TURKEY

According to a report by Fıratnews, the AFAD camp for Kobane residents who fled ISIS and crossed the border to Suruç, is built on “Wargeha Mezin”, the site where thousands of Armenians were massacred in 1895.

The ‘Genocide Case’ hearing was held at the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on January 28. A high number of politicians and civilian society leaders from Turkey, Armenia and the Diaspora were present in the courtroom. The case has also attracted interest from the international press since Amal Clooney represents Armenia. It could take up to a year for the reasoned decision in the case to be issued.

The ‘race code scandal’ in minority schools continues despite a broad public outcry. In the most recent case, two students were barred from registering at Armenian schools. An official from the Istanbul National Education Directorate made a statement, saying, “We are checking the race status of the students”. İsmail Cem Halavurt, lawyer of the parents of the students who were not admitted to the schools, said, “The Ministry is committing a crime”.

Payam Akhavan, lawyer for the Human Rights Association and the Truth Justice Memory Centre, intervening in the Perinçek v. Switzerland case from Turkey, along with the Toronto-based Zoryan Institute: “Instead of presenting a defence here, Turkey should be prosecuting the likes of Doğu Perinçek and the Talat Pasha Committee.”

Birgül Ayman Güler, İzmir Member of Parliament for CHP (the Republican People’s Party), has resigned from her party. In a written statement Güler criticised the banner stating “Time to face the Genocide” carried by a group including CHP MPs during the Hrant Dink commemoration and the continuing ‘solution process’ for the Kurdish Question.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu made a statement regarding Doğu Perinçek’s case at the European Court of Human Rights: “We do not find it right that Mr. Perinçek is being tried for a thought he expressed. We must stand united for freedom of thought. All the modern world should.”

Responding to a parliamentary question, the government of Germany announced that it would not use the term “Genocide” for the 1915 Armenian Genocide, and that the appraisal of 1915 was primarily the responsibility of Turkey and Armenia.

The lost gravestone of Garabet Balyan, the architect of the Dolmabahçe Palace, and a member of the Balyan family praised by President Erdoğan as ‘competent masters’ of their art, was discovered at a Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality construction site in Kartal.

The court has announced its verdict in the case of Ali İsmail Korkmaz who was murdered in Eskişehir during the Gezi Resistance. The accused police officers Mevlüt Saldoğan and Yalçın Akbulut each received 10-year sentences, while the other accused police officers were acquitted. The bakery personnel involved in the murder each received sentences of 6 years and 8 months.

At the commemoration rally held in Malatya, an unidentified young man pulled a gun on the group. Police intervened before he could fire the weapon.