Türkiye

“Our lives are very worthless” – garment and textile workers decry rights violations one year after Turkey's devastating earthquakes

6 March 2024

“Our lives are very worthless” – garment and textile workers decry rights violations one year after Turkey’s devastating earthquakes

“As these flashpoints become increasingly the norm, [global] companies should be using their agility to deal with these crises in a way that improves supply chain resiliency and workers’ ability to make a living safely. When there is a dent to profits, the go-to should not be that suppliers, and [...]Read the full article

In south-eastern Turkey, the life-changing trauma of the Turkey-Syria earthquakes have cast a long shadow over the new school year

29 September 2023

In south-eastern Turkey, the life-changing trauma of the Turkey-Syria earthquakes have cast a long shadow over the new school year

According to the United Nations Population Fund, 2.5 million children in Turkey are in need of humanitarian assistance and psychosocial support following the devastating earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people across the Turkey-Syria border this [...]Read the full article

11 May 2023

Turkey’s political future is at a crossroads

Enis Coşkun: On 14 May, the people of Turkey will elect their president and members of parliament. A hundred years after the foundation of a secular state under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, these elections are crucial to the country’s [...]Read the full article

After one month of protests, Iranian women are still leading the charge to freedom

17 October 2022

After one month of protests, Iranian women are still leading the charge to freedom

The economic situation has grown worse with the pandemic and the restrictions on women’s rights have been tightened since Ebrahim Raisi became president in 2021. Poorer and with very limited opportunities, Iran’s women are calling for equal rights, and their demands and grievances are resonating [...]Read the full article

Syrian refugees returning home face poverty and danger

3 October 2022

Syrian refugees returning home face poverty and danger

According to Human Rights Watch, “Syria is not safe for refugee return”. In June, Muhammad Fawzi Akkad became the first Syrian refugee to win a case against Turkey when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkish authorities had unlawfully deported [...]Read the full article

Turkey's flagship online food ordering company is failing to deliver on workers' rights

21 January 2022

Turkey’s flagship online food ordering company is failing to deliver on workers’ rights

In Turkey, tech companies are pushing back hard against any attempts to unionise, to prevent riders from being able to demand basic labour rights.Read the full article

Turkey takes a step backwards on violence against women

1 September 2021

Turkey takes a step backwards on violence against women

“For decades women have struggled and have ultimately been able to gain rights such as voting, the right to stand for elections [passive suffrage], education, property and work. But women are now once again being forced back into the private [...]Read the full article

Uyghur refugees speak out against genocide and crimes against humanity

18 November 2020

Uyghur refugees speak out against genocide and crimes against humanity

Tens of thousands of Uyghurs have fled China in recent years since Beijing began its policy of subjugation and assimilation of the minority group. Around 60,000 of them have found relative safety in Turkey, but pressure from China has made their future [...]Read the full article

Lawyers, the last bulwark of judicial independence in Turkey, are under grave threat

8 July 2020

Lawyers, the last bulwark of judicial independence in Turkey, are under grave threat

“In Turkey, being accused of belonging to a terrorist organisation is a common accusation made against those working to defend human rights or on other political matters. The government doesn’t want us to defend such cases, it’s their way of preventing us from doing our [...]Read the full article

Will Turkey's thirst for dam building add an element of combustibility to a regional water crisis?

10 February 2020

Politics & economy

Will Turkey’s thirst for dam building add an element of combustibility to a regional water crisis?

“Turkey doesn’t care about the environmental assessment of the Ilısu Dam because the whole project is constructed from the viewpoint of politics.”Read the full article

Twenty years after the İzmit earthquake killed 17,000 people, is Istanbul prepared for another major earthquake?

29 November 2019

Twenty years after the İzmit earthquake killed 17,000 people, is Istanbul prepared for another major earthquake?

Istanbul’s speedy, unchecked development predates the Justice and Development Party (AKP) by decades. But 15 years of the party’s administration has pushed the city to its absolute limits.Read the full article

“We will continue until we win,” say the Turkish protesters taking on a major Canadian mining project

23 August 2019

“We will continue until we win,” say the Turkish protesters taking on a major Canadian mining project

“An ecosystem is the relationship between animals, plants and non-living elements in a region. Deforestation is about much more than just losing trees.”Read the full article

In Turkey, the right to freedom of association and unionisation remains under threat

7 June 2019

In Turkey, the right to freedom of association and unionisation remains under threat

“Suddenly, demonstrations were banned, and there were serious violations of freedom of expression. Thousands of people have been sent to prison for messages they published on social media, accused of belonging to or spreading propaganda for terrorist [...]Read the full article

Leyla Güven's last resort for justice

23 April 2019

Leyla Güven’s last resort for justice

“I will continue to protest until the judiciary has ended its illegal decisions and until this isolationist policy [against PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan] has ended. If necessary, I will lead this protest to the death.”Read the full article

Could the Şule Çet murder-rape trial change the way Turkish courts tackle violence against women?

26 February 2019

Could the Şule Çet murder-rape trial change the way Turkish courts tackle violence against women?

“What’s on trial here aren’t just these two villains. It’s the courts that give reductions for ‘unjust provocations;’ it’s those who don’t implement the Istanbul Convention; it’s those who say women and men aren’t equal by their nature.”Read the full article

Kurdish liberation in Turkey and Syria deserves global support, not continuing condemnation

13 February 2019

Kurdish liberation in Turkey and Syria deserves global support, not continuing condemnation

Steve Rushton: “The world should not list a democratic, feminist, refugee-welcoming and ecological revolution as terrorism.”Read the full article

Being a student in times of war: a different back-to-school story

9 November 2018

Being a student in times of war: a different back-to-school story

“Suddenly the planes begin to arrive. We hear them, we know we are in danger because our hearts start to race. We keep quiet and I try to stay in my place…then the person in charge of the school comes and sends us all home. It’s the only thing we can [...]Read the full article

Khashoggi is being used as a bargaining chip in Turkey's negotiations

8 November 2018

Politics & economy

Khashoggi is being used as a bargaining chip in Turkey’s negotiations

Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde: “If it were not for the fact that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan saw this terrible episode as an unexpected opportunity to try and strengthen his hand in relations with both Riyadh and Washington, the disappearance of the journalist would barely have received more attention than the many others who [...]Read the full article

Syrian refugees have a right to equal pay for equal work

20 June 2018

Syrian refugees have a right to equal pay for equal work

Kivanç Eliaçık: Ultimately, all workers must raise their voices in support of equal pay for equal work for everyone.Read the full article

As job precarity increases in post-coup Turkey, so do workplace death rates

29 May 2018

As job precarity increases in post-coup Turkey, so do workplace death rates

Ninety-eight per cent of the workers who lost their lives in 2017 were non-union or temporary workers.Read the full article

Out of sight, out of mind: Turkey's invisible workers

14 February 2018

Out of sight, out of mind: Turkey’s invisible workers

The media’s lack of interest in telling labour stories is directly related to the government’s lack of interest in hearing them.Read the full article

In Turkey, not even Charles Darwin is welcome

27 December 2017

In Turkey, not even Charles Darwin is welcome

The Turkish government has introduced controversial reforms to its school programmes. The most unpopular of all is the removal from the curriculum of the theory of evolution, considered “outdated and wrong”. But parents and teachers are organising the [...]Read the full article

Turkey: 140 workers demanding unpaid wages from Zara

8 December 2017

Turkey: 140 workers demanding unpaid wages from Zara

“I made this article you are about to buy and I have not been paid for it […] Please, tell Zara to pay us.”Read the full article

Turkey ploughs on with controversial €1.2 billion dam project

20 November 2017

Turkey ploughs on with controversial €1.2 billion dam project

“Turks, Kurds, Iraqis and Iranians should all be pressing their governments to use water as a tool for sustainable peace between communities rather than in ways that create conflict. Big dams are a threat to cultural heritage and to [...]Read the full article

8 May 2017

Politics & economy

The EU must continue engaging with Turkey

Gökay Sofuoglu: "Populist and unreflecting anti-Turkey positions will only result in strengthening non-democratic forces within Ankara’s political administration."Read the full article

TÜMTİS and the case that “threatens all trade unions in Turkey”

13 April 2017

TÜMTİS and the case that “threatens all trade unions in Turkey”

“TÜMTİS, along with other Turkish unions, has repeatedly faced challenges from often hostile local employers who have been emboldened by a government-sponsored culture of disregarding union rights.”Read the full article

The Syrian rappers caricaturing IS through hip hop

23 February 2017

The Syrian rappers caricaturing IS through hip hop

“There were no rap fans in Syria at that time. We were such an oddity. People in the community think you’re either gay or the devil if you’re a rapper.”Read the full article

“The Middle East will bring an end to the EU”

15 November 2016

“The Middle East will bring an end to the EU”

“Now it’s not just the poor, the rich are going to pay as well. Neither Erdogan, nor the US, nor Russia know what they are going to do tomorrow. They are all improvising”Read the full article

Erdogan's purge goes global

16 August 2016

Erdogan’s purge goes global

With millions of students deprived of an education, Pakistan risks compromising its domestic responsibilities by shutting schools at the behest of another governmentRead the full article

26 July 2016

The solution is democratisation, not a state of emergency!

Kani Beko: Declaring a state of emergency following a coup attempt that aimed to completely suspend democracy will solve none of Turkey’s problemsRead the full article

Foreign press in Turkey face prison and fines if they “exaggerate”

26 July 2016

Foreign press in Turkey face prison and fines if they “exaggerate”

Following the failed coup, the Turkish press is going through one of its worst periods in terms of safety and freedom of expression. But the international media has also been placed under close surveillance by the Turkish authorities and has become the target of attacks on social [...]Read the full article

The Gezi diaspora

23 May 2016

The Gezi diaspora

Turkey’s liberal elite has become a target for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the mass protests (brutally repressed) in 2013. For many of them, exile is now the only way to stay alive and live in freedomRead the full article

Turkey doesn't want to join Europe – it wants to undermine it

30 March 2016

Politics & economy

Turkey doesn’t want to join Europe – it wants to undermine it

Farhad Mirza: The EU’s appeasement policy towards Turkey’s ruling party is a betrayal of its own valuesRead the full article

Marrying a Turkish man to survive

15 March 2016

Marrying a Turkish man to survive

Many Syrian women refugees in Turkey are forced to marry a Turkish man through arranged marriages without legal guarantees.Read the full article

The renewal and repression of Turkey's civil society grassroots

30 December 2015

The renewal and repression of Turkey’s civil society grassroots

The volunteer efforts that have sprung up in Turkey following the Ankara attacks are part of a new wave of grassroots initiativesRead the full article

“I'm not a smuggler, I'm a humanitarian”

14 December 2015

“I’m not a smuggler, I’m a humanitarian”

“It is disgraceful that European leaders allow migrants to take life-threatening risks”Read the full article

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