Category Archives: Amnesty International

Read Amnesty’s Annual Report on Turkey

Yesterday, Amnesty International released its 2020/2021 annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights. The section on Turkey, reprinted in full below, is a damning assessment of the spiraling state of human rights in Turkey. The EU and the … Continue reading

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Amnesty Issues Urgent Action: Hundreds at Imminent Risk of Forced Eviction

Amnesty International today issued an Urgent Action calling on Turkey to halt forced evictions in the Sur District of Diyarbakir. Hundreds of residents in the Alipaşa and Lalebey neighbourhoods of the Sur district in Diyarbakır province, southeastern Turkey, are at … Continue reading

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Amnesty: Indictment Rejected but Barbaros Şansal Still Held

Amnesty International issued an updated urgent action in the case of  fashion designer and LGBTI activist Barbaros Şansal.   “Şansal remains in pre-trial detention since 3 January for allegedly ‘inciting the public to hatred or hostility’, despite a court rejecting the … Continue reading

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Amnesty issues report on displacement of hundreds of thousands in Turkey

  Amnesty International has just issued an extensive and deeply researched 31 page report detailing “the desperate  plight of families forced out of the historical centre of Diyarbakir” through massive security operations and round-the-clock curfews.  “Homes in the once-bustling district have been … Continue reading

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Amnesty: Latest detention of journalists a “blatant misuse of powers”

In response to this Monday’s detention of 11 journalists and staff from Cumhuriyet newspaper and the shutting down of 15 media outlets over the weekend, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, John Dalhuisen, said: Today’s detention of journalists and staff from Turkey’s … Continue reading

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Amnesty: Intensified crackdown on media increases atmosphere of fear

[The following is a repost of Amnesty’s press release of 28 July 2016] As Turkey enters its second week of a three month state of emergency, the ongoing crackdown on civil society and the assault on media freedom has reached … Continue reading

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Amnesty on State of Emergency in Turkey

Amnesty International issued a press release yesterday, July 21, on the newly declared State of Emergency in Turkey.   The text is below: President Erdogan’s announcement of the imposition of a state of emergency must not pave the way for a … Continue reading

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Amnesty: Rights must be respected in aftermath of failed coup

In response to a shocking coup attempt by elements of the military at overthrowing the elected government of Turkey, Amnesty International issued the following statement: Turkey is still reeling from a night of violence in which a coup attempt from … Continue reading

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Amnesty: Turkey’s escalating abuses risk return to dark days of 1990s

The message of Amnesty’s latest statement on abuses in Turkey’s on-going operations in south eastern Turkey could hardly have been clearer.  Things are getting much, much worse, with  “growing evidence of severe human rights violations, including torture and impunity for human … Continue reading

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Condolence Book for Tahir Elçi

Human rights lawyer/defender Tahir Elçi was shot dead in Diyarbakir on 28 November 2015. You may recall that Amnesty International organised a public meeting to pay tribute to him in January, attended by his wife, Turkan  Elçi, and one of … Continue reading

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