EFD Rights Watch: “Turkish Court Upholds Convictions of Coup Plotters

Turkish Court Upholds Convictions of Coup Plotters

Senior officers were among the leading defendants whose involvement underlined the power struggle between the government and the military.

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Protesters opposing Turkish PM during ODTÜ event indicted on terror charges

Ankara prosecutors has pressed charges against 11 people involved in the clashes following a protest at the launching ceremony of the Göktürk-2 satellite at ODTÜ campus

Return of Mor Gabriel Monastery lands to Syriacs officially approved

The assembly of foundations, the highest decision-making body of the general directorate for foundations

Male Violence March 2012

A compilation made by bianet revealed that male perpetrators left 12 women dead, 8 raped, 24 battered and 5 harassed in March 2012. Overall in 2012, male violence left 47 women dead, 28 raped, 60 battered and 56 harassed.

Euro court fines Turkey over President’s newspaper injunction

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey breached human rights law by denying the free expression of newspaper journalists

 

Turkey Lifts Ban on Head Scarves in State OfficesThe change, which went into effect immediately, was introduced as part of a series of measures aimed at bolstering democratic standards.

Woman threatened with rape by the police to be defended by Istanbul Bar

The Istanbul Bar Association has said they will represent Pınar T.

Top Turkish appeals court releases verdict in coup-plot trial, 34 acquitted

Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision to acquit 34 defendants and order the retrial of 63 suspects in the “Balyoz” (Sledgehammer) coup-plot case

‘The process has not ended,’ Turkish PM says on top court’s Balyoz appeals verdict

PM Erdoğan said that the government would follow the judicial process in his first remarks after the Supreme Court of Appeals’ verdict in the ‘Balyoz’ coup case

Today is 12 September 2013. This is the 33rd anniversary of 1980 coup d’etat…

via @iskenderbaydar

If not prevented, another coup to come not through army but police forces… The photo below taken in Kadıköy, İstanbul is from the early hours of 12 September 2013 as protesters clash with police….

The Guardian piece: “Uneasy truce holds as Kurdish guerrilla forces withdraw from Turkey… A roundup…

Uneasy truce holds as Kurdish guerrilla forces withdraw from Turkey

Peace process stalls between PKK fighters led by Abdullah Ocalan and Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Kurdish politician urges government, PKK to take steps

Kurdish politician Kemal Burkay has urged the PKK to withdraw from Turkey as soon as possible and the Turkish state to rapidly take steps to ensure a lasting solution.

Trouble ahead unless government takes a step, says Demirtaş

If the ruling AKP continues to refrain from taking strong steps for resolution, the peace process will face ‘serious trouble,’ says BDP co-chair Demirtaş

PKK set to hold civilian demonstrations on Sept 1: Intel report

An intelligence report has warned about PKK’s civil disobediance actions

Education in Kurdish not written in charter

All political parties, except the Peace and Democracy Party, agree not to include any article over the right the education in mother tongue

Landmark Kurdish conference in Arbil postponed for second time

A planned Kurdish National Conference gathering Kurdish figures from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, which had been set to take place in Arbil this month has been postponed to November

 

Western financial prescription has made Turkey ill

Before the financial crisis Turkey was ‘ripe for investment’. Now domestic unrest has driven that cheap money out of the country, plunging it even further into crisis

Back in the hazy, innocent days before the financial crisis, a small gathering of journalists was treated to an enthusiastic, chart-packed presentation about fund managers’ next big money-making ideas.

Turkish political party suggests formation of ‘Islamic NATO’

The leader of Turkey’s Felicity Party (SP) has suggested that Muslim countries unite to establish an “Islamic NATO”

Turkey’s state news agency starts broadcasting in Kurdish

Turkey’s state news agency, Anadolu Agency, began broadcasting in Kurdish Sept.1 in the language’s Kurmanji and Sorani dialects

 

EFD Rights Watch: 108 soldiers commit suicide since 2012…Columnists As Biggest Hate Speech Makers in Turkey…

108 soldiers commit suicide since 2012, Turkish defense minister says

The Turkish defense minister said that 166 soldiers have committed suicide or been killed in accidents across the country in the last year and a half

50 Percent of Rape Victims Are Children, TÜİK Says

According to Statistics Institute of Turkey, sexual assault crimes have climbed by 30 percent in the past 5 years. 409 state officials including policemen, soldiers, specials ops troops, village guard or prison guards charged with rape in the past 15 years left unpunished.

Soldier to be charged with terror in leak case in Turkey

A gendarme accused of leaking secret documents on the Reyhanlı bombings in Hatay will be tried at a special authority court as a terror suspect

 

Ruling AKP officials express grief over beating of Gezi protester

Ruling Justice and Democracy Party (AKP) officials expressed outrage via Twitter on Aug. 22 over the beating of a Gezi Park protester to death

Turkey’s religious head refuses UN fund for violence against women project

President of the Directorate General for Religious Affairs (Diyanet) Mehmet Görmez declared that the department would refuse to continue receiving loans for an ongoing United Nations-led project in Turkey

“Columnist As Biggest Hate Speech Makers in Turkey”

Hrant Dink Foundation has released its quarterly report on “Hate Speech in Media and Discriminatory Discourse” for the January – April 2013 period. Columnists marked as the biggest hate speech makers in Turkey. It also included the media coverage on BDP and HDK’s trip to Black Sea Region.

 

Turkey’s Council of State Ignores ECHR Verdict- What were you waiting for? /EFD Rights Watch

Turkey’s Council of State Ignores ECHR Verdict

Ignoring an ECHR verdict, Turkey’s Council of State confirmed a lower court ruling on the rejection of repartition demand in the case of Abdullah Yaşa – a 13 year old victim of police canisters during a demonstration in Diyarbakır in 2006.

Map of the European Union (27) with the Republic of Turkey. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Twice an injustice (II)

No doubt, the Ergenekon verdicts send messages at many wavelengths, although the simplistic

A dangerous barter…

If this country will ever achieve a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish problem

Coups in Turkey and Egypt

There is a reason almost all political segments in Turkey condemned the coup in Egypt in similar ways

Ergenekon verdict is a dark chapter in Turkey’s history

Hurriyet Daily News

When a Turkish court August 5 handed down sentences against 275 people in the so-called “Ergenekon” case, including a life sentence in prison for a former military chief of staff, it brought to a close a disquieting five-year chapter in the country’s

 

US, EU avoid commenting on Ergenekon verdicts, concerned for judicial process

Journal of Turkish Weekly

The U.S. and the European Union declined to comment Aug.5 on the verdicts of Turkey’s Ergenekon coup plot case that resulted in several aggravated life sentences for high-ranking army officials including a former chief of staff general while

 

Ergenekon verdict aftermath: “International press body alarmed over Ergenekon’s journalist imprisonments…

International press body alarmed over Ergenekon’s journalist imprisonments

The IPI expressed concern over the Turkish journalists sentenced to prison terms in the Ergenekon trial

The Turkish Trial That Fell Far Short

While the Ergenekon trial was a milestone in civilian control over the military, it was flawed in other respects.

Turkish Army calls for calm and restraint over coup plot verdicts

Turkish Armed Forces have called for calm and restraint following the verdicts handed down to a number of active and retired army personnel

Ergenekon trial not political: Turkish justice minister

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin has rejected criticisms of the Ergenekon verdict handed down by an Istanbul court which mainly denounce the trial as political

Released Ergenekon deputy Haberal meets CHP leader

CHP deputy Mehmet Haberal was received today in Ankara by his party’s head Kılıçdaroğlu a day after his release

 

Ergenekon case confronts Turkey’s past, but spawns doubts about motives

Turkey’s former top military official was sentenced to life imprisonment for plotting to overthrow the government – charges many say were trumped up. Some 250 people were sentenced.

 

Why I am not happy about Ergenekon verdicts

The “Ergenekon” coup trial, probably Turkey’s most controversial case ever, ended the other day

Is a political amnesty possible for both Ergenekon and PKK?

The coup-attempt case of Ergenekon has ended with a lot of “rights” and “wrongs” together

Analysis: Breaking down Turkey’s ‘Ergenekon’ coup case

Jerusalem Post

The AKP’s back story is particularly relevant to the Ergenekon case because many of the party’s founders were targeted by the army’s latest intervention 16 years ago. At the height of its popular support, AKP predecessor the Welfare Party was declared

Extraordinary justice

Does the Silivri court verdict indeed confirm the existence of an “Ergenekon gang”?

Ergenekon: A ‘turning point’ and ‘milestone’ in Turkish politics

euronews

It is a case that has brought Turkey’s military to heel and sewn the seeds for the civilian government to assert more control. The jailing of a former military chief and other senior figures in the so-called “Ergenekon” case will have deep and long

TAF Releases Statement on Ergenekon Verdict

Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) released a statement on yesterday’s Ergenekon trial verdict, saying that “they were feeling and sharing the grief of their longtime co-workers and their family members”.

Ergenekon suspect’s minor sentence sparks debate

The verdicts regarding the alleged coup case Ergenekon continue to send ripples across the country as the release of Osman Yıldırım caused a new debate

 

Timeline: Turkey’s ‘Ergenekon’ trial

Aljazeera.com

The alleged network of secularist ultra-nationalists, Ergenekon, draws its name from a mythical Central Asian valley where Turks are said to have been saved from annihilation by a wolf that led them past their enemies to freedom. The network was said

 

MAIN FOCUS: Controversial sentences in Ergenekon trial | 06/08/2013

In the mass trial against the Turkish Ergenekon network, most of the 275 accused received prison sentences on Monday after being found guilty of preparing a coup. Punishment was meted out to the guilty and innocent indiscriminately, commentators criticise, accusing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of trying to intimidate his opponents.

Mr Erdogan’s authoritarian creep

The continuing suppression of dissent shows that for all its apparent gains, Turkey has gone into reverse gear

Ergenekon verdict should have political impacts: PM’s chief adviser Akdoğan

The process that started with the Ergenekon investigation will also have political impacts, PM Erdoğan’s chief political adviser Yalçın Akdoğan said while explaining his previous remarks about the verdict

How Turks Misinterpret Ergenekon

Al-Monitor

According to the prosecution, the Ergenekon network was the very essence of Turkey’s “deep state” — carrying out assassinations and false flag operations in order to overthrow democratically elected governments. Prosecutors contended thatErgenekon

 

Related posts:

1. Ergenekon verdict aftermath. A roundup…
2. Ergenekon verdict day. Martial Law measures against citizens who want to attend the Anti-coup trial…
3. Towards August 5, Ergenekon Verdict Hearing, Police raid homes of Workers’ Party and TGB members…
4. A roundup of aftermath of biggest raid against Ergenekon
5. Still tense. Aftermath of journalist arrests…

Ergenekon verdict aftermath. A roundup…

Turkish leader accused of witch-hunt as army coup plotter is jailed for life

Police fire teargas at protesters outside court as critics say Recep Tayyip Erdoğan used trial to weaken military

Turkey is facing angry divisions after a former armed forces commander was sentenced to life imprisonment with 16 other retired officers for their role in an alleged terrorist plot to overthrow the country’s Islamist-rooted government.

How the Ergenekon Verdicts May Deepen Turkey’s Political Divide

TIME

The defendants were charged with forming a clandestine ultra-nationalist “terrorist organization” dubbed Ergenekon, the name of a mythic valley in Central Asia where, in lore, the Turkic peoples originated. Their alleged plan was to feed social unrest

 

My conscience is clear, says Turkey’s former army chief sentenced to life in prison

Former Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ released a short statement following the Ergenekon verdict

Turkish Court Hands Down Sentences in Coup PlotA local court sentenced 10 defendants, including a former army chief of staff, to life in prison for their role in plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

 

Turkey’s Ergenekon trial

Financial Times

The case is one of the most politically charged in the country’s recent history – among the defendants were Turkey’s former chief of staff, journalists and academics. Here are five questions and answers about the alleged coup plot, known as Ergenekon.

US, EU avoid to comment on Ergenekon verdicts, concerned for judicial process

The U.S. and the EU declined to comment Aug.5 on the verdicts of Turkey’s Ergenekon coup plot case

19 sentenced to life in Turkey’s Ergenekon coup plot trial, including ex-military chief

Turkey’s former commander İlker Başbuğ and 18 other people receive life sentences on coup plot charges in the Ergenekon trial that lasted almost five years

Main opposition deputy Haberal discharged from Silivri Prison following his release

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Mehmet Haberal left Silivri Prison hours after the court ordered his release in the Ergenekon trial verdict

 

Ergenekon trial rulings ‘illegitimate,’ says main opposition leader

Hurriyet Daily News

Turkish main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has slammed the severe sentences announced in the Ergenekon trial verdict Aug. 5, calling the court’s rulings “illegitimate.” Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also joined

 

Deputy PM says reactions against Ergenekon verdict ’emotional’

Hurriyet Daily News

The reactions against the court’s verdict on the Ergenekon trial are “emotional,” Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said Aug. 5 during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting in Ankara. Arınç added that the government “could not have an opinion” on

A verdict that is bound to be divisive

The Ergenekon verdicts had not come through yet when this piece was being written. But whatever the outcome – the full details are in today’s Hürriyet Daily News – it was bound to be controversial.

Mission accomplished with collateral damage

There was little room for a surprise anyway; the Istanbul Specially Authorized 13th Criminal Court ruled on August 5 for life imprisonment of 17 people

Turkey’s Ergenekon trial: Q&A

The case in which 275 defendants have been accused of plotting a government coup is one of the most politically charged cases in Turkey’s recent history

Erdogan erodes media freedom

The Turkish prime minister’s intolerance of criticism is in danger of destroying what is left of the independence of the press and broadcasters

 

Turkish court returns verdicts over Ergenekon plot against government

Security forces fire teargas in fields near court building as defendants’ supporters protest against five-year trial

A Turkish court has begun returning verdicts on nearly 300 defendants accused of plotting to overthrow the government, handing prison sentences of up to 20 years to some and acquitting others.

 

The End of Ergenekon Saga… Or Is It?

The Ergenekon coup plot trial, considered the most important legal battle in recent Turkish history, reached an end today with severe punishments.

 

I won’t question if the verdicts are correct or not. But if we just look for inconsistencies, we can see that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) surely developed a twisted narrative, but might have failed to bring justice with this trial.

 

Ergenekon Endgame

A court is delivering the verdicts one by one in the long-running Ergenekon trial of 270 people, most of them military officers, but also lawyers, academics and journalists, accused of plotting to overthrow the AKP government and creating chaos through targeted assassinations and other means in order to prepare the ground for a coup. The trial endgame is being held in a specially constructed courtroom under heavy guard in a field in Silivri. Even the families of the accused are not allowed to attend and police are shooting teargas a the thousand-strong group of supporters and protesters trying to approach the building across the field.

 

Ergenekon verdict day. Martial Law measures against citizens who want to attend the Anti-coup trial…

Gendarme prevents buses…

Gendarme stands duty in the Silivri farms, in case, some attempt to enter Court premises.

Lawyers humiliated, searched intensively…

Silivri routes shut down ahead of Turkey’s coup trials

All highways and toll booths on way to Istanbul’s Silivri were shut down from the morning hours as part of security measures

Time for verdict arrives in Turkey’s major coup plot trial

The curtain is set to finally come down on Turkey’s most-important trial in recent memory, as judges are expected to give their verdict against 275 suspects in the five-year-long Ergenekon case today

Ergenekon verdict conditions ‘unseen under martial law,’ says former chief of general staff

Başbuğ said the verdict is likely to ‘disturb public conscience’

Ergenekon verdict predictable, Turkish Bar head says

The head of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB), Metin Feyzioğlu, said that it was more or less possible to predict the verdict of the Ergenekon case

Police disperse BDP rally in Turkey’s restive frontier town with tear gas and water cannon

Police quelled Peace and Democracy Party‘s demonstration in support of Syrian Kurds in the restive Turkish-Syrian border town of Ceylanpınar

Will the Ergenekon case close with a ruling?

One of Turkish history’s most important political court cases is expected to come to an end today, Aug. 5, at Istanbul’s 13th Criminal Court.

 

The Anti-Capitalist Muslims…. a social fabric roundup…

 

The anti-capitalist Muslims

Jul 18th 2013, 14:13 by

WITH his scruffy beard, baggy trousers, plastic slippers and prayer beads, Ihsan Eliacik seems the archetypal conservative Muslim. He is anything but that. At a gathering of anti-government protesters in Istanbul’s secular Besiktas neighbourhood he was applauded when he railed against Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after breaking the Ramadan fast, the Iftar (pictured), with a motley bunch of students, hippies and gays.

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Private museums flourishing in Turkey

Every year a total of 177 private museums in 37 Turkish provinces welcome millions of local and foreign visitors

The Gezi spirit and the forums

Gezi Resistance has raised awareness about the importance of public spaces and the need for democratic platforms of deliberation. The local park forums are open to everyone who wants to join, and the only rule is to be respectful to others’ cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientation.

Reframing the agents of resistance at Gezi Park

As the bearer of an underlying democratization process in Turkey with all its paradoxes, AKP still goes unchallenged insofar as the different groups of opposition who became visible in Gezi Park still cannot put forth convincing arguments to win the “50 per cent”.

Amasra’s old tower enters UNESCO’s temporary list

Amasra’s famous tower, dating back to the Ceneviz era, has entered UNESCO’s temporary world heritage list.

Turkish military court overrules decision to expel captain over ‘Game of Thrones’ screening

A military high court has overruled a decision given last August to expel Captain İskender Gülbahar for screening episodes of hit TV show Game of Thrones

 

Serhatcan Yurdam (@syurdam): Asker ölümleri devam ediyor: “İntihar, sinyallerini çok önceden vermişti”

Radikal gazetesinden İsmail Saymaz’ın haberine göre, Aydın, Söke‘de zorunlu askerlik görevini yapan Er Kayahan Y.’nin 10 Temmuz’da çarşı iznine çıktıktan sonra cesedi bir ağaçta asılı bulundu. Er Kayahan Y.’nin intihar edildiği zannediliyor.

Zorunlu askerlik sırasında ölen Er Kayahan Y.

via

Haberde de belirtildiği gibi, Er Kayahan Y’nin bağlı bulunduğu birlikle ilgilli askerhaklari.com ‘a çok sayıda şikayet ulaşmıştı.

askerhaklari.com’un Twitter hesabı @askerhaklari ‘ndan yapılan açıklamaya göre bu şikayetler Milli Savunma Bakanlığı (MSB)’ye iletildi. MSB yetkilileri bu ihbarı ciddiye aldı ve birliğe inceleme yapmak üzere hemen bir heyet gönderdi.

Ancak birlikten gelen şikayetler heyetin incelemelerinin ardından da devam etti.

askerhaklari.com, Er Kayahan Y.’nin ölümüyle ilgili şu yorumu yaptı:

“Aydın Söke’de yaşanan bu son intihar, sinyallerini çok önceden vermişti. Önlem alınamadı ya da alınan önlemler yeterli olmadı… Sorunun kaynağı ortada olduğunda bile mevcut mekanizmalarla telafisi olmayacak sonuçların doğması önlenemiyorsa başka bir akla ihtiyaç var.”

Verilen bilgiye göre son bir buçuk ayda en az 11 zorunlu asker intihar etti.

askerhaklari.com’un olayla ilgili attığı tweetler şöyle:

Son 1.5 ayda en az 11 zorunlu asker intihar etti…Bunlardan biri çok sayıda kötü muamele başvurusu aldığımız Söke’deki birlikte gerçekleşti

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013

Söke’deki askerler neler yaşadıklarını ve nasıl intiharın eşiğine geldiklerini bize aktarmış, biz de dilekçeyle MSB’ye iletmiştik…+

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013

 

MSB yetkilileri bu ihbarımızı ciddiye almış ve birliğe inceleme yapmak üzere hemen bir heyet göndermişti.

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013

Heyetin ziyaretinin ardından şikayetlerin devam etmesi üzerine bu durum Asker Hakları tarafından yeniden yetkililere iletildi…

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013

 

Dolayısıyla Aydın Söke’de yaşanan bu son intihar, sinyallerini çok önceden vermişti. Önlem alınamadı ya da alınan önlemler yeterli olmadı

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013

Aydın Söke’de yaşanan zorunlu asker intiharı ve askerleri intihara sürükleyen koşullar @ismailsaymaz ın haberinde: http://t.co/TbxKJv9x04

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013

 

Sorunun kaynağı ortada olduğunda bile mevcut mekanizmalarla telafisi olmayacak sonuçların doğması önlenemiyorsa başka bir akla ihtiyaç var.

— asker haklari (@askerhaklari) July 18, 2013