Do a quick search for mainstream news about Syria right now, and you’ll see lots of headlines about the ‘rebel’ gains in recent days. One BBC headline even said the “rebel offensive is astonishing”. But you’ll see little focus on the fact that these ‘rebels’ actually seem to be “an international jihadist force” in cahoots with NATO’s second-largest army. Nor are you likely to see news emphasising how extremist advances around the city of Aleppo have left 250,000 civilians facing “the threat of a massacre“.
Religious extremism, with the backing of a NATO superpower
Amid the anti-government uprising of 2011 in Syria, the country very quickly turned into a proxy war battleground. There were legitimate reasons for Syrian people to be angry at Bashar al-Assad’s regime, but other forces saw an opportunity they could exploit for their own reasons.
The US and Israel, for example, had long wanted to get rid of the Assad dynasty because of its consistentsupport for Palestinians. And religious extremists had long opposed its commitment to secularism. But it was clear from early on that extremists were the driving force of resistance to Assad.
Now, amid the biggest anti-Assad offensive in north-western Syria since 2020, this reality is clearer than ever. As Syria’s allies were focusing energy elsewhere, an al-Qaeda offshoot shattered the idea that the war was coming to a close.
The group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has a totalitarian stronghold in Idlib, and has spent years inserting itself into Turkish-occupied areas of north-west Syria too, sometimes “with tacit Turkish approval”. And NATO superpower Turkey, which has been adding to Syria’s suffering for years via its anti-Kurdish campaign of ethnic cleansing and illegal occupation in northern Syria, has joined in.
Turkey had previously displaced many of these refugees in its 2018 invasion of Afrin. Amid the new assault, Turkish proxies reportedly blocked attempts to create a humanitarian corridor for civilians, but Kurdish-led forces have been leading efforts to evacuate them successfully to safe areas. There are also reports of Turkey attacking the area.
The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) responded by saying:
The Turkish state is pursuing genocidal and racist ambitions to eliminate the Kurdish people and democratic governance in Syria
“A new form of ISIS terrorism” that’s a threat beyond Syria
The left-wing, Kurdish-led Rojava revolution emerged in northern Syria at the start of country’s conflict. Assad’s forces had retreated, and the local multi-ethnic (but largely-Kurdish) communities had to defend themselves from jihadist attacks.
The region’s self-defence forces defeated Daesh, despite Turkey putting up obstacles. Turkey had long repressed its own Kurdish population, so it couldn’t accept an independent Kurdish-led revolution on its border. It thus increased its efforts to suppress the movement at home and abroad. And in doing so, it committed numerous war crimes.
It sought to demonise its opponents by calling them terrorists, but the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has actually been the victim of a Turkish terror campaign that has caused a humanitarian crisis there.
AANES diplomat Ilham Ahmed has insisted that the current jihadist advances are more than just a proxy war. In particular, she worries about the “systematic targeting of diverse cities like Aleppo”.
The hostilities, she said, are putting “its rich social fabric and pluralistic identity” at risk, “endangering coexistence and the cultural mosaic of Syria’s most diverse city”. HTS has taken control of parts of Aleppo, but the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and AshrafiehIn are still resisting its siege.
The AANES has also sent a message to the world, stressing that the current jihadist-Turkish offensive:
represents a threat not only to Syria, but is a new form of ISIS terrorism that will have serious regional and global repercussions
The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) added:
Turkish-backed forces have launched attacks on Kurdish areas, including Shahba [Şehba] and Tel Rifaat, where many refugees from Afrin [Efrîn] are sheltering. People in these regions are under attack and face the threat of a massacre
Describing the HTS as “an international jihadist force” and the SNA as a Turkish operation, the KNK stressed that:
Their victory would transform Syria into a base for jihadist and Salafist forces, destabilising the region further… The success of HTS and the SNA would mean a scenario similar to the rise of ISIS, turning Syria into a hub for extremist forces
And while the US may have designated HTS a terrorist organisation, you don’t have to go far back to find it being in cahoots with the group, either. It is believed that HTS provided the US-led Coalition Against Daesh intelligence that led to the killing of two former al Qaeda leaders in an airstrike by the in Idleb province on 20 September 2021.
Global land systems manufacturer OTOKAR and ROMTEHNICA, as the representative of the Ministry of National Defense signed a 4.26 billion Romanian lei (approximately EUR-857 Million) multiannual contract to supply 1,059 COBRA II 4×4 armored vehicles to Romanian Ministry of Defense. Under the contract a large number of COBRA II 4×4 vehicles will be manufactured locally […]
Istanbul, November 27, 2024—Turkish authorities should stop treating journalists like terrorists by raiding their homes and detaining them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
“Turkish authorities once more raided the homes of multiple journalists in the middle of the night, in order to portray them as dangerous criminals, and detained them without offering any justification. CPJ has monitored similar secretive operations in the past decade, and not one journalist has been proven to be involved with actual terrorism,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “The authorities should immediately release the journalists in custody and stop this systematic harassment of the media.”
In a statement Tuesday, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said police had conducted simultaneous operations in 30 cities and detained a total of 261 people who suspected of having ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or alleged offshoot organizations. At least 12 journalists are reported to be held in custody:
The reasons for the detentions are unknown, as there is a court order of secrecy on the investigation, preventing the detainees and their lawyers from being informed of the investigation’s details and possible charges, a common practice in such crackdowns.
CPJ emailed Turkey’s Interior Ministry for comment but received no reply.
Separately, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), threatened the pro-opposition outlet Halk TV and its commentators for criticizing his party with a vow that the MHP will make them suffer.
“We are taking note, one by one, of the ignorant and arrogant commentators, especially Halk TV,” Bahçeli said Tuesday at a MHP meeting in Ankara. In October, he had told the outlet to “watch your step.”
Editor’s note: The alert was updated to correct the name of Ahmet Sümbül.
Under cover of Israel’s genocidal crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, Turkey has intensified its own efforts to force an entire population into submission in the last year. NATO’s second-largest army has been destroying civilian infrastructure in northern Syria in a campaign that has left over a million people with a severe water shortage. And as a new BBC investigation documents, this is likely a “severe violation of international law”.
There are a number of similarities between Turkey’s actions and Israel’s. The ethno-religious nationalist regimes in both countries, for example, have a record of ethnic cleansing and illegal occupation under their belts. And they both prefer to use their massive military machinery over diplomacy in efforts to defeat those who challenge their power.
Collective punishment of a civilian population. This time, in Syria.
Like Israel, Turkey has long subjugated a native population. And British colonialism played a role in setting things up there too. Around the First World War, the UK and France artificially divided the Middle East between themselves (and the emerging state of Turkey), leaving people like the Kurds stateless. Turkey has repressed its Kurdish population almost ever since.
A left-wing Kurdish-led revolution emerged in northern Syria at the start of the country’s civil war. And its fighters defeated Daesh (Isis/Isil) despite Turkey putting up obstacles. So Turkey stepped up its efforts to suppress the movement at home and abroad. As the Canaryreported in 2018, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal found that Turkey had committed numerous war crimes during this campaign.
Turkey, like Israel, seeks to demonise its opponents by calling them terrorists. Accordingly, autocratic Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan calls the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) a “terror state”. But in reality, it’s Turkey that’s been terrorising the AANES. And the BBC‘s latest investigation has used a variety of sources to confirm the scale of the damage Turkey has caused by attacking civilian infrastructure there. As it reported:
Turkish air strikes in drought-struck north-east Syria have cut off access to electricity and water for more than a million people, in what experts say may be a violation of international law.
Since Turkey illegally occupied parts of northern Syria in 2019, the key Alouk water station has been under the occupation’s control. Two years later, the UN criticised the regular interruption of the water supply to the people of the AANES. This combined with a severe drought to worsen conditions in the region. Then, in October 2023, Turkey’s foreign minister insisted that “infrastructure, superstructure and energy facilities” in the hands of progressive Kurdish forces would be “legitimate targets” for attacks. Accordingly, Turkish planes targeted electricity infrastructure, which cut the power supply to Alouk. It has been out of action since then.
Another Western ally committing war crimes against a civilian population with impunity
If the Gaza genocide has taught the world anything, it’s that Western allies can commit war crimes with impunity. And that’s precisely the case with Turkey. Because just as international opposition has been unable to stop Israel or hold it to account, it has been equally impotent at stopping Turkey’s crimes.
As the BBCreports, “Turkey carried out more than 100 attacks between October 2019 and January 2024 on oil fields, gas facilities and power stations” in AANES. The investigation includes comments from legal experts. For example, a February 2024 UN commission said Turkey’s infrastructure attacks “could amount to war crimes because they deprived civilians of access to water”. Barrister Aarif Abraham, meanwhile, suggested Turkey’s campaign “could constitute a severe violation of international law”. And lawyer Patrick Kroker stressed that “the indications that international law was violated here are so strong that they should be investigated by a prosecutorial authority”.
Turkey is ‘using the water crisis just like a military campaign’
The water board co-director of the city of Al-Hasakah told the BBC “north-east Syria is facing a humanitarian catastrophe”. At the start of the BBC‘s documentary, a man says [1:48] “we’re dying here without water”. Towards the end, meanwhile, a woman says Turkey is “slowly killing people by cutting off the water”.
Things have deteriorated significantly as a result of the cutting of Alouk water station. Tankers bringing water in from elsewhere are an expensive, temporary, and insufficient solution. Well owners say that the water levels are down 80% from last year. And there are scenes and words of desperation from the struggling inhabitants of the region.
Near the end of the documentary, a local woman explains that Turkey’s attack “was on the civilian population”. She adds:
Turkey wants to put pressure on the local authorities, to provoke people, get them on the streets protesting. Turkey is using these tactics against us. They use the water situation against us, just like the military campaign.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined six other press freedom and free-speech advocacy organizations in a Wednesday, November 13, statement asking Turkish authorities to release recently arrested journalist Furkan Karabay.
Karabay, a reporter with the independent news site 10Haber, was detained on November 8 during a police raid in Istanbul and jailed by a court November 9 pending trial. A court document seen by Reuters said that the allegations against Karabay related to his social media posts on X, where he named the prosecutors investigating an opposition mayor.
“Karabay’s arrest is the latest example of the increasing criminalization of reporting on the judiciary,” the statement said. “These actions against journalists who are simply fulfilling their duty to inform the public are not only a violation of the public’s right to access information but also a breach of freedom of expression and press freedom, which are protected under the constitution and international agreements, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), to which Turkey is a signatory.”
HAVELSAN continues to deliver innovative solutions for modern battlefields with the ADVENT Combat Management System (CMS), reinforcing its position as a global leader in naval defense technologies. Playing a significant role in Türkiye’s Blue Homeland defense strategy, ADVENT is not just a combat management system but also a comprehensive network-supported solution that enhances the operational […]
Indonesian state-owned company PT Pindad – a key member of the DefendID defence industry consortium – has partnered with Türkiye military vehicles specialist FNSS to collaborate on the development and production of a new tracked armoured personnel carrier (APC) for the Indonesian Army (TNI-AD). The proposed new 30 tonne vehicle is named the Kaplan APC […]
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 63 press freedom and human rights organizations, media outlets, and NGOs in an October 18 joint statement condemning Turkey’s media regulator RTÜK for canceling independent Açık Radyo‘s (The Open Radio) broadcast license as an act of censorship.
In May, RTÜK fined and issued a gag order after the outlet mentioned the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule in 1915, which Turkey refuses to recognize as genocide as the successor of the Ottoman Empire. RTÜK canceled the outlet’s license in early July when the outlet continued to broadcast. The matter went to court while the outlet remained on air, but Açık Radyo announced the final cancellation in an October 11 statement.
“The decision by Turkey’s broadcast regulator to revoke Açık Radyo’s license has significant implications for media freedom and public access to information,” the Friday statement said. The signatories asked RTÜK to restore Açık Radyo’s broadcasting license and “cease its censorship of critical and independent outlets.”
Istanbul, October 16, 2024—CPJ expressed deep concern after a recently released recording of an August 15 press conference included comments from Tatvan Mayor Mümin Erol, in which Erol told reporters that he would attack journalist Sinan Aygül if he could and congratulated the former mayor’s bodyguards, who attacked and hospitalized the journalist in June 2023.
“Unfortunately, the change of power in the local government of Tatvan did not favor journalist Sinan Aygül, who was prosecuted and assaulted because of his reporting during the former mayor’s administration. Now, the current mayor has threatened him,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Mayor Mümin Erol should publicly apologize for his violent comments about Aygül, and local authorities must ensure Aygül’s safety. Politicians should always refrain from threatening journalists, an action for which there can never be an excuse or reasoning.”
Erol, a member of the pro-Kurdish DEM party, was elected mayor of Tatvan, a city in the eastern province of Bitlis, in March, beating a candidate from the leading Justice and Development Party (AKP). “Sinan will know his place,” Erol said in the recording. “We will teach him his lesson.”
Aygül, who was not present at the August 15 press conference, told CPJ he believes the reason for the threat was his reporting on three expensive cell phones that were allegedly bought for the mayor and his aides. Aygül, who is also the chair of the local trade group Bitlis Journalists Society, said he would soon file a criminal complaint.
A representative of Tatvan city’s press desk told CPJ by phone that they would not comment on the recording.
Aygül was found guilty of “insulting” the bodyguards who attacked him in January 2024 and was later charged with “threatening” his attackers. Aygül told CPJ that while he was separately acquitted of these charges, prosecutors have appealed.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing a sweeping indictment on federal corruption charges accusing him of taking bribes, committing fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. The charges, which involve a long-running conspiracy with Turkish officials, allege that Adams accepted lavish gifts and campaign contributions in exchange for political favors…
On Thursday, federal prosecutors announced they are charging New York City Mayor Eric Adams for a bribery and wire fraud scheme spanning nearly a decade. Adams allegedly accepted illegal campaign contributions from corporations and foreign donors, including the Turkish government. Adams is accused of manipulating regulators for the Turkish Consulate and not recognizing the Armenian genocide in…
Istanbul, September 23, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Turkish authorities on Monday to drop the disinformation investigation into Rabia Önver, a reporter for the pro-Kurdish news website JİNNEWS, and stop using house raids to harass journalists.
“The police raid of JİNNEWS reporter Rabia Önver’s house was completely unjustified for an alleged disinformation investigation and is yet another example of the tactics frequently used in Turkey to intimidate journalists,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should drop the investigation into Önver’s work, stop harassing journalists with house raids, and allow the media to report without worrying about retaliation.”
On September 20, police in the southeastern city of Hakkari raidedÖnver’s house.
The police had a prosecutor’s order to take the journalist into custody, but the warrant was discontinued after they did not find her at home, Önver’s lawyer Azad Özer told CPJ on Monday. The lawyer also confirmed that Önver was being investigated for “publicly spreading disinformation” due to her reporting on alleged corruption by some authorities involved in a possible narcotics trafficking and prostitution crime ring.
CPJ emailed the Hakkari chief prosecutor’s office for comment but received no immediate reply.
Turkey announced on Thursday that it has opened an investigation into Israel’s killing of Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi and will be seeking arrest warrants in relation to her death. Eygi “was deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli soldiers during a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. “We will make every effort to…
New York, September 12, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Turkey’s July 25 denial of entry to Ruslan Myatiev, director and chief editor of Turkmen.news, a Netherlands-based independent Turkmen news website.
“Journalist Ruslan Myatiev’s account that Turkey acceded to Turkmenistan’s request to ban him is a startling suggestion of Turkey’s complicity in transnational repression with one of the world’s worst press freedom violators,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Turkish authorities should revoke the travel ban against Myatiev, and Turkmenistan must stop retaliating against exile-based journalists.”
When Myatiev arrived with his family at Antalya airport in southern Turkey for a holiday, police denied him entrance to the country, citing an entry ban. Myatiev told CPJ that he had not been officially provided with further information, but that he overheard law enforcement officers telling each other the ban was classified under code G-82 — which pertains to “activity against state security” — and had been requested by Turkmenistan. Officers detained Myatiev for four hours and questioned him about his work and travel before escorting him onto a flight back to the Netherlands.
Turkmen.news is among a small number of exile-based independent media reporting on Turkmenistan, which has one of the most repressive media environments in the world. The news website has repeatedlybeen targeted by cyberattacks in recent years, and Turkmen.news correspondent Nurgeldi Halykov recently completed a four-year prison sentence in retaliation for his reporting.
Myatiev told CPJ that cooperation between Turkish and Turkmen law enforcement has significantly increased since protests by Turkmen labor migrants in Turkey in 2020, leading Turkmen journalists working in Turkey to feel insecure.
CPJ’s emails requesting comment from the Communications Directorate of the Presidency and the Interior Ministry of Turkey, and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan did not receive any replies.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 22 press freedom and freedom of expression groups on Wednesday in a joint statement calling on the authorities in Turkey to ensure that journalist Murat Ağırel, who has been receiving death threats because of his reporting, remains safe.
The statement listed a number of incidents in which Ağırel, a columnist for the pro-opposition daily Cumhuriyet, has been threatened or harassed since late 2023 over his reporting on allegations of drug trafficking, money laundering, sports betting fraud, and the highly publicized murder trial of Sinan Ateş, the former chair of the far right group the Gray Wolves, which is the youth branch of the government-allied Nationalist Movement Party.
“We are profoundly alarmed by the relentless death threats and the escalating harassment aimed not only at Murat Ağırel, but also at his family. These brazen acts of intimidation are a stark reminder of the perilous environment in which independent journalists in Turkey must operate,” the statement said.
Journalist Rêbîn Bekir was driving near the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq on the morning of August 23, when a rocket slammed into his car. The vehicle immediately burst into flames. Bekir was lucky. He was thrown from the car by the explosion and survived with injuries. But Bekir’s colleagues, Gülistan Tara and Hêro Bahadîn, died instantly, their bodies burned beyond…
Mehmet Onat Sarıtaş, UN Volunteer with UNICEF in Türkiye supports the design and implementation of climate change-related programmes.
Diana Assenova, Mehmet Onat Sarıtaş and Madinabonu Salaidinova have one thing in common — They are young volunteers who believe that progress cannot be made without youth. Let’s hear from them in their own words.
“By investing in education, building the capacity of community members, and fostering global citizenship, young people play a crucial role in creating a better future that is inclusive, equitable, and sustainable for generations to come.” The words of Diana Assenova, a UN Volunteer Education Assistant with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Kazakhstan resonate with the importance of youth and progress.
Diana focuses on the rights of youth refugees by making sure they have equal access to education. She coordinates the DAFI Scholarship Programme, through which, young refugees get education support. She encourages many more opportunities for education for refugee youth in Kazakhstan via awareness and advocacy campaigns.
The enthusiasm of youth propels her efforts — she recounts how she volunteered to organize a summer camp for teenagers from the displaced population.
The energy of working together with young people was unforgettable! This reaffirmed my dedication to making a positive impact through volunteerism.” Diana Assenova, UN Volunteer with UNHCR Kazakhstan
Another young and skilled UN Volunteer is Mehmet Onat Sarıtaş who serves with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Türkiye as an Adolescent Development and Participation Assistant. Onat is witness to the disproportionate impact of climate change on the lives of children and adolescents in Türkiye and that is when he decided to volunteer. He values collective volunteer action to create a greener world for children.
Onat supports the design and implementation of environment-related projects. He also coordinates UNICEF’s climate-focused youth platforms, performs administrative tasks and collects data.
Youth platforms give Onat the opportunity for peer-to-peer support and technical assistance to young people. This close communication and learning has helped strengthen UNICEF’s relations with young people, he notes.
Next, we have the voice of UN Volunteer, Madinabonu Salaidinova, “I focus on increasing the engagement of young leaders from the south of Kyrgyzstan in civic activism and strengthening their potential to promote human rights.”
Madinabonu serves as a Legal and Monitoring Volunteer with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan.
She monitors media channels, observes trials, and engages with the government and civil society partners, including human rights defenders. She also responds to individual complaints of alleged human rights violations submitted to OHCHR from five Central Asian countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Including youth in decision-making is crucial, says Madinabonu. She feels that her voice is heard and appreciated. This gives her momentum to bring her ideas to fruition.
I appreciate that OHCHR gives me opportunities to integrate my interests and ideas into my work. I feel that I’m where I’m supposed to be right now.” Madinabonu Salaidinova, UN Volunteer with OHCHR Kyrgyzstan.
The chief of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) has asserted that the service will acquire Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 medium altitude-long endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (MALE UAVs) to boost the Southeast Asian country’s air defence capabilities. Air Chief Marshal Mohammad Tonny Harjono told local media that the service will acquire an undisclosed number of TB2 UAVs […]
The Malaysian government’s budgeting process still does not give its armed forces a clear vision of what procurement to expect, and when. In contrast to its neighbours in South East Asia, progress in Malaysia’s defence has been limited since 2018 due to a combination of various factors. The main factor has always been fiscal limitation […]
The Philippine Air Force (PAF) has taken delivery of all six of its Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) T-129B ATAK helicopters on 17 May, the service announced on its social media account. The helicopters are assigned to the PAF’s15th Strike Wing and will be used to conduct a variety of missions, including aerial surveillance and reconnaissance, […]
Turkey’s global land systems manufacturer Otokar, continues to exhibit its products and capabilities around the world. Otokar participates in DSA 2024 between May 06-09, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During the four – day exhibition, Otokar will display its worldwide known vehicles COBRA II and AKREP II. Otokar continues to showcase its products and capabilities […]
Nurol Makina will participate in DSA & NATSEC 2024, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, from May 6th to 9th, 2024. Located at booth number H8-8950 of the exhibition, Nurol Makina will collaborate with the NADICORP company to showcase the latest defense vehicles and solutions to Malaysian officials, defense industry […]
Authoritarian governments are extending their pursuit of critics far beyond their borders
Forty-five years ago, the Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was killed in London with a poison-tipped umbrella as he made his way home from work. The horrifying case transfixed the British public.
So transnational repression is not new, including on British shores. But unless its target is unusually high-profile, or it uses startling tactics such as those employed by Markov’s killers – or in the attempt to assassinate Sergei Skripal – much of it passes with minimal attention.
Israel’s aspirations to become the region’s transportation hub have taken a hit. The maritime and land blockade against Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza is working, as one of Israel’s main plans for a prospective “land bridge” connecting the Gulf countries with Israel and Europe has suffered an irrevocable setback. The Israel-centered India Middle East Europe Economic Corridors project (IMEC)…
Istanbul, May 2, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to refrain from targeting media workers present during demonstrations, ensure journalists can continue to report on matters of public interest safely, and hold those responsible for attacks to account.
Amid bans on May Day celebrations, Istanbul police blocked a route in Istanbul’s Saraçhane district that leads to Taksim Square, deployed tear gas, fired rubber bullets, and detained hundreds of protesters participating in a march to the square and other locations, according to newsreports. Journalists at the march site were also manhandled, subjected to tear gas, and police shot at least two reporters with rubber bullets in separate incidents.
“Police are legally obligated to protect field reporters, not obstruct them from performing their duty, but Turkish police routinely do the opposite. On May 1, police again used excessive measures against reporters, including brute force, tear gas, and rubber bullets,” Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative, said on Thursday. “Turkish authorities should stop these press freedom violations, investigate the May Day incidents, and hold those responsible to account.”
Fatoş Erdoğan, a reporter for critical outlet Dokuz8 Haber, told CPJ via messaging app that police shot her in the leg with a rubber bullet on the Saraçhane district road to Taksim Square, where authorities formed a blockade at the Valens Aqueducts, seen in a photo posted on X, formerly Twitter, by journalist Umut Taştan.
“We were [filming] with our eyes closed at the time due to [the police] spraying [tear] gas. I don’t know in this case if I was targeted with the bullet,” said Erdoğan, who was later forcibly removed from the yard of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality by the police, as captured on video. Erdoğan told CPJ that she would not be filing criminal complaints regarding the events of May 1, but she had made three previous complaints over similar incidents with law enforcement.
Taştan, a reporter for the critical outlet KRT TV, was shot in the foot with a rubber bullet at the police blockade in Saraçhane district, according to the nonprofit Media and Law Studies Association. CPJ was unable to reach Taştan for comment. The journalist last month also reported being hit with rubber bullets by the police in the eastern city of Van.
Police in the Beşiktaş district obstructed members of the media as officers took people into custody. A reporter for the critical Sözcü TV said in a live broadcast that she heard one police officer commanding others to “sweep the press.”
Celebrations in Istanbul’s Taksim Square have been historically significant for the leftists in Turkey, especially since the massacre of 1977, when unidentified people shot at the crowd, causing a panic which resulted in at least 34 dead and 136 wounded.
May Day gatherings were banned in Taksim Square following a military coup in 1980. In 2010, the ruling Justice and Development Party allowed Turks to celebrate May Day in the square for the first time in 30 years but then reinstated the ban in 2013. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has not allowed the public into Taksim Square on May 1 since then.
On Tuesday, Erdoğan said that Taksim Square was not a suitable location for political rallies and authorities would not allow “terrorist organizations” to exploit the opportunity for propaganda purposes. The human rights group Amnesty International criticized the ban as unlawful and Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled that it violated the right to assembly.
CPJ emailed Turkey’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, for comment but did not receive a reply.
Istanbul, April 29, 2024—Turkish authorities should release reporters Esra Solin Dal, Mehmet Aslan, and Erdoğan Alayumat and end the systematic harassment of Kurdish journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
On April 23, Turkish authorities took nine people, who local media reported were all Kurdish journalists and media workers, into police custody after conducting house raids in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul, the capital Ankara, and the southeastern city of Şanlıurfa, according to newsreports. Police questioned the journalists about their reporting and their news sources, according to newsreports.
The detainees were denied access to their lawyers until the following day, according to a report by the Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA), a local press freedom group. Their lawyers were also not informed of the accusations against their clients due to a court order of secrecy on the investigation, according to the report.
Istanbul prosecutors transferredDal and Aslan, who work for the Mezopotamya News Agency (MA), as well as Alayumat, a former MA report, to a court, asking for their arrests.
In the early hours of April 27, an Istanbul courtarrested Dal, Aslan, and Alayumat, pending trial on suspicion of terrorist activity.
Dal was strip searched as she was processed at the Bakırköy Women’s Prison in Istanbul and will file a criminal complaint via her lawyers, reportssaid.
The other six detainees were released under judicial control, including Doğan Kaynak, another former reporter for MA, and Enes Sezgin Özgür and Şirin Ermiş, who are both media workers for the daily Yeni Yaşam newspaper in Istanbul.
CPJ could not confirm the identities of Saliha Aras, Yeşim Alıcı, and Beste Argat Balcı, who were mentioned only as “journalist,” “a worker of the Free Press,” and “media worker,” respectively, in the reports.
Judicial control involves the obligation to report regularly to a police station and a ban on foreign travel.
“Turkish authorities continue to harass members of the media with mass raids and consistently fail to provide credible evidence to back up their accusations of terrorism against them. The only secret that the courts are hiding with their orders of secrecy surrounding their investigations is their lack of proof of any wrongdoing. Once more, Kurdish journalists are being forced to spend days in jail being questioned about their professional activities,” said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Turkish authorities should immediately release Esra Solin Dal, Mehmet Aslan, and Erdoğan Alayumat, overturn the judicial control measures issued against other journalists and media workers who were swept up in the raid, and stop this harassment, which only tarnishes Turkey’s global reputation in terms of press freedom.”
On 1 April 2024, Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA is a human rights organization committed to protecting freedom of expression, press freedom, the right to assemble and protest, and access to information in Turkey. It serves as a vital platform where journalism and legal expertise merge to safeguard these freedoms, particularly for journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders facing increasing challenges). SEMRA PELEK wrote about Mine Özerden, a human rights defender now detained for 700 days. The detailed statement if woth reading in full:
From Mine Özerden’s standpoint, the Gezi Trial began with an unsubstantiated criminal complaint. Despite efforts, no informant was identified. Tax inspectors investigated the allegations but couldn’t confirm them. The court ruled the phone taps used as evidence were illegal. Nonetheless, Özerden was sentenced to 18 years and has been in prison for nearly two years.
“I’ve said this repeatedly, and I’ll say it again: I still can’t comprehend why I’m here, and there hasn’t been anyone who could logically explain it to me yet.”
With these words, Mine Özerden began her defense during the session of the Gezi Trial held at the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court on October 8, 2021. She posed the same question during her defense at the session held on January 17, 2022. Özerden has been asking the same question at every hearing since the initial session of the Gezi Trial on June 25, 2019. However, in the years that have passed, she has received no answer to her question throughout the entire legal process.
Mine Özerden’s lawyer requested an explanation from the prosecutor through the court regarding this matter. However, the court rejected the request: “The request for a statement from the Public Prosecutor regarding which acts and crimes are being attributed to the defendant Mine Özerden by the defense attorney has been rejected…”
The court failed to provide any justification or further clarification of the rejection. However, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, every defendant has the right to effectively present their defense, and the right to “be informed.” This means that prosecutors and courts are obligated to inform the defendant of the accusations against them to ensure a fair trial. The laws clearly state this right, however, Mine Özerden was not granted this right throughout the entire trial, and the judiciary system did not provide any logical explanation for this.
Let’s ask a question of our own here: Is there no answer to Ozerden’s question in the 657-page indictment written by the prosecution, which led to Osman Kavala’s aggravated life sentence and the 18-year sentences that Mine Özerden, Çiğdem Mater, Tayfun Kahraman, and Can Atalay have been given in the Gezi Trials? They are currently convicted of serious charges such as “attempting to overthrow the Republic of Turkey by force and violence” and “aiding this attempt,” which means the higher Court of Cassation also signed off on the decision. In the document of approval released by the Court of Cassation, is there any answer to the aforementioned question? No, there isn’t!
Scrutinizing the Gezi Trial files, one question remains: Why is Mine Özerden in prison?
And you can’t find the answer to that question. After poring over the files line by line, one can’t help but be reminded of Kafka’s novel, The Trial. So much so that you could replace the protagonist Josef K.’s name with Mine Özerden’s: “Somebody must have made a false accusation against Mine Özerden, for she was arrested one morning without having done anything wrong.”
This is exactly how the Gezi Trial, which today stands like a specter against the freedom of expression and assembly not only of the defendants but of the whole society, began for Mine Özerden.
Let’s start from the beginning: On September 26, 2013, a “criminal complaint” was sent via email to the Istanbul Communication Electronics Branch Directorate. According to the indictment, the person, who didn’t provide their name in “criminal complaint number 11167,” claimed to have “important information regarding the Gezi protests” and alleged that “before the protests began in Taksim, Mine Özerden opened bank accounts for several individuals under the direction of Osman Kavala from the Open Society Foundation.” According to the informant’s claim, the money collected in these accounts was intended to purchase “gas masks, bandages, and goggles,” which would then be “distributed to protesters.”
In the thousands of pages of the Gezi Trial file, this is the sole allegation concerning Mine Özerden.
Following up on this allegation requires due diligence in seeking the facts. Unlike Kafka’s novel, Özerden’s experiences are not allegorical but real; she has been held in Bakırköy Women’s Prison for nearly two years due to this unsubstantiated criminal complaint.
In the indictment, the prosecutor – after quoting the informant’s claim in quotation marks and bold black letters – immediately indicates in the next sentence that they “could not locate the informant”: “Upon the instruction of our Republic Prosecutor’s Office, an investigation was conducted into the IP address to obtain a detailed statement from the informant, however, no identification was made.”
In other words, the informant could not be found. So, were the bank accounts alleged by the informant opened?
No!
That, in fact, is the following sentence, where the prosecutor offers his admission that the informant could not be found. In the indictment, Istanbul Foundation’s 1st Regional Directorate’s investigation of the accounts of the Open Society Foundation, eventually preparing a report on this inquiry, but the report clearly stated that “no determination could be made regarding these allegations.”
In other words, the claim of an unidentified informant could not be substantiated.
On April 22, 2022 Mine Özerden’s lawyer submitted Tax documents, which proved that the informant’s claim was false to the file.
The court dismissed the Tax Inspectorate report and did not consider it as evidence.
Fact Two: No bank accounts opened; no purchase was made
Typically (in any rule-of-law state), when an informant cannot be found and an unsubstantiated criminal complaint is involved, the case is closed with a verdict of non-prosecution.
Moreover, according to the established jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation, evaluating a purely unsubstantiated complaint on its own is also unlawful. Thus, this jurisprudence also warranted closing the case at this stage. The law is clear: you cannot prosecute anyone with a non-existent crime and an unsubstantiated allegation.
However, instead of closing the file at this point, the prosecutor opened another investigation completely unrelated to the Gezi inquiry. Mine Özerden was incidentally wiretapped within the scope of this investigation. It wasn’t until much later, when the Gezi Trial indictment was prepared, that the fact Özerden had been coincidentally wiretapped in this investigation emerged. When her lawyer officially questioned this, it was revealed that Özerden had never been a suspect in this investigation. Furthermore, there was no wiretap order issued against her in this investigation. Her lawyer had requested wiretap orders from the court, neither the police nor the prosecution had submitted these orders to the file.
In one of these coincidental wiretaps included in the Gezi Trial indictment despite having no relevance to the Gezi investigation, Mine Özerden had a conversation with Osman Kavala on May 30, 2013. In this conversation, Mine Özerden mentioned to Osman Kavala that she had received “some offers.” Someone suggested, “Let’s buy gas masks and distribute them to the youth.” The conversation continued with discussions on how this could be done, such as “maybe opening a bank account.” It was nothing more than an exchange of ideas, with the conversation ending with the suggestion, “One of the volunteers could probably do that.”
The claim of the unidentified informant was based on this conversation. Özerden, who was coincidentally wiretapped in an investigation, where she was not a suspect, was accused on the basis of this wiretap turned into a criminal complaint. Özerden’s lawyer requested the full resolution of this wiretap. However, neither the complete resolutions of wiretaps nor the wiretap recordings were found by the prosecution and were never submitted to the file.
The conversation between Mine Özerden and Osman Kavala remained at the level of ideas because the content of the conversation was not substantiated during the investigation and trial process. No bank account was found to have been opened. Something that doesn’t exist can’t be found in the first place.
There is no evidence in the file that gas masks, bandages, or goggles were purchased. Not a single invoice exists, nor is there any evidence anywhere that these items were found.
So, suppose even one piece of evidence existed in the file – for example, if a bank account had been opened or if an invoice for goggles had been found – what would happen? Opening a bank account and buying gas masks, bandages, or goggles is not a crime under any law. Therefore, Özerden’s lawyer brought goggles, gas masks, and bandages to the trial and asked the panel, “Is acquiring these items a crime?”
Fact Three: No Press Statements or Meetings were Found to Constitute a Crime or Incitement to Commit a Crime
Despite the lack of concrete evidence, the indictment directed the accusation of “aiding an attempt to overthrow the Government of the Republic of Turkey by force and violence” against Mine Özerden. To strengthen such a serious accusation, the prosecutor highlighted Özerden’s voluntary coordination of the Taksim Platform and her continued membership in the board of directors of Anadolu Kültür, where she had worked years ago.
The Taksim Platform was established as a peaceful dialogue platform, holding weekly exchange of ideas meetings, and organizing art events. Although the activities of the platform fell within the scope of freedom of assembly and expression, it was criminalized in the indictment, yet no crime associated with the platform can be found.
Not a single press statement by the platform was included in the indictment. There was not any piece of evidence regarding which press statement or meeting of the platform, on which date, would constitute a crime according to the law. There was also no evidence that any post or statement released by the Taksim Platform could constitute a crime or incitement to violence in the indictment or the file.
The rationale behind the establishment of the Taksim Platform and all updates, statements and press releases ever released by the platform is still accessible today on the website taksimplatformu.com. So, if there had been even the slightest evidence that Taksim Platform was inciting violence, it would be easy for the prosecution to find and include in the indictment.
Moreover, the accusations against Özerden based on her membership in the board of directors of Anadolu Kültür were already refuted explicitly by the Tax Inspectorate report.
Fact four: Özerden was not in Istanbul during the Gezi protests.
It gets even stranger from here. In the indictment, Özerden is accused of organizing meetings of the Taksim Platform in Istanbul during the Gezi protests, attending the platform’s meetings, and even participating in violent actions in Gezi Park.
But the problem here is this: Mine Özerden was not in Istanbul during the Gezi protests.
The Gezi protests began on May 31, 2013. However, Özerden was working at a language school in Fethiye from June 1 to July 31, 2013. Furthermore, not a single video, photograph, or technical surveillance recorded by the police indicating Özerden’s presence in Istanbul during that period has been included in the case file.
However, official Social Security Institution (SGK) records proving Özerden’s presence in Fethiye during that period were submitted to the court. But neither the prosecutor during the investigation process nor the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court during the trial took this into account. The Court of Cassation 3rd Criminal Chamber, which upheld the 18-year prison sentence, also did not. .
Even if it were the opposite, if Mine Özerden were in Istanbul during that time, it still wouldn’t prove anything. Being in Istanbul during the Gezi protests, organizing a meeting, or attending one is not a crime. On the contrary, the right to assembly and freedom of expression are protected by the Constitution.
Fact Five: Wiretapping is Illegal
So, what was written about Mine Özerden on all those pages in the indictment whenthere was no concrete evidence of a crime against her?
The indictment merely contains pages of phone conversations between Özerden and her friends! These conversations delve into personal matters, discussing, for instance, the exhaustion of life and the beauty of getting away from some stressors of life. In one conversation, for instance, Mine Özerden advises a friend to attend a conference in Istanbul where world-renowned philosophers Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou are speakers. The conference, titled ‘Globalization and the New Left,’ was organized by Bakırköy Municipality and MonoKL publications. However, this advice was included in the indictment as if it were a crime.
Similarly, Özerden’s response of “enjoy the beautiful weather, how lovely” to a friend saying “the weather was even better two or three days ago” is also included in the indictment as part of these casual conversations. None of the phone taps contain any reference to the organization of the Gezi protests. Instead, they clutter the file. Moreover, these wiretaps are illegal!
The Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court, which handled the case, determined that the wiretaps were illegal. In its decision dated February 18, 2020, acquitting 16 defendants in the Gezi trial, including Osman Kavala, Mücella Yapıcı, Can Atalay, Yiğit Aksakoğlu, Tayfun Kahraman, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, Yiğit Ekmekçi, and Ali Hakan Altınay, the court made the following legal assessment:
“We have 53 wiretap orders in our file. It is understood that the first wiretap order was issued for the offense of ‘forming and leading a criminal organization,’ not for the offense of ‘crimes against the government.’ Later, it was observed that Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (crimes against the government) was added to the requests and decisions for extending the wiretapping. However, Article 312 was not among the crimes subject to legal wiretapping as listed in Article 135/8 of the Criminal Procedure Code at that time. There is no wiretap order issued after that date. Therefore, it is accepted that the wiretap recordings are in violation of the law and are illegal evidence, considering the established precedents of the Court of Cassation and the principle that ‘the fruit of the poisonous tree is also poisonous.’ Hence, the wiretaps included in the indictment are considered as prohibited evidence.”
In other words, all phone conversations used as evidence against Mine Özerden, along with other defendants, were the fruits of the poisonous tree. In summary, the real crime was the wiretapping of phones.
But as if that weren’t enough, a new term called ‘revaluation’ was coined to justify the inclusion of wiretap recordings in the indictment. The indictment stated that “the revaluation of all evidence concerning the investigation, especially the wiretaps, was ordered.” However, there is no procedure called ‘revaluation’ in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Mine Özerden asks: “Isn’t this openly insulting to use the word ‘revaluation’?”
They Were Convicted with the “Poisonous Fruit of the Poisonous Tree”
Ultimately, the acquittal verdicts were overturned. Despite no additional evidence being presented to substantiate the allegations, the convictions handed down by the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court on April 25, 2022, against Osman Kavala, Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, and Tayfun Kahraman were upheld by the Court of Cassation’s 3rd Criminal Chamber.
Osman Kavala, who was sentenced to an aggravated life sentence for the allegation of “attempting to overthrow the Government of the Republic of Turkey,” has been in prison for over six years. Can Atalay, Çiğdem Mater, Mine Özerden, and Tayfun Kahraman, who were each sentenced to 18 years in prison for “aiding this attempt,” have been deprived of their freedom for 700 days.
Responding to our questions from prison, Mine Özerden made the following comment regarding the entire legal process:
“Not only do the institutions and decision-makers of the country I am a citizen of fail to protect our rights, but they also increasingly violate our fundamental, constitutional, and legal rights more and more everyday. For nearly two years, we have been deprived of our physical freedom without reason, evidence, or truth…
I find myself involuntarily caught in a senseless quarrel of irrationality and illogic. We are continuously instrumentalized by different political segments with various affiliations. My wish is for people from all walks of life to stand up against injustice and for a collective will demanding basic human rights to emerge.”
Mine Özerden still awaits a logical explanation as to why she is being tried, why she is being punished, and why she has been held at Bakırköy Women’s Prison for years.
Instead of explaining, the judiciary merely extends to her the poisonous fruit of a poisonous tree.
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WASHINGTON — In a high-profile televised address, U.S. President Joe Biden ripped his likely Republican challenger Donald Trump for “bowing down” to Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged Congress to pass aid for Ukraine, warning that democracy around the world was under threat.
In the annual State of the Union address, Biden came out swinging from the get-go against Putin and Trump — whom he called “my predecessor” without mentioning him by name — and on behalf of Ukraine, as he sought to win over undecided voters ahead of November’s election.
The March 7 address to a joint session of Congress this year carried greater significance for the 81-year-old Biden as he faces a tough reelection in November, mostly likely against Trump. The president, who is dogged by questions about his physical and mental fitness for the job, showed a more feisty side during his hourlong speech, drawing a sharp contrast between himself and Trump on a host of key foreign and domestic issues.
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Biden denounced Trump for recent remarks about NATO, the U.S.-led defense alliance that will mark its 75th anniversary this year, and compared him unfavorably to former Republican President Ronald Reagan.
“Bowing down to a Russian leader, it is outrageous, dangerous, and unacceptable,” Biden said, referring to Trump, as he recalled how Reagan — who is fondly remembered by older Republicans — stood up to the Kremlin during the Cold War.
At a campaign rally last month, Trump said that while serving in office he warned a NATO ally he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to alliance members who are “delinquent” in meeting defense-spending goals.
The remark raised fears that Trump could try to pull the United States out of NATO should he win the election in November.
Biden described NATO as “stronger than ever” as he recognized Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in the audience. Earlier in the day, Sweden officially became the 32nd member of NATO, ending 200 years of nonalignment. Sweden applied to join the defense alliance after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Finland became a NATO member last year.
Biden called on Congress to pass a Ukraine aid bill to help the country fend off a two-year-old Russian invasion. He warned that should Russia win, Putin will not stop at Ukraine’s border with NATO.
A group of right-wing Republicans in the House of Representatives have for months been holding up a bill that would allocate some $60 billion in critical military, economic, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as it defends its territory from Russian invaders.
The gridlock in Washington has starved Ukrainian forces of U.S. ammunition and weapons, allowing Russia to regain the initiative in the war. Russia last month seized the eastern city of Avdiyivka, its first victory in more than a year.
“Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself,” Biden said.
“My message to President Putin…is simple. We will not walk away. We will not bow down. I will not bow down,” Biden said.
Trump, who has expressed admiration for Putin, has questioned U.S. aid to Ukraine, though he recently supported the idea of loans to the country.
Biden also criticized Trump for the former president’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, saying those efforts had posed a grave threat to democracy at home.
“You can’t love your country only when you win,” he said, referring not just to Trump but Republicans in Congress who back the former president’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged.
Biden “really strove to distinguish his policies from those of Donald Trump,” said Kathryn Stoner, a political-science professor at Stanford University and director of its Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
By referencing Reagan, Biden was seeking “to appeal to moderate Republicans and independents to remind them that this is what your party was — standing up to Russia,” she told RFE/RL.
The State of the Union address may be the biggest opportunity Biden has to reach American voters before the election. More than 27 million people watched Biden’s speech last year, equivalent to about 17 percent of eligible voters.
Biden’s address this year carries greater importance as he faces reelection in November, most likely against Trump. The speech may be the biggest opportunity he has to reach American voters before the election.
Trump won 14 of 15 primary races on March 5, all but wrapping up the Republican nomination for president. Biden beat Trump in 2020 but faces a tough reelection bid amid low ratings.
A Pew Research poll published in January showed that just 33 percent of Americans approve of Biden’s job performance, while 65 percent disapprove. Biden’s job-approval rating has remained below 40 percent over the past two years as Americans feel the pinch of high inflation and interest rates.
Biden, the oldest U.S. president in history, has been dogged by worries over his age. Two thirds of voters say he is too old to effectively serve another term, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll.
Last month, a special counsel report raised questions about his memory,intensifying concerns over his mental capacity to run the country for four more years.
As a result, Biden’s physical performance during the address was under close watch. Biden was animated during the speech and avoided any major gaffes.
“I thought he sounded really strong, very determined and very clear,” Stoner said.
Instead of avoiding the subject of his age, Biden took it head on, saying the issue facing our nation “isn’t how old we are, it’s how old our ideas are.”
He warned Trump was trying to take the country back to a darker period.
“Some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution,” Biden said, referring to the 77-year-old Trump.
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 21 rights groups and journalists’ organizations on Monday in a joint statement calling on social media platforms to prioritize the free flow of information and ideas, and to resist government censorship ahead of the March 31 municipal elections in Turkey.
“As important country-wide local elections loom, the Turkish authorities are once again intensifying efforts to control social media platforms through use of the restrictive internet law, demanding the blocking of content critical of the government,” the joint statement said and made a call of unity: “Social media platforms should take a firm, united stance against formal and informal pressure targeting expression protected under international human rights law and adopt heightened transparency in the face of increasing online censorship.”
The municipal elections is a critical test for the opposition parties of Turkey considering the leading Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its partners’ victory in parliamentary and presidential elections last year. On the opposing side, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP wants to win back the metropolitan municipalities of Turkey’s capital Ankara and biggest city Istanbul from the opposition.
