News
WikiLeaks reveals emails from the son-in-law of President Erdogan, ‘proving his connection to ISIS operation smuggling oil into Turkey’
WikiLeaks has released a tranche of more than 57,000 personal emails from the account of Turkey’s Minister of Oil Berat Albayrak, President Erdogan’s son-in-law. WikiLeaks alleges that the emails reveal ‘Albayrak’s involvement in organisations such as Powertrans, the company implicated in Isis oil imports’. The company has been implicated in oil imports from ISIS-controlled oil fields.
Hundreds of thousands homeless as Turkey’s southeast lay in ruins
When the residents of Sirnak returned to the city last month after Turkish authorities lifted eight-month curfew during intense urban fighting between the Turkish security forces and Kurdish insurgents, they were shocked with what they saw: there was no home where they left.
Amnesty: 500,000 Kurds displaced in Turkey’s Southeast due to curfews, crackdown
Tens of thousands of residents of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sur are among an estimated half million people forced from their homes as a result of a brutal crackdown by Turkish authorities over the past year which may amount to collective punishment, said Amnesty International in a new report.
Launch of Fethullah Gulen Chair in Islamic Studies and Intercultural Dialogue at Deakin University
The Melbourne based Deakin University launched its inaugural Chair, named after Fethullah Gulen, in Islamic Studies and Intercultural Dialogue with a ceremony held on Tuesday 22 November at its Melbourne Corporate Centre. Professor Jane Den Hollander, President and Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University officially launched the Chair.
Filipina, infant freed from Turkish jail, but…
The Filipina mother who forcibly was separated from her infant and detained in Turkey for weeks has been released. But their reunion is being cut short by her deportation, in the crackdown following a failed coup in which she had no part. Information is being withheld from Karen’s lawyer and the Philippine Embassy staff assisting her. Forcible separation of an infant from her mother is a humanitarian concern.
Torture appeared widespread after Turkey coup: UN expert
Measures taken in Turkey after the July 15 coup attempt created an “environment conducive to torture”, and ill treatment appears to have been widespread immediately after the failed putsch, UN special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer said told reporters in Ankara. “Some recently passed legislation and statutory decrees created an environment conducive to torture,” he said.
Bosnian Schools Feel Heat From War on ‘Gulenists’
However, Vibor Handzic, head of the smaller Nasa Stranka party in the Sarajevo municipality of Stari Grad, said, “We must not accept the logic by which Erdogan’s regime can be both prosecutor and judge and may persecute people [in Bosnia] with no evidence,” Handzic said. Bosna Sema concedes that Gulen’s ideas inspired its founders but dismisses claims that it is linked to terrorism or to the failed coup.
Turkey seizes billions of dollars worth 691 companies over alleged ties to Gülen movement
The state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) has announced that a total of 691 companies, some of whose assets are worth billions of dollars, have been seized by the government due to alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. The government has been confiscating the private property of non-loyalist businesspeople without due process on unsubstantiated charges of terrorist links.
Turkish foundation drills 1,000 boreholes for Nigerian communities
Mr Cemal Yigit, President, Association of Turkish People in Nigeria (ATPEN) said the Nigerian Turkish International College (NTIC) Foundation, an NGO has drilled over 1, 000 boreholes for communities across Nigeria. He said that communities in Yobe and Ogun states were among the beneficiaries of the boreholes.
UN representative found evidence of torture in Turkish prisons
The majority of the abuse occurred during the times of arrest and interrogation, his report noted, adding that most of those who have been subjected to torture have not filed complaints “for fear of retaliation against them and their families and because of their distrust in the independence of the prosecution and the judiciary.
Turkey’s Economy Suffering Enormous Post-Coup Purges
Since the attempted military coup on July 15, the government, empowered by a state of emergency, has fired or suspended about 125,000 people, of whom nearly 40,000 have been arrested, and tens of thousands of others taken into custody. As a result, roughly 800,000 people have been completely cut off from any economic safety net.
