Think,think…

Freedom of ExpressionWeekly Bulletin (No.48/15,27November2015)Whathappenedlastweek?***ArussianjetwasshotdownbytheTurkishArmedForcesattheSyrianborder.Inthefirst statementsmade byAnkara, itwas emphasized that Turkey has all the rights totake measures for its protection of border. Russia, on the other hand, refused theassertion of violating Turkey’s airspace, declaring that all military negotiations withTurkeyhavebeensuspended.RussianMinisterofForeignAffairsLavrovcancelledhisTurkeyvisit,suggestingRussiancitizensnottogotoTurkey.RussianPresidentVladimirPutin stated that the activitywas a provocation planned in advance, saying, “we havebeen stabbed in our backs by collaborators of terrorism.” Attitudes were exhibitedinternationallyaimingtocalmdownthetensioninthedensediplomacytrafficfollowingthecrisis.Russiademandedanapology,whereasTurkishPresidentErdoğanstated,“iftheviolationwastobecommittedonceagaintoday,Turkeywouldreplyinthesameway.”***CumhuriyetNewspaper’sEditor-In-ChiefCanDündarandtheAnkaraRepresentativeof the newspaper Erdem Gül were arrested by Istanbul 7th Criminal Court of Peacebecause of the news they reported regarding the trucks belonging to the NationalIntelligenceOrganization.(Continuedinthebulletin…)*** AKP Istanbul MP İsmail Kahraman was assigned to the ParliamentarySpokesmanship of the 26th Session. The 64th Government was announced by PrimeMinisterAhmetDavutoğlu, followingtheapprovalofPresidentErdoğan.Only2femaleMPs tookplace in the27-people list.WhileAliBabacan’s absence in the cabinetdrewattentions, Erdoğan’s son-in-law Berat Albayrak became the Minister of Energy andNaturalResources.*** Announcing the government programme, Prime Minister Davutoğlu, “the 64thGovernment will entirely be a reform government;” indicating that the reformswill befocusedondemocratisation,justice,education,publicadministration,publicfinanceandeconomics. In the programme, the matter of the legal status of Alevi worship places(cemevis), the new Constitution and the Presidency system took place as well. Theexpression“ResolutionProcess”tookplaceasthe“ResolutionWill”intheprogramme.***ThecurfewstartedonNovember13inNusaybindistrictofMardinwasremovedonits14thday.Duringthecurfew,ninepeoplediedinthedistrict.Curfewsweredeclared

inYüksekovedistrictofHakkari,CizredistrictofŞırnakandDerikdistrictofMardin.InYüksekova,twopeoplewerekilledintheoperationorganizedbythepolice. Indicatingthat 143 civil citizens died during curfew applications since June 7, HDP MP İdrisBaluken demanded an investigation commission to be established in the Parliamentregardingtheincidents.*** Themark identified on the rearwindow of the armored vehicle of HDP Co-ChairSelahattinDemirtaşbroughtthe“assassinationattempt”debatesonagenda.Whileitwasthoughtthatthevehiclewasattackedwhileonpark,DiyarbakırGovernorateannouncedthatnoarmedweaponleftoverswerefoundinthevehicle.Evaluatingtheincidentasan“public assassination attempt,” HDP Co-Chair Figen Yüksekdağ claimed that theGovernoratemadethishastyannouncementinordertocoveruptheissue.***MinisterofEUandChiefNegotiatorVolkanBozkır indicated that the17thChapterregardingeconomicsandfinancialpoliticsisdecidedtobeopenedinmid-December.***TheEuropeanCommissionapprovedthe3billionEurosofresourcetobeassignedtoTurkey for two years in order for Turkey to tighten its borders against migrantsattempting to enterEuropeand tobetter support Syrian refugees.On theotherhand,Human Rights Watch stated that Turkey almost closed its Syrian borders and thatrefugeesattemptingtocrosstheborderarebeingexposedtoviolence,expressingthatSyriansareforcedtogobacktothewarzone.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof.Dr.CelalŞengör:FeedingfecesisnotatortureExpressing,“IapproveeverythingKenanEvrenhasdoneonSeptember12,”“Idonotseefeedingfecesastorture,” intheinterviewhegavetoRadikalNewspaper,Prof.Dr.CelalŞengörstated,“thissocietyneedsanoligarchicsystem.”Defendingtheapplicationsmadeduringthecoupperiod,Şengörsaid,“Coupmeanstodosomethingbyforce,sonobodyshouldbeoffended.”Followingreactions,heapologized.

CensorshipcriteriafromTÜBİTAKTheScientificandTechnologicalResearchCouncilofTurkey(TÜBİTAK)decidedfortwocriteria to be brought on popular science books, which are “locality” and “culturalharmony.”AnewlegislativeregulationwasmadewiththeorderoftheChairofTÜBİTAK,andtheexaminationperiodoftheworksbytheEditorialBoardhasstarted.50thousandbookshave been withdrawn from shelves within this scope only in 2015, which wereespeciallyon the theoryofevolution.Thebooksweredecidedtobe“contradicting theTurkishcultureandmoralvalues”followingtheexamination,thereforewillbedestroyed.Thebookswhicharenotfoundobjectionablewillbere-released.

CanDündarandErdemGülarrestedCumhuriyetNewspaper’sEditor-In-ChiefCanDündarandtheAnkaraRepresentativeofthenewspaperErdemGülwere arrestedwith the charges of “intentionally aidingandabetting an organization without being a member,” “political and military espionage,”“announcing confidential information” within the scope of the investigation startedagainstthembecauseofthenewsandvisualstheypublishedonthetrucksbelongingtotheNationalIntelligenceOrganization.Theoperationsof arrest are showeredwith reactionsboth fromTurkeyand from theworld.InternationalPressInstitute(IPI)madeastatementonthematteraswell,saying,“democracy and press freedom in Turkey experienced another dark day.” ReportersWithoutBorders (RSF) reprimanded the situation aswell,making a call for solidarity

with Dündar, Gül and the newspaper. Turkish Journalists Association (TGC), TurkishJournalists Union (TGS), Press Council, Turkish Journalists Federation (TGF), PENTurkey,TurkishWriter’sUnion(TYS)madedeclarationsonthematter,expressingtheirreactionsandcriticisms.ClickhereforthefulltextofCanDündar’sdefense.ClickhereforthefulltextofErdemGül’sdefense.

Year1995.CanDündarisontrialattheStateSecurityCourt...

20YEARSAGO–20YEARSAFTERYear2015.CanDündarandErdemGülontrial...Whatpartofitisalignedstrightanyway?There isaTurkishproverb:Theyaskedthecamelwhy itsneck isawry,hetruthfullyretorted, “what part of me is aligned straight anyway?” The proverb is often usedpessimisticallyorsarcastically,implyingeverythingis“crooked”fromAtoZ,anyway.JustlikethearrestsofCanDündarandErdemGül.Herearethecharges:1.“Obtaininginformationregardingthesecurityofthegovernment,announcingconfidentialinformation.”Exposingacrimecommittedbythegovernmentisadutyof citizenship, beyond journalism. It is a crime for the National IntelligenceOrganization, which has to remain as an intelligence organization, to organizeoperations. (More accurately, it was legally a crime on the date of these trucks beingrevealed.Thenthisauthoritywasgiventotheorganizationwithalawamendment.)2.“Politicalandmilitaryespionage.”Towhoseaccount,whichinformation,where,forwhat?There isnotasingleevidenceonthese,notasinglechargebasedontheseevidences.Onlyassertions.3. “Making terrorist organization propaganda.” Both journalistswere accused bymediaorgansoftheGülencommunity,whosepropagandatheyallegedlymade.WhyARREST?Thethingthathasactualimportancehereandshouldnotbeneglected,is that the action of the governmentwas a CRIME. In a situationwhere there is nopossibility of spoliation of evidence, silencing witnesses, regarding people whoseidentitiesareknown,whocannotescape;whatdoesanarrestmean?

TheInitiativeforFreedomofExpression

Journalistsontrial…An indictmentwaspreparedagainstToday’sZamannewspaperEditor-In-ChiefBülentKeneş with an imprisonment claim until 8 years and 2 months, following him beingarrested from the charge of “public multiple insult against the President” and beingreleasedfollowingobjections.AnindictmentwaspreparedagainstNoktaMagazine’sEditor-In-ChiefCevherGüvenandthe Managing Editor Murat Çapan, who were arrested because of the issue of themagazine,onthecoverofwhichwaspublishedtheexpression“November2-Thestartofcoldwar in Turkey.” In the indictment, imprisonmentwas claimed against Güven andÇapanuntil20yearsandbotharechargedwith “provocationofarmedriotagainst thegovernmentoftheRepublicofTurkey.”FollowingthearrestsofCanDündarandErdemGülregardingtheirpublicationsontheNational Intelligence Organization trucks carrying weapons, an investigation wasstarted against Cumhuriyet Newspaper Ankara reporter Alican Uludağ because ofsharing the criminal complaint petition of Tayyip Erdoğan against CanDündar on hissocialmediaaccount.One editor from Ötekilerin Postası was arrested and sent to jail with the charge of“makingterroristorganizationpropaganda”becauseofsharingthephotoofAzizGüler.IstanbulAnatolian2ndCriminalCourtofFirstInstancesentencedOkulveÜlke(“Schooland Country”) magazine’s managing editor and Communist Party Central CommitteeMemberMehmet İnamto11monthsand20daysof imprisonment fromthechargeof“insultingthePresident.” İnamhasbeenontrialbecauseofacoverofthemagazine,onwhichphotosofFethullahGülentookplacetogetherwithPresidentErdoğan;titled,“wewillnotpreferonebigotryfromanother;Chasethethief,themurderer,thebigot.”

ImprisonmentsentenceagainstMPfromHDPHDPVanMPLezginBotan,whowasdetained and arrestedduring theKCKoperationorganizedinVanon2011thenwasreleasedpendingtrial,wassentencedto6yearsand3monthsofimprisonmentfromthechargeof“beingamemberofanorganization.”Van2ndHighCriminalCourtsentencedformerHDPMPSelamiÖzyaşarandEducationandScienceWorkers’UnionmembersMahmutGalipYaviçandHakanYaman,whowereontrialinthesamefile.

ImprisonmentagainsttowelingoffadogwithflagUlaşAnsınAkbaştoweledhisdogoffwithaTurkishflagafterhisdogjumpedintothepoolatBakırköyFreedomSquare.Akbaşwassentencedto10monthsofimprisonmentwiththereasonofcommittingthecrimeof“publicdenigrationofindependencesymbolsofthestate.”Thecourtdidnotpostponethesentencewiththereasonthat“therewasnoopinionregardinghimnotcommittinganothercrimeinthefuture.”

FacebookpostbecamearrestevidenceThe article titled “AKP becoming IS’ized” published from the Facebook account ofuniversity studentGürkanDemirtaş,whowas sent to court inAnkarawith a claimofarrest with charges of insulting the President and being a member of a terroristorganization, on sendika.org, as well as him sharing a photograph of Erdoğan on hisFacebookaccountwasconsideredasevidence.An administrative investigationwas started againstMesut Aslan, who is serving as apsychologistatGaziantepFamilyandSocialPoliticsDirectorate,followinghimsettingaphotoofAzizGüler,whodiedwhilefightingagainsttheISinSyria,ashisprofilepicture.Aslanwasthensuspendedfromduty.AjudicialinvestigationwasopenedagainstAslanaswell.Withinthescopeoftheinvestigation,hewasarrestedbyGaziantep2ndCriminalCourtofPeacefromthechargeof“makingterroristorganizationpropaganda”andwassenttojail.

PoliceviolenceandimpunityIstanbul35thCriminalCourtofFirst Instancesentenced3policeofficers,whoappliedviolenceagainstMarmaraUniversitystudentCanBurakSarıgülbecauseofattendingtheprotest demonstration against International Higher Education Congress organized in2011,to7monthsand15daysofimprisonmenteach.ThecourtboarddefendedthatthepoliceofficerswhohavebeatenSarıgülwereunderunjustprovocation, postponing the sentences. Lawyerof the studentÖzlemGümüştaş

stated, “the protest demonstration was considered a reason of unjust provocation. Thepoliceofficersremainwithoutpenalty.”IstanbulGovernoratedidnotgivepermissionforaninvestigationtobeopenedagainstthepolice,whoinjuredmanypeopleanddetainedjournalistsduringtheinterventionatLGBTIHonourMarch.TheGovernoratestatedthattheHonourMarchwas“prohibited”anddefendedthatthepoliceintervention,whichlastedallday,was“withinlegallimits.”Despitetheevidencepresented by LGBTI organizations as well as visuals taking place on the press, theGovernorate indicated that “there is no information, document or visual record on thepolicemisusingtheirduty.”On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice gave a permission for an investigationfollowing thecomplaintof theSecurityagainstAttorneyEvinBağçeci,whostated thatherclient,whowasdetainedinAdana,wasbeatenandtorturedbythepolice.Inherstatement,Bağçecisaid,“denouncingacrimeagainsthumanitysuchastorture ismydutyandrightasalawyer,asawoman,andasacitizenbecauseoftheinternationalconventionswetakeplaceasaparty.”

MHK:“LütfillahTacikCaseShouldNotStayinImpunity”Refugee Rights Coordination reacted against the denial of the demands of non-governmental organizations, who demanded to be involved in the case regarding thedeathofchildrefugeeLütfillahTacikbeingheldinVan2ndHighCriminalCourt.The Coordination explained indicated that the decision of denial means a narrowinterpretationof“victim,”andwhoisdamagedbythecrime,aswellastheretainmentofrightdefending,which is thebasicdutyof the civil society.Worrieson the casebeingconcludedinimpunityarealsoexpressed.

StatuteoflimitationsthreatinSelendicaseWhileadecisionisexpectedfromthehearingheldatUşak2ndCriminalCourtofFirstInstanceregardingtheincidentinwhichRomanswerelynchedandexiledfromSelendidistrictofManisain2010;onedefendantattorneyabandonedtheaction.ThecourtthendecidedforthehearingtobeheldonDecember23inordertoinformthedefendantsonthesituation.RomanRightsAssociationChairmanYücelTutalindicatedthattheattorneyabandonedtheactionstrategicallysothatthefileisabatedwithatimelimitationinJanuary.

CaseofhatecrimelastedaminuteThe caseofAhmetYıldız,whowaskilledbyhis fatherbecausehewas ahomosexual,was held at Anatolian Courthouse. The casewas postponed to 5 April 2015with thereasonthatthewarrantofarrestissuedagainstfatherYahyaYıldızwasnotexecuted.After the hearing, Rosida Koyuncu made a statement on behalf of Hevi LGBTIAssociation, saying, “The justice of this hypocrite system continues playing the threemonkeys.Thiscasecontinuesfor6yearsnow,andislefttohanginmidair.”Being the first homosexualhonourmurder victimAhmetYıldızhasbeenkilledbyhisfatherwhileleavinghisapartmentinÜsküdar,Istanbul.

THISWEEKONTHEMUSEUMOFCRIMESOFTHOUGHT

Haveyouseenournewmuseumbuildingrenewedlastweek?Theonlythingthatchangedhasbeenourmuseum.However,asalways,youmayfollowlatestupdatesinTurkeyonthemuseumsquare.ArrestedjournalistsDündarandGül

BustsofjournalistsCanDündarandErdemGül,whowerearrestedbecauseofthenewspublished on Cumhuriyet Newspaper regarding the trucks belonging to the NationalIntelligenceOrganization,tooktheirplacesinourPridesection.

The64thGovernmentformed

MembersoftheCabinetofMinistersofthe64thGovernmentwereannouncedbyPrimeMinisterAhmetDavutoğlu,followingtheapprovalofPresidentErdoğan.In the27-peoplecabinet,only2 femaleMPs tookplace.TheyoungestMPwas the37-year-oldson-in-lawBeratAlbayrak.

TurkishArmedForces(TSK)shotdownaRussian jetwith thereasonof“violating theTurkishairspace.”Russiadeclaredthattheirjetsdidnotmakesuchaviolation.Tensionskeeprisingwithdeclarations,andamidwayistryingtobefoundthroughdiplomacy.FemicidemapofTurkey

On November 25, the day announced by the UN General Assembly in 1999 as the“International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women,” the websitewww.kadincinayetleri.org mapped femicides committed in Turkey between the years2010-2015.Accordingtothemap,whichalsoservesasadatabase,atleast1134womenwerekilledin the 5-year period. One of every two women who were killed were killed by theirhusbandsorex-husbands.235murderswerecommittedduringtheperiodofdivorceorseparation.According to thedatacompiledbybianet,225womenwerekilledbymen

only in2015.Theperpetratorsof22 femicidescouldnotbe identified.9womenweresuspiciouslyfounddead.19womenwereassertedtohavecommittedsuicide.CelalŞengörinourmuseum

ThebustofProf.Dr.CelalŞengör,whosaid,“IapproveeverythingKenanEvrenhasdoneon September 12,” “I do not see feeding feces as torture,” in the interview he gave toRadikal Newspaper, Prof. Dr. Celal Şengör stated, “this society needs an oligarchicsystem.”Defendingtheapplicationsmadeduringthecoupperiod,ŞengörtookhisplaceinourShamesection.NoImpunityForumheld

The “No Impunity” Forum organized by Bianet, Memory Center, TransparencyInternational, Istanbul Bilgi University and our Initiative was held at Istanbul BilgiUniversitySantralIstanbulcampus.Intheforum,thetitles,“Thetraditionoflegislation,practiceandgovernmentinTurkey,”“Extra-governmental actors and social structure,” and “Impunity and Justice” weredebated. In the forum, witnesses of past impunity cases gave speeches and in thesessions held following the witness speeches, guest speakers debated how impunityemerges.Videosfromtheforumareonmontage.Comingsoonon:www.dusun-think.net

TRIALSOFFREEDOMOFEXPRESSION

● Thecaseopenedagainst81peoplewhoprotestedthedeathofAhmetAtakan,whowaskilledon10 September 2013 during the Gezi Park protests in Hatay and whose murderer is stillunidentified,with a demonstration organized atAlsancakdistrict of Izmirwas started at Izmir22nd Criminal Court of First Instance on 23November 2015. The hearingwas postponed to 8February2016.

● The case opened against police officers Ömer Serdar Küçükibrahimoğlu and Fatih Zahterfollowing the criminal complaint of Gökçe Algan, who was injured following the policeintervention during the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul, with the charges of “willful injury” and“misuse of duty”was started at Istanbul 7th Criminal Court of First Instance on 24November2015.Thehearingwaspostponedto2March2016.

● The proceeding of formerMP Şevki Yılmaz, against whom a case was opened due to the LawConcerning Crimes Committed Against Atatürk because of the expressions he used during aspeechhegaveataconferenceinManisa,startedatManisa6thCriminalCourtofFirstInstanceon24November2015.Thehearingwaspostponedto9February2016.TRIALSOFNEXTWEEK

● The6thhearingofthecase inwhich journalistBarışPehlivanisontrial frominsultingIstanbul

speciallyauthorizeddeputyChiefProsecutorofthetimeZekeriyaÖzwillbeheldon1December2015.

● ThenexthearingofthecaseregardingthedeathofUğurKurt,whodiedfollowingthefireopenedbythepolicewhilewaitingatthecemevigardenforthefuneralofarelativeinIstanbul,willbeheldatIstanbul14thHighCriminalCourton3December2015.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

● The first step of “Femicides CanBe Prevented” campaign, theUrgentActionConferenceAgainstFemicide will be organized on 27-28 November 2015 at Istanbul Technical University MaçkaSocialFacilities.Clickherefortheconferenceprogramme.

YoumayfollowandfindnewsonFreedomofExpressionandrelatedevents, includingtheweeklybulletinhere:http://dusun-think.net/index.php?s=bulten