Search Results for: Kurdish Workers Party

The UN Syria Commission of Inquiry released a report Monday concerning the most severe escalation of violence in the country since 2020. Explosions during a military academy graduation ceremony in Homs triggered the escalation, which began in October, leading to a series of indiscriminate attacks by Syrian and Russian forces on opposition-held areas. The commission [...]

JURIST’s James Joseph interviews Patrick Kroker, Senior Legal Advisor at the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin, Germany to discuss the war crimes criminal complaint filed with the German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office on January 18, 2024 against Turkish-backed militias in Syria’s Afrin region. The complaint calls for an investigation of [...]

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) reported on Monday that at least six civilians have been wounded, and several civilian facilities have been destroyed after Turkish shelling and airstrikes in northeast Syria. Since Friday, Türkiye has launched 73 attacks, targeting oil stations, electricity plants, control points of the internal security forces, as [...]

The Turkish Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee approved Sweden’s NATO membership on Tuesday. This is the first step in Türkiye’s process to full approval, which entails submission to the General Assembly of the Turkish Parliament, followed by ratification from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Upon successful ratification, Hungary will be the final NATO member to approve Sweden’s [...]

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Sunday stated Sweden and Finland must extradite 130 alleged Kurdish terrorists in order for the Turkish parliament to ratify their accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Türkiye’s state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported. In a youth meeting, Erdoğan stated his government had told Sweden, “Look, if you don’t extradite [...]

Turkish officials arrested and jailed 16 Kurdish journalists Thursday after detaining 21 journalists for eight days without charges. Five of the original 21 were released according to reports from the Mesopotamia News Agency (MNA). According to the Turkish Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) the 21 journalists were originally detained on suspicion of “terrorism.” Mehmet [...]

The 23rd High Criminal Court of Istanbul on Monday sentenced four former employees of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem, shut down by a Turkish court order in 2016, to imprisonment on terrorism charges. Eren Keskin, a Turkish lawyer prominent in human rights spheres, received a six-year sentence for “membership of an armed terrorist organization.” [...]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held Tuesday that Turkey is to take all necessary measures to secure the immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş, a Kurdish politician held by the Turkish government on terrorism charges. The Grand Chamber held that there had been multiple violations of the European Convention of Human Rights. It also found no [...]

A Turkish court has sentenced Germany-based journalist Deniz Yucel to jail for 2 years and 9 months for terrorism-related propaganda charges. The sentence was imposed in absentia, as Yucel has not been present in Turkey for his trial. Yucel’s lawyer, Veysel Ok, claims the court sentenced Yucel for spreading propaganda about the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s [...]

A Turkish court ruled Friday that the former leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party will remain in prison, despite calls from top EU officials for the politician’s swift release. Selahattin Demirtaş is the former co-chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and one of Turkey’s best-known politicians. He was detained two years ago on terrorism-related [...]