A gentle manner of search done by police as members of left wing band and many lawyers are arrested yesterday for some reasons ordinary citizens having difficulties to believe…

Left-wing band Grup Yorum members jailed

from Hurriyet Daily News
Five members of the Turkish protest band Grup Yorum were arrested.

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Ankara Strives to Enhance its Title as the Worst Jailer?

from The Istanbulian by Emre Kızılkaya

Lately, mysterious political murders and free speech violations have become the prevailing theme of this blog.

Don’t blame me because I almost stopped writing about more entertaining stuff, like anectodes from the Ottoman history, which I like to read.

Turkish teacher at Armenian school found murdered in his home

from Hurriyet Daily News
An elementary school teacher who taught computer lessons at an Armenian school in Istanbul?s Asian district of Kadıköy was found murdered in his home today.

Who Is Killing Armenians In Istanbul?

from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White
This post was updated.
Another killing in Istanbul of someone linked to the Armenian community. On Tuesday evening, İlker Şahin, 40, an IT teacher at an Armenian elementary school (although he is not himself Armenian), was found by his co-workers dead in his Kadikoy apartment with his throat cut. The apartment showed evidence of a long struggle and was covered in blood. Şahin had one daughter, but lived alone. The last cell phone message he sent was a group message: ?Merry Christmas.? (click here for the Agos report, in Turkish)

Computer Teacher at Armenian School Murdered in Istanbul

from Bianet :: English
İlker Şahin (40), a computer-subject teacher at Aramyan Armenian School in Istanbul, was found murdered in his apartment.

Captain Miki and The Banned Atlas

from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White
In a twist of irony, Turkey is at once celebrating the lifting of decades-old bans on 453 books and 645 periodicals while waiting for the fate of two classics whose fates are yet to be decided. One of these classics is John Steinbeck?s ?Of Mice and Men.? The other one is the beloved children?s book ?My Sweet Orange Tree? by Brazilian writer José Mauro de Vasconcelos

2012 Report Reveals How Male Violence Continues

from Bianet :: English
In the annual report released by Mor Cati women shelter organization, violence victims explained the ways in which they became subject to male violence.

At Least 878 Workers Die in 2012, Report Says

from Bianet :: English
At least 76 workers were reported to have died at work in December 2012 while the total number of worker casualties reached 878 in the entire year, according to a work safety organization report.

In Turkey, Repression of Freedoms Affects Popular Culture, Too

from The Istanbulian by Emre Kızılkaya

One of the most popular songs on Turkish radios for the last nine months or so has consistently been Hakim Bey, as sung by Mehmet Erdem.

This song was actually composed by Sezen Aksu in mid-90s. Zulfu Livaneli sang it in 1996. Then, Levent Yuksel covered it in 1998.

For the last twenty years, the song has never been so popular, although its former renditions were as artistically successful as the latest one.

Turkish writers’ group investigated for ‘insulting state’

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Alison Flood
PEN Turkey accused of breaking law by condemning musician’s prosecution as a ‘fascist development’
In a twist worthy of George Orwell, writers’ organisation and free speech campaigner PEN Turkey is under investigation in Turkey for “insulting the state” after condemning the prosecution of a musician as a “fascist development”. Ironically, the attack on free speech comes in a week when the Turkish government lifted the ban on many books that have been prohibited over the decades, including The Communist Manifesto.

Zonguldak Accident Draws Attention to Turkish Miners’ Plight

from Global Voices Online by Baran Mavzer
Zonguldak is a mining city on Black Sea coast of Turkey, and the name of the city originates from Turkish zondalik, which means swamp. After the death of eight miners in an accident which occurred in a gas leak in a mine on January 7, that is how all mines around the city seem like to the miners – an endless swamp.

7,000 women in Turkey put under police protection

from Hurriyet Daily News
The number of women under police protection reached nearly 7,000 in Turkey with..

?Deep,? old habits on Kurdish women?s killings

from Hurriyet Daily News
If sorted out from the floating theories on the culprits and their motivations, what the execution-style.

Jailed Students Face Psychological Issues: Human Rights Activists

from Bianet :: English
Turkey’s Human Right Association members disclosed a letter sent from Siirt province prison inmates saying that 5 underaged inmates were facing serious psychological problems.

Turkey Is Less Free

from Kamil Pasha by Jenny White
Since 1972 Freedom House has been doing an annual survey  of the status of political rights and civil liberties in countries around the world, including Turkey. These are defined in their latest report (click here) that charts the increase and decline of these variables.

Jail sentence of 21 years asked for French student

from Hurriyet Daily News
Turkish prosecutors have asked for a prison sentence of 21 years for Sevil Sevimli.

European Committee for Prevention of Torture examines İmralı

from Hurriyet Daily News
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture arrived.