The HRW director for Europe and Central Asia, Hugh Williamson, has called on the European Union and its member states to put human rights issues at the center of their engagement with Turkey, especially the case of Osman Kavala and four others who face life imprisonment for their alleged involvement in the 2013 Gezi Park protests.
An İzmir court on Oct. 12 gave prison sentences to four of six people on trial for taking part in a protest organized on Feb. 3, 2021 in Aegean İzmir Province against the rector appointment at Turkey’s prestigous Boğaziçi University.
Representatives of political parties and non-governmental organizations were present at the final hearing.
Diyarbakır Member of Parliament for the People's Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP), Ceylan Akça Cupolo, has introduced a proposal to Parliament known as the "Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders Act."
The aim of this bill is to ensure the full and effective implementation of international declarations and guiding principles concerning the protection of human rights defenders.
The Council of Europe on Monday (9 October) awarded its top rights prize to jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, who has come under repeated attack from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Turkey’s Hacettepe University shut down the decade-old LGBTI+ student club “Queer Deer” on the charges of “not organizing adequate events for a year” even though the rectorate banned some of the events and the university had hybrid education last semester.
International solidarity is once again needed - PSI and EPSU are asking for action in the week of 23-29 September. Trade union rights are under attack in Türkiye. The leaders and members of SES, the Health and Social Service Workers Union of Türkiye, have been on trial for more than two years.
A court in Istanbul has overruled a prosecution demand to close one of Turkey’s major women’s rights groups, We Will Stop Femicide Platform, for its alleged ‘immorality”.
“We will continue to fight. We will not give up our rights and political struggle,” Fidan Ataselim, General Secretary of We Will Stop Femicide Platform said after a hearing in front of the courthouse.