EFDbackup: Let there be no doubt despite Erdoğan’s distractions before the #TurkeyElections: “ISIL behind Oct 10 Ankara Massacre, says prosecutor’s office

Chief Prosecution says ISIS Responsible for Ankara Massacre

Bianet :: English

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has declared Ankara bombing was executed by Antep-based cell that received order from ISIS in Syria, and plans other acts.

ISIL behind Oct 10 Ankara Massacre, says prosecutor’s office

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) sleeper cell based in the southeastern province of Gaziantep was behind the twin suicide bombings that killed 100 peace activists in Ankara on Oct. 10, the Ankara Prosecutor’s Office said in a written statement

The battle for Turkey: can Selahattin Demirtas pull the country back from the brink of civil war? | Christopher de Bellaigue

World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Christopher de Bellaigue

As Turkey prepares for the most important election in a generation, the charismatic politician Selahattin Demirtaş holds the key to whether Turks and Kurds can live in peace

Beware pool media, you may be next

The actual aim of appointing a trustee panel to the Koza-İpek Group was to seize its media group. The first actions of the trustees confirm this.

SEÇSİS security is debatable

I have been a volunteer for Oy ve Ötesi (Vote and Beyond) Platform for the last four elections. I will be at the ballot box for the fifth time this Sunday.

Ethnicity and elections in Turkey

FOLDED CORNER – ‘Ethnicity and Elections in Turkey: Party Politics and the Mobilization of Swing Voters’ by Gül Arıkan Akdağ (Routledge, 282 pages)

In Times of Chaos, Turks Point to a Deep Conspiracy
New York Times
In a classified diplomatic cable from 2002 released by WikiLeaks, W. Robert Pearson, who was then the American ambassador in Ankara, wrote that “the Turkish Deep State, the behind-the-scenes machinery and power relationships among selected .

Turkish Journalists Report Police Raid on Their Own Offices

NYT > Turkey by By ROBERT MACKEY

Reporters in Istanbul covered the raid on their offices as the government seized control of a media group critical of the ruling party.

Turkish police storm media firm as workers protest – video

World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Guardian Staff

Police in Istanbul carry out a dawn raid on Wednesday at the offices of Koza Ipek Holding enforcing a court order to seize the media firm, which has been linked to a government critic. Footage shows officers forcing their way through metal gates, using huge bolt cutters, as people inside shout their protests and try to prevent their entry.

Two children face two years in jail for tearing down Erdoğan poster

Two children aged 12 and 13 have been arrested on charges of “insulting the Turkish president” after allegedly tearing down posters showing a photo of President Erdoğan

Bugün Reporter Detained

Bianet :: English

Police entered İpek Media to which trustee was appointed, and battered and detained Bugün reporter Kamil Maman.

Police Break into İpek Media

Bianet :: English

Police firing pepper gas on the group waiting in front of İpek Media building in Mecidiyeköy have broken into the building.

VIDEO: Press freedom in Turkey ‘a major concern’

BBC News | Europe | World Edition

After the inconclusive parliamentary elections in June, Turkey is once again going to the polls this Sunday, with press freedom one of the concerns facing the country.

VIDEO: Turkey election: Security key issue

BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Turkey holds an election on Sunday – the second in five months – with the governing AK Party hoping to win back its majority.

Commission accused of playing ‘hide and seek’ with Ankara

EurActiv.com

The German media has reported that the Commission is holding on to its new progress report on Turkey due to political reasons. According to a draft version of the report, there are severe deficits relating to Turkey’s “rule of law”.

Turkey election 2015: a guide to the parties, polls and electoral system

World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Alberto Nardelli, Kate Lyons, Constanze Letsch and Daan Louter

Turkey heads to the polls for the second time this year after June’s elections proved inconclusive – here’s everything you need to know about Sunday’s vote

Demirtaş: Our Buildings Raided too in Past, We Empathize

Bianet :: English

HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş and HDP deputies Garo Paylan and Mithat Sancar have joined the Bugün TV program.

Turkish journalists arrested in chaotic media crackdown

Mashable! by Megan Specia

Koza-ipek

Turkish police raided the Istanbul headquarters of a media company in the early hours of Wednesday morning, armed with tear gas, batons, and a water cannon. The company is linked to a U.S.-based government critic and is the most recent government action against opposition news outlets.

Turkey police raid Istanbul media group

BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Turkish police storm the headquarters a media group linked to US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen days before the country’s election.

95 percent of Turkish blue collar workers want to live abroad: Poll

Some 94.12 percent of blue collar workers and intermediate employees in Turkey would live abroad if they have the chance, according to a study conducted by Eleman.net with the participation of 12,705 people

RTÜK Member: TRT Gives Place AKP Far More than HDP

Bianet :: English

RTÜK member Ersin Öngel drew attention that TRT gave place AKP for 30 hours while it only allowed HDP for 18 minutes in 25 days.

HDP leader says gov’t eager to declare war against Syrian Kurds

The government apparently isn’t satisfied with ongoing conflict in the country and seems to be eager to declare war against the Syrian Kurdish region, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş has said

ECHR Condemns Turkey Over Detainee Death

Bianet :: English

ECHR judging as to İskender Özpolat killed in police operation in Diyarbakır and Mehmet Özpolat who lost his life in the hospital where he was taken after being battered has ruled that Turkey violated right to live.

Fazıl Say awarded secularism prize in Paris

World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazıl Say was awarded the “2015 International Secularism Prize” (Prix de la Laïcité) by the France Committee of Secularism on Oct. 26.

MHP leader pledges to bring public broadcaster to book for one-sided election coverage

Turkey’s people have been subjected to the one-sided propaganda of both President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in the run-up to the Nov. 1 elections, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said Oct. 27 in the northern province of Amasya

CHP deputy head questions Turkish PM’s plan to find men wives

The deputy head of CHP has questioned Turkish PM’s recent campaign promises to find brides for young Turkish men

Camp Armen Returned After 175 Days of Resistance

Bianet :: English

Camp Armen’s deed has been returned to Gedikpaşa Armenian Protestant Church Foundation.

Land title of Armenian orphanage Kamp Armen in Istanbul returned

The land title of the iconic Armenian orphanage Kamp Armen has been given back to an Armenian protestant church foundation, daily Agos has reported

Euro Court fines Turkey 71,000 euros for citizen’s death in southeast

ECHR has fined Turkey a total of 71,000 euros over the death of a citizen in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır in 2007 for violating his right to life and failing to conduct an effective and independent investigation.

‘Racist’ Europe does not want Turks walking around their streets: Chomsky

The current polarization in Turkey may have been triggered by the EU’s obstacles in the accession process, leading President Erdoğan to choose more authoritarian paths, Noam Chomsky has told daily Hürriyet

Social media users sentenced for insulting Merkel, Erdoğan says

Social media users who insulted German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been sentenced to two-and-a-half-year prison terms, President Erdoğan has said

MHP: Nationalist wild card in Turkey’s election race
Yahoo News UK

Ilte Turan, professor of politics at Istanbul Bilgi University, told AFP the MHP had successfully broken out of its 1970s image of ultra-nationalism. “Bahceli has pulled the youth off the streets, turning the party into a more peaceful one, free of guns.

Kurdish party aims for electoral strike at Erdogan’s ambitions
Financial Times
“Until the HDP won in the last elections, and crossed this 10 per cent threshold, the government was much more accommodating, said Ilter Turan, a professor of political science at Bilgi University. “Only after it became apparent that the HDP could deny …
Beset by terror and crisis at home and war abroad, Turks prepare for a fateful …The Guardian

Commission silent over crackdown on Turkish media group

EurActiv.com

Concerned with keeping Turkey on board to help the EU manage the migrant crisis, the European Commission declined on Tuesday (27 October) to comment on a crackdown on media by Ankara.

Darth Vader masks found in ISIL cells in southeast Turkey

Police have seized a number of plastic masks in the likeness of Darth Vader during searches conducted in houses rented by ISIL militants, daily Habertürk has reported

Turkey’s exemplary civil initiative is under threat

In contrast to diehard enemies of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), I usually argue that not everything about the ruling party is evil. Something good can come out of something bad

Turkey confirms shelling Syrian Kurds

BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirms that the Turkish military has attacked Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

The promise of gender parity: Turkey’s People’s Democratic Party (HDP)

open Democracy News Analysis – by Mona Tajali

The Turkish HDP’s egalitarian gender ideology played a key role in the election of a record number of women to parliament in June’s election. Can these gains be sustained in the political turmoil ahead?

Turkey election: Diyarbakir feels pressure

BBC News | Europe | World Edition