TURKEY

A selfie of three friends, Ezgi Sadet, Polen Ünlü and Dilan, taken at the celebrations in Bakırköy following HDP’s success in the general election when it won 80 seats in parliament, has become widely shared on social media following the Suruç Massacre.

(*We are not well, we shall not be well)

An explosion has taken place at the Amara Cultural Centre in Suruç, Şanlıurfa, where 330 Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF) members had gathered. The SGDF members were waiting to cross into Kobane where they were to support the reconstruction efforts of the town.

The Karaburun Municipal Directorate has withdrawn its support to the 10th Karaburun Science Congress because of the use of the term “1915 Armenian and Assyrian Genocide” in its call for attendance.

Pianist Tigran Hamasyan, who visited Turkey within the scope of his “Luys i Luso” tour, and later became the target of a discourse of hate from the Kars Ülkü Ocakları President, has published a statement.

A campaign has been initiated for the recognition of the ancient city of Ani as a “world heritage site” by UNESCO.

The procedure of investigating the ‘race code’ of students in state records for students applying to non-Muslim schools is to be abolished. A public mandate has been prepared to end the procedure that received a very strong reaction. According to the public mandate that will be published in the Official Gazette in the coming days, headmasters will have the authority over school registrations. Schools will now also have the right to recommend teachers of cultural courses in Turkish to the Ministry of National Education.

The victory YPG and Burkan al-Furat won in the Tell Abyad region of Syria has become a topic of broad debate both because of the refuge influx into Turkey, and the heavy defeat suffered by ISIS. We talked with HDP Mardin MP Mithat Sancar, who follows developments in the region closely, about the importance of saving Tell Abyad from ISIS, and the accusations directed at YPG.

The tension in Diyarbakır has increased once again following first the bombings at a HDP rally, and then the murder of 4 people. Helsinki Citizens Assembly Member Nalan Erkem and Mazlumder Diyarbakır Board Member Reha Ruhavioğlu, who were in the commission that visited the city for observations, have recounted the situation in the city. According to eyewitnesses, a jihadist streak has become more prominent in the region for months, and although everyone including the police has been aware of this, no one has acted to prevent the events.

We received an e-mail the other day: “Hi, it’s Lobna. A lot of people have called me for interviews, but I want to talk to AGOS as well.” So, computers were switched on in Berlin and Istanbul; and we talked about the two years that have passed since the police shot Lobna with a gas cannister during the Gezi resistance, the election results and her roots.