When Does Targeting Monuments Become a Human Rights Abuse?

April 11, 2014 at 8:30 AM

An Azerbaijani truck dumping pieces of destroyed Djulfa khachkars into the River Araxes in December 2005 (Photo Credit: Archbishop Nshan Topouzian).

An Azerbaijani truck dumping pieces of destroyed Djulfa khachkars into the River Araxes (Photo Credit: Archbishop Nshan Topouzian).

Turkey’s YouTube blackout may not be as chilling as the leaked tape that prompted the ban of the video-sharing website. In the March 2014 recording, top officials in Turkey seemingly discuss staging an attack against a sacred Turkish tomb in Syria for the purpose of justifying military engagement by Ankara.

Cultural monuments have been targeted by power-holders for millennia. Assyria’s Sargon II proudly documented his plunder of the Musasir temple in Uraratu 2,700 years ago. The Nazis, as illustrated in the recent Hollywood movie The Monuments Men¸ stole precious pieces of art for either a future ‘Führermuseum’ or a complete destruction, depending on the outcome of WWII.

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How Much Do You Know About Turkey’s Social Media Crackdown?

By Howard Eissenstat

April 2, 2014 at 1:15 PM

Turkish riot police use water cannon to disperse protesters outside the Supreme Electoral Council on April 1, 2014 (Photo Credit: Adam Altan/AFP/Getty Images).

Despite a number of disputes over vote counts and numerous allegations of impropriety, the municipal elections in Turkey held this past Sunday clearly gave the Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP a resounding victory.

Just as clearly, however, government actions in the lead up to elections, along with statements since, have given Turkish human rights advocates ample cause for concern.

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Justice for Ali Ismail Korkmaz: Two Quick Ways to Take Action

By Howard Eissenstat

March 18, 2014 at 12:27 PM

Thousands of people, holding placards that read “We are here for Ali Ismail and for justice” gather outside a local courthouse (Photo Credit: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images).

Ali Ismail Korkmaz was among those killed during the Gezi protests in Turkey last June. He would have celebrated his twentieth birthday today. Today, let’s work to ensure that his family sees justice done.

Korkmaz was savagely beaten on June 2, 2013 during the Gezi Protests. In a statement to authorities before he died, Korkmaz he described the attack:

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What is Behind the Latest Unrest in Turkey?

By Howard Eissenstat

March 13, 2014 at 1:36 PM

Berkin Elvan funeral attracted large crowds to mourn the death of the 15-year-old, who was hit by a teargas shell when he went to buy bread for breakfast during the Gezi Park protests in June 2013 (Photo Credit: Burak Kara/Getty Images).

A National Tragedy

Once again, Turkish streets are filled with voices of protest. And once again, those voices are choked with tear gas and buffeted by water cannon. The scenes on television and social media seem terribly similar to those which shocked the world during the Gezi protests this past June.

In fact, the immediate catalyst for these protests is directly tied to the terrible costs of police repression during the Gezi protests.

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Authorities Starting to Target Hospitals and Medical Personnel in Turkey

By Howard Eissenstat

January 15, 2014 at 12:29 PM

A bill passed by the Turkish parliament last week could give authorities new powers to prosecute doctors for giving unauthorized care (Photo Credit: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images).

One of the most shocking aspects of Turkey’s violent crackdown on peaceful protest has been the willingness of authorities to target medical personnel. Since then, not only have authorities not been held responsible, but the government has moved to increase legal pressure on medical personnel.

Amnesty has played a central role in researching this abuse. In its report on the Gezi Protests, Amnesty researchers describe in detail the extent to which those caring for the injured were themselves subject to police abuse.

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Why the Narrative You’ve Heard About Syria is Wrong

By Geoffrey Mock

October 31, 2013 at 11:12 AM

A Syrian refugee woman and children walk near their makeshift tents in central Ankara (Photo Credit: Adem Altan/AFP/Getty Images).

In the Za’atri refugee camp in Jordan, Syrian women are afraid to go to the restrooms at night, using the desert-like conditions around their homes rather than risk sexual assault.

In neighboring Lebanon, since August, numerous Syrians have been turned back from the border, forcing them to return to dangerous conditions where their lives are at risk.

In Egypt, many Syrian refugees face growing anti-Syrian sentiment among the populace and open hostility from Egyptian armed forces. Hundreds have been detained, and at least 66 have been deported back to Syria where they face arrest, violating international law.

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Tweet Hakan Yaman the Birthday Gift He Deserves: Justice

By Howard Eissenstat

October 10, 2013 at 8:52 AM

What Hakan Yaman most wants for his birthday – what he most deserves – is justice from the state that has so tragically failed him. Today, you can help him get it with a birthday greeting through twitter.

Yaman, the father of two, is one of the thousands of victims of shocking police violence which Amnesty has described in its new report on the suppression of freedom in Turkey during the Gezi protests. Yaman, himself, was not even a protester, but simply returning home from work during the course of the protests. Mistaken for a protester, he was attacked by police who beat him, and dragged him on top of a street fire. Before leaving him, one police officer gouged one of his eyes out.

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5 Things You Need To Know About the Gezi Protests

By Howard Eissenstat

October 2, 2013 at 9:24 AM

At least eight thousand injured, at least five confirmed deaths (with strong evidence linking at least three of these deaths to police abuse), many thousands detained.

As this powerful video produced by Amnesty International shows, the human cost of the Turkish government’s decision to suppress peaceful protests this past summer was immense.

In a major report issued today, Amnesty International has given compelling and comprehensive documentation of these events, providing detailed evidence of Turkish authorities suppression of freedom of assembly and expression.

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4 Quick Ways to Take Further Action on Turkish Abuses

By Howard Eissenstat

September 13, 2013 at 3:42 PM

A riot police fires tear gas at demonstrators during a protest in Istanbul, Turkey (Photo Credit: Bulent Doruk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images).

In Turkey, police violence against peaceful protestors continues. It is time for the world community to make its condemnation clear, not only through words, but through action. In this, Turkey’s most important ally, the United States, should take the lead.

In June and July, the world was galvanized by scenes of police violence against peaceful protestors in Turkey. Turkish police rained more than a hundred thousand tear gas canisters on its own citizens as they exercised their basic rights of freedom of expression and assembly. Hundreds of thousands of concerned individuals across the globe raised their voices against the abuses.

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6 Ways Turkish Authorities Are Cracking Down on Dissent

By Howard Eissenstat

August 8, 2013 at 4:04 PM

A Turkish police officer beats a demonstrator as people try to stop him during a protest near the entrance of Taksim Square in Istanbul (Photo Credit: Gurcan Ozturk/AFP/Getty Images).

The saying is almost the same in Turkish, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. On June 29, the New York Times published an op-ed by Turkish EU Minister, Egemen Bağış, in which he defended Turkey by arguing that the Gezi protests were evidence of Turkey’s mature democracy, describing protestors as a manifestation of a “vibrant civil society.” As noted in a brilliant take-down by my colleague at Amnesty USA, Bill Jones, this is the same Bağış who a few short weeks earlier had warned, at the height of the protests:

From now on, the state will unfortunately have to consider everyone who remains there a supporter or member of a terror organization…

Our prime minister has already assured [activists] about their aim with the protests. The protests from now on will play into the hands of some separatist organizations that want to break the peace and prioritize vandalism and terrorism.

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Human Rights Now Blog

Tag Archives: Turkey

How Much Do You Know About Turkey’s Social Media Crackdown?

Authorities Starting to Target Hospitals and Medical Personnel in Turkey

Tweet Hakan Yaman the Birthday Gift He Deserves: Justice

5 Things You Need To Know About the Gezi Protests

4 Quick Ways to Take Further Action on Turkish Abuses