Erdoğan was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency while speaking to reporters at the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in southern Seoul after the summit closed. The two-day G-20 meeting was attended by a total of 33 global leaders.

The meeting between Erdoğan and Obama came only days ahead of the NATO Lisbon summit on Nov. 19-20, at which time a decision regarding the controversial missile defense system will be made.

Turkey is demanding that within NATO's strategic concept document there should be no references to any specific country as a threat and that the legitimization of the missile system should be made in general terms.

ankara , Article , Convention , echr , Economic , European , International , Obama , Political , Protocol , Turkey , United States

Tears in Akhtamar Surp Cross Church..

The ceremony made on 19th September for the first time after 95 years in Surp Cross Church in Akhtamar Island was made without a Cross.

Turkish goverment which gave permit for making a ceremony for once in the historical cathedral does not deem the cathedral as a worship place. It wants to show itself to the West as a country which has religious tolerance, to accelerate the acceptance process for European Union and to attract more tourists to the location, by using the cathedral as a tool for its political and economical objectives.

On one side, Turkish government smiles at the outer world and on the other side it makes inquiries for the purpose of determining whether there are families in Van who offer Armenian pilgrims to host them at their home and continues to launch formal investigations about those families it has detected.
And beyond everything, Ankara likes to see Armenians in conflict with eachother.
I don’t want to enter into details of that matter, but I want to share an approach bearing the Armenian spirit.

Anatolia , ankara , Article , echr , Economic , European , European Union , International , journalists , Mayr Dacar , news , Political , Social

Reclusive Turkish Imam Criticizes Gaza Flotilla

Imam Fethullah Gülen, a controversial and reclusive U.S. resident who is considered Turkey's most influential religious leader, criticized a Turkish led flotilla for trying to deliver aid without Israel's consent.

Speaking in his first interview with a U.S. news organization, Mr. Gülen spoke of watching news coverage of Monday's deadly confrontation between Israeli commandos and Turkish aid group members as its flotilla approached Israel's sea blockade of Gaza. "What I saw was not pretty," he said. "It was ugly."

Mr. Gülen said organizers' failure to seek accord with Israel before attempting to deliver aid "is a sign of defying authority, and will not lead to fruitful matters."

Mr. Gülen's views and influence within Turkey are under growing scrutiny now, as factions within the country battle to remold a democracy that is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. The struggle, as many observers characterize it, pits the country's old-guard secularist and military establishment against Islamist-leaning government workers and ruling politicians who say they seek a more democratic and religiously tolerant Turkey. Mr. Gülen inspires a swath of the latter camp, though the extent of his reach remains hotly disputed.

ankara , Article , echr , Fethullah Gülen , Gaza , International , Israel , Middle East , national , news , Political , Turkey , United States

Migration and asylum problems

Two projects supported by the European Union are inaugurated on 11 March 2010 at the Headquarters of the Turkish National Police in Ankara. The projects are the first elements of broader parallel programmes aiming at (1) supporting Turkey’s capacity in combating irregular migration through the establishment of removal centres and (2) establishing a system of reception, screening and accommodation for asylum seekers and refugees.

The European Union is funding € 2.4 million for these two projects which are complementing a larger intervention of Turkey and European Union aiming to construct reception centres and removal centres throughout the country. Each of these centres is designed to host 750 persons and the total value of this investment in reaching € 80 million. These centres will increase the hosting capacity of Turkey considerably and thereby contribute to the ongoing efforts of the Government to establish a system for effective management of asylum and migration.
These twinning projects implemented by officials from the UK, the Netherlands and Greece will, in particular, develop guidelines on how these centres are to be well managed and provide training to staff that will work there. The projects will also develop recommendations for legislative and administrative measures so as to align Turkish legislation and practices with those of the EU.

ankara , Case-Law , echr , European , European Union , International , news , Persons , Turkey

Youtube Ban

The Internet Technology Association (INETD) applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), objecting to the decision to block youtube.com in Turkey. Access has been banned to the global video sharing site for 19 months now since 5 May 2008.

INETD president Mustafa Akgül announced that INETD filed the complaint "on behalf of the ones harmed by the ban and on behalf of the entire country". Akgül claimed that the ban is "against the law and contrary to the public interest".

against , ankara , Case-Law , Convention , echr , European , news , Social , Turkey