Turkey Purge

A Turkish high criminal court has decided to keep former pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş in prison during a trial in which he faces terror charges. The last hearing of Demirtaş’s trial in which he is charged with leading a terrorist organization was held at the Ankara 19th High Criminal Court on […]

The owner of an Ankara-based printing house that had printed the placard with cartoons targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been briefly detained. An Ankara court on Wednesday sent four students from Middle East Technical University (METU) to prison for “insulting” Erdoğan with a placard they carried during the university’s graduation ceremony, the state-run Anadolu

At least 8 people were detained in two cities while they were reportedly on their way to escape Turkey’s post-coup crackdown to Greece. State-run Anadolu news agency said Wednesday that two military officers who were earlier dismissed from their jobs over ties to the Gulen movement were detained along with their wives following a police

Turkish police teams on Wednesday morning detained Turkish televangelist Adnan Oktar, and at least 234 of his followers on various accusations ranging from child abuse to forming a criminal organization. Mr. Oktar blamed the “British deep state” over his detention. Police teams raided Oktar’s house in İstanbul’s Çengelköy neighborhood and detained him and his guards in

The İstanbul 5th Commercial Court of First Instance has ruled for the continuation of a ban imposed on online hotel booking platform booking.com, the Birgün daily reported.   Access to the platform was initially blocked by the same court in March 2017. The court ruled for the “preventive ban” on the activities of the Dutch-based platform in Turkey due to “unfair

Orhan Aydın, a Turkish stage actor, was briefly detained in İstanbul on Tuesday over his social media posts critical of the Turkish government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I was taken to the Beyoğlu police station due to my social media messages. Presidency and democracy!” Aydın tweeted on Tuesday morning. Last year, Aydın was given

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will provide press cards to Turkey’s journalists, according to a new presidential decree published in the Official Gazette early Tuesday, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. The authority to issue press cards was previously belonged to the Prime Ministry’s Directorate General of Press and Information. With the decree No. 703 which

A judge for the İstanbul 3rd Penal Court of Peace on Tuesday ruled to block Internet access to the tweets of Turkey’s Journalists Union (TGS) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that expressed solidarity with a journalist standing trial for reporting on the tax haven businesses of a Turkish minister. Newly named Treasury and Finance Minister Berat

Turkish authorities are investigating a theologian for publishing a book that prosecutors said distorted Islam. “Upon a complaint filed by an ignorant who claims to be a Muslim, an investigation has been launched by the Anadolu public prosecutor over writings in my book This is Islam,” Cemil Kılıç tweeted on Thursday. In a following tweet, Mr