NEWS
Kürkçü: Cabinet Meeting merely a spectacle
HDP Mersin Member of Parliament Ertuğrul Kürkçü, at a press meeting he held at Parliament today, commented on President Erdoğan’s decision to head the Cabinet at its meeting on January 19: “This meeting will be against procedure, and even against the spirit of the 1982 Constitution, it displays a vulgar use of authority which even junta leader Kenan Evren did not take the liberty to.”
Greece heads to early elections
In Greece, the third and final parliamentary vote to elect a President failed, leading to the dissolution of the Parliament. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has announced early general elections on January 25.
2014: Not “a great year”
Facebook might have bid farewell to 2014 with its message “It’s been a great year. Thanks for being a part of it!”, but it was a year with a lot of negatives, and very few positives for Turkey.
For a more ‘fun’ activism, try ArtAct
Armenian activist group ArtAct carries out creative actions against violence and harassment. The ArtAct group is trying to develop new methods beyond traditional activism in order to reach more people, and could inspire similar groups in Turkey.
İHD to organize Genocide commemoration events in 28 cities
The Human Rights Association (İHD) will organize Genocide commemoration events in 28 cities on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Property return sets legal precedent
Seized by the state with 1964 Decree, a landed property belonging to the former Ecumenical Patriarch Vapurci will be returned and registered in the name of his heirs by Supreme Court ruling. The legal victory paves the way for the return of other properties that were transferred to the Treasury with the Declaration.
Human Rights Organizations to establish ‘Foundation for the Investigation of Mass Graves’
Human rights organizations have taken the decision to act in cooperation to establish a ‘Foundation for the Investigation of Mass Graves’ under the supervision of the Human Rights Association (İHD). The work to discover mass graves will be carried out according to periods, such as the 1915 Armenian Genocide, Kurdish rebellions after 1925, and the Kurdish War.
Final Curtain in Armenian Genocide Monument Bargain in Switzerland
The Swiss Foreign Ministry has not approved the art project titled ‘The Streetlights of Memory’ to be erected in Geneva in memory of the Armenian Genocide.
Official 1915 document swept under the carpet
Journalist Murat Bardakçı has announced that a Turkish Historical Society [TTK] official removed ‘dispatch registers’ kept after the deportation law was issued in 1915 from the Ottoman archives, and hid them in the archive of another institution. According to Bardakçı, this was done not by official procedure, but was the outcome of an individual’s interference. Even the newly changed administration of the Turkish Historical Society does not know where these documents are located at present.