EFDbackup: 2015 at 01:04PM

Turkish court decides to continue detainment for imprisoned suspect of 21 years

An Istanbul court has ruled for the continuation of a 21-year-long detainment of a 42-year-old man, who has been standing trial for an anti-terror case since 1994.

Petition launched for journalist Baransu to be released immediately
Today’s Zaman (blog)
“When the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] was against military tutelage, the documents [for which Baransu is under arrest] released by Mehmet Baransu were taken into consideration by a prosecutor’s office and led to the Ergenekon[military ..

RESISTANCE AGAINST “GREEN ROAD PROJECT”: “Will Our Animals Hitchhike?

Bianet :: English2

People in Fırtına Valley of Black Sea Region gathered and responded to Green Road Project.

IPI welcomes top court’s ruling on Turkish journalist, expects progress

International Press Institute (IPI) has welcomed a Turkish Constitutional Court ruling that said a suspended prison sentence given to a journalist violated freedom of expression

Turkish winners matter for debate, loser certain

open Democracy News Analysis – by Murat Belge

The really important issue for AKP is to come to a decision about party policy. Do they endorse the Erdoğan style of “making politics”?

President Erdogan’s palace. Demotix/ Nathan Morley. All rights reserved.Who the winner is of the June 7 elections in Turkey is a matter for debate. Each one of the four major parties involved can point to some partial success. But the loser is certain. Tayyip Erdoğan, the president, and not a political party, is the loser of the elections.

Fidelity between couples not required after divorce case filed: Turkey’s top court

Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals has stated in a key ruling that fidelity among married partners would not be sought and be made the subject of a divorce after a divorce case has been filed

Three Turkish journalists awarded by EU body

Three Turkish journalists, including daily Hürriyet reporter Nurettin Kurt, were honored with the European Union Investigative Journalism Awards for the first time this year at a ceremony in Istanbul on June 29 for original investigative reporting in 2014 that had significant social impact in Turkey.

Grup Yorum celebrates its 30th year

Famous protest band Grup Yorum held its 30th anniversary concert in Istanbul after the ban on the concert was reversed by the court, with folk artist Joan Baez in attendance

Five transsexual prisoners hunger strike in protest of cell change

Four Spanish and one Azerbaijani transsexual prisoners have gone on hunger strike after they were moved to a different cell and separated from their previous Turkish transsexual cellmates, saying the Turkish inmates had been helpful in overcoming the language barrier

Parliamentary politics as the hot potato of post-election Turkey: progress or paralysis?

open Democracy News Analysis – by Julian de Medeiros

The elections have been widely interpreted as a revitalization of parliamentary politics in Turkey. Yet a paralyzed parliament’s inability to tackle key issues may prove the undoing of opposition promises of change.

Grand national assembly of Turkey main chamber. Wikicommons/VOA. some rights reserved.In politics, a Hot Potato is a topic so contentious that it causes damage to a candidate whether he shows himself to be for it or not. For a campaign to be successful, so argue strategists, such issues are best to be avoided altogether, or, better yet deflected onto the opposing candidate.