Erdogan’s Turkey silencing dissent, abusing terrorism charges – HRW report

Turkey’s prolonged and arbitrary detention of journalists, human rights defenders, and politicians following the 2016 coup attempt have set back the country’s human rights record, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2020 published on Tuesday.

The Guardian view on Turkey’s repression: stop this stalemate

Turkey’s western allies are alarmed, but against a complex geopolitical backdrop, they have chosen discretion rather than valour. After the EU parliament last week voted to freeze EU accession talks with Turkey, Mr Erdoğan lashed out by threatening to open the country’s borders to migrants heading to Europe. This is tantamount to blackmail.

Corruption investigation: Questions that will hound PM Erdoğan

Everyone is wondering now what is behind the corruption investigation, and the first “suspect” to come to many minds is the Islamist Gülen movement. Tensions between this group and the AKP have been rising over the years, and boiled over recently due to the prep-school issue – a matter that has received wide media coverage.

The Gülen movement denies this but the vitriol flying between daily Zaman, which is close to Gülen, and Yeni Şafak, which is staunchly pro-AKP, is enough to give one a sense of the bitter struggle involved.

International Summit: Women’s perspectives on UN post-2015 development agenda

The Journalists and Writers Foundation is organizing a two-day international summit entitled “Women’s Perspectives on UN Post-2015 Development Agenda” in Istanbul, which will be held by on May 31-June 1, 2014. As the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches this summit specifically aims to highlight women’s perspectives, experiences and opinions on the UN development goals.

Erdogan Purge Against Gulenists Could Prove Lucrative

The power struggle between the Turkish state and the Fethullah Gulen-led Hizmet Movement continues to reverberate in Turkey. The number detained, arrested, jailed, and dismissed from their jobs since the July 15 coup attempt has reached well over 100,000, 40,000 of whom have been detained on suspicion of having links with Hizmet. One third of the highest-ranking armed forces officers have been dismissed. Almost every major institution—military, judiciary, media, education, business—has been affected.

Offensive launched against Hizmet-affiliated schools in Antalya

The Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, which earlier changed the zoning plans of schools in the province affiliated with the faith-based Hizmet movement in compliance with a call made by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in June, is to make a final decision on the fate of the schools following deliberation by the municipal commission on zoning and public works.