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Sakharov Fellowship for Human Rights Defenders
The European Parliament’s Sakharov Fellowship offers up to 14 human rights defenders selected from non-EU countries the opportunity to follow a two-week intensive training in Brussels and at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice.
The empowering programme for human rights defenders has been organised annually since 2016 further to an initiative taken by the Sakharov Prize Community at the 25th Anniversary Conference of the Sakharov Prize.
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Lawyers from the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) and 55 bar associations gathered today in front of the Constitutional Court (AYM) for Gezi protester and lawyer Can Atalay, who was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) in the May 14 elections.
Journalist and Dicle Fırat Journalists Association co-chair Dicle Müftüoğlu was placed in prison on May 3rd, 2023, World Press Freedom Day, as part of the investigation filed by the Public Prosecutor of Ankara. The investigation that targeted 49 people including five already under arrest was concluded three months later. The Public Prosecutor sent the indictment to the Ankara 28th High Criminal Court. However, rejecting the indictment, the court returned it to the prosecutor.
Boğaziçi University Rectorate has initiated a disciplinary investigation against the faculty members who participated in the 15-minute silent protest. The protests are alleged to be "in violation of the law" and have a "disruptive effect on the functioning of the university."
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Boğaziçi University rectorate on Aug. 18 sent campus security and undercover police to student club rooms to evacuate them and open space for new dorm rooms forcibly.
Security personnel battered students who were protesting against the decision that impacted numerous clubs engaged in cultural, scientific, and sports activities for decades. Riot police also surrounded the campus to intervene with the students.
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The Turkish police on July 29 once again thwarted the Saturday Mothers' vigil in Istanbul's Galatasaray Square, where they had been demanding information about their relatives who disappeared under custody since 1995.
The police detained 50 human rights defenders and they were later released during the day after hours in custody.
Human Rights Association Central Executive Board (İHD MYK) member and former Chair of its Siirt branch Vetha Aydın Yüksel has been detained countless times, arrested, tried, and lost her job due to her activities within the Human Rights Association in defense of rights. She is currently a reserve member of the İHD MYK and has a lawsuit filed against her at the 1st High Criminal Court of Siirt as a result of the combination of investigations opened against her in 2009, 2010, and 2017.
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CIVICUS speaks about 2023 Pride and the civil society response to the Turkish government’s anti-LGBTQI+ campaign with Damla Umut Uzun, international relations and fundraising officer at Kaos Gay and Lesbian Cultural Research and Solidarity Association (Kaos GL).