Political ban on leading opposition figure, festival ban for the youth

Photo: AA

Click to subscribe to bianet Newsletter 

The Court of Cassation on Thursday upheld the prison sentences given to Canan Kaftancıoğlu, the İstanbul head of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).

One of the leading left-leaning politicians in the CHP, Kaftancıoğlu has been targeted by the government since she was elected the party's İstanbul chair in January 2018. An investigation into her social media posts had started days after she assumed office.

The tweets that were the subject of the lawsuit included some she shared during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. In September 2019, she was sentenced to a total of 9 years and 8 months in prison for five separate offenses — propagandizing for a terrorist organization, insulting a public official, insulting the president, openly degrading the state of the Republic of Turkey, and inciting people to animosity and hatred.

The Court of Cassation overturned the sentences for "terror propaganda" and "incitement" and upheld the others; hence Kaftancıoğlu was handed a prison sentence of 4 years, 11 months and 20 days. The top appeals court also upheld a political ban imposed on Kaftancıoğlu by the local court.

Intimidation

Kaftancıoğlu's sentence came weeks after the verdict in the Gezi trial, which also caused criticism for being "politically motivated." In response, CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu addressed the members of his party who gathered in front of the party's İstanbul office hours after the verdict was pronounced.

Addressing the crowd with Kaftancıoğlu and İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on his both sides, Kılıçdaroğlu called Erdoğan "a hypocrite" and an "opportunist."

"But your oppression and insolence are ending now," he remarked. "Don't forget this, Erdoğan, the voice of the people embodied by Canan is greater than you. Canan is brave. Canan is ours."

The mayor also condemned the sentence of Kaftancıoğlu, who is widely credited for helping his 2019 election win by ensuring election security to end the 25-year rule of Erdoğan's AKP and its predecessors in İstanbul.

Several groups in the European Parliament, and its rapporteur for Turkey, also condemned Kaftancıoğlu's sentence.

The next day, he visited SADAT, a military contractor linked to the president, only to not be allowed in the company's buildings, like in his visits to the Turkish Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Education.

Speaking to reporters in front of the company, Kılıçdaroğlu called SADAT "a paramilitary group training terrorists" and said it would threaten election security.

In response, an executive of SADAT told journalist Hadi Özışık that "Had SADAT trained terrorists, Mr. İmamoğlu could not be a neighbor of ours," noting that the mayor's house was very close to the company's headquarters.

Will Kaftancıoğlu be sent behind bars?

Some argued that the punishment given to Kaftancıoğlu was "finely adjusted" in order to ban her from politics while not incarcerating her.

Had the court upheld the sentence for "terror propaganda," Kaftancıoğlu would have to serve several years in prison, but now, she is expected to be released on probation immediately after going to prison in accordance with an order by the prosecutor"s office.

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, a human rights lawyer and a CHP deputy, told daily Cumhuriyet that Kaftancıoğlu should be released on the same day as per the criminal enforcement law, which was amended in 2020 due to the pandemic to allow the supervised release of prisoners three years before completing their sentences. 

Lawyer Rezan Epözdemir also said Kaftancıoğlu should be immediately released after the probation period and supervised release period applied to her sentence.

"When we look at the offenses that Kaftancıoğlu is convicted of, she will first benefit from probation: 4 years, 11 months and 20 days [of prison term] will be reduced to 2 years, 5 months and 25 days as per the criminal enforcement law," he told Habertürk. Since the three-year period of supervised release is longer than her sentence, she shouldn"t serve time in prison, he noted.

Governor bans music festival in "student city"

The Governor of Eskişehir on May 9 announced a 15-day public event ban, except for the events to be organized by political parties and celebrations of May 19 Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day.

Without making reference to a specific happening, the governor said the ban was issued to "ensure public order and public security, prevent crime, protect others' rights and freedoms and prevent the spread of violence."

Because of the ban, the Anadolu Fest, what was going to be the largest music festival in the city since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, was canceled. Eskişehir is known as Turkey's largest "student city" with a student population of nearly 100,000.

While musicians, opposition politicians and social media users criticized the ban, accusing the government of interfering with people's lifestyles, some defended the ban against what they called "an immoral event."

Mustafa Destici, an Erdoğan ally and the leader of the Great Union Party (BBP), said, "Not everyone can say it openly, but I'm saying it openly: I don't find it appropriate to exhibit haram [forbidden by Islam] things and behaviors, like beer or wine, under the guise of a music festival."

The government has remained silent against the criticism.

In recent years, spring festivals in many universities have been canceled or turned into "alcohol-free" events.

The midnight music ban that was introduced in April 2020 as part of the coronavirus measures is still in effect even though almost all other measures have been lifted. The Ministry of Interior pushed the start of the ban from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m., "considering the demands from tourists ahead of the summer."

What is happening in Hagia Sophia? bianet reporters visited Hagia Sophia after reports of damaged historical artifacts. They found a millstone used as a garbage bin, historical stones used as shoe cabinets, and a Hello Kitty balloon hanging in the air.

Migration

Turkey hosts five and a half million foreigners but "not all of them are refugees" Amid an intense public debate on the government's migration policies, the Ministry of Interior announced the number of foreigners residing in Turkey

"Why is the man who raped me not arrested?" A refugee woman from Iran was sexually assaulted by a man, allegedly with the help of two police officers. She is seeking justice

Pro-government business leader pleased with refugee workers as "locals snub hard labor jobs" A day after President Erdoğan reassured business people close to him that "we won't send refugees back," the head of MÜSİAD praised refugee workers, most of whom work informally. A few days before, the interior minister had said businesspeople who "exploit" the refugees would be the first ones to object to their repatriation.

Is there a connection between Turkey's economic crisis and refugees? According to experts, refugees are far from being the cause of the economic crisis in Turkey. As for unemployment, they are not an alternative to local workers, but fill the areas they have left.

Law and human rights

Top administrative court annuls ban on filming police officers during protests The General Directorate of Security last year issued a circular banning journalists from filming and photographing police officers during demonstrations and protests

DEVA Party's Metin Gürcan arrested two days after his release The academic and politician is facing "espionage" charges for providing political and military analyses of Turkey to foreign diplomatic missions. He says the pieces he has written are based on open-source information.

HDP closure case: Constitutional Court accepts "new evidence" The prosecution had submitted HDP deputy Semra Güzel"s resurfaced photos with a PKK member as new evidence for the party"s alleged connections with the outlawed group.

Court turns down appeal against arrest of Gezi convicts Seven convicts were remanded in custody even though the verdict is open to appeal.

Message from Gezi prisoners: Either hatred and arrogance or fraternity and freedom will prevail "We will defend justice, fraternity, conscience, freedom, and, of course," said the eight prisoners.

Gezi families speak out bianet is interviewing the families of those who lost their lives during the 2013 Gezi Park protests. Brothers of Ali İsmail Korkmaz, Medeni Yıldırım and Abdullah Cömert said the verdict in the Gezi trial was "politically motivated," and talked about the impunity in the cases of the killing of Medeni and Abdullah.

Politics and diplomacy

Erdoğan calls Sweden, Finland "terrorist guesthouses," opposes their NATO membership Sweden's foreign minister played down the president's accusations, saying that the two countries have "very strong" support from Turkey's NATO allies. Foreign ministers of Sweden, Finland and Turkey discussed the issue at a tripartite meeting on Saturday.

European Parliament adopts Turkey report: "Persistently further from EU values" Turkey's position in crucial geopolitical affairs "cannot be an alibi to further deepen the authoritarian trend in the country," said the parliament"s Turkey rapporteur

Babacan says governor banned his rally by "altering document after signature" The governor of Antep initially permitted the DEVA Party"s rally but later canceled it after "political pressure," Ali Babacan said.

Labor and economy

At least 129 workers were killed on the job in April In the first four months of the year, at least 479 workers were killed on the job, and Construction and transportation were the sectors with the highest number of deaths, according to the Health and Safety Labor Watch (İSİG).

Richest 20 percent in Turkey had nearly half of total income in 2021 The country's Gini coefficient stood at 0.410 in the last year while the relative poverty rate and severe material deprivation rate decreased compared to the previous year, shows TurkStat data.

Environment

Ministry of Tourism allows minister to expand his hotel project into forest in Bodrum Minister Ersoy's company demanded a 25-acre land be allocated for a holiday camp project; his ministry agreed.

What happened to the food products returned by Europe because of containing pesticide residues? According to the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), some 372 products were returned to Turkey in 2021. The No Pesticides on My Plate Platform demands an explanation of what happened to these products.

Millions of "disease-resistant" bees killed, stolen in Tekirdağ Unknown perpetrators broke into an apiary run by a university and the Ministry of Agriculture

Is Turkey ready for forest fires? Last year, 2,793 fires that broke out in Turkey burnt more than the area affected by fires in a decade. The measures taken by the government are mostly limited to increasing the number of firefighting vehicles and aircraft, says Prof. Tolunay.

Population of harmful insect species increases in İstanbul due to climate change Pine processionary moth caterpillars have been migrating to the north due to global warming and are now frequently spotted in İstanbul, experts warned.

More flamingo chicks hatched in 2021 despite mass deaths Nearly 1,900 flamingo chicks hatched last year in Turkey's Lake Tuz, one of the largest saline lakes in the world, according to official figures. Hundreds of flamingo chicks died in the drying parts of the lake last year. (Photo: AA/File)

Women&LGBTI+

Turkey again second-worst country for LGBTI+s in Europe In the last four years, Turkey ranked 48th in ILGA Europe's Rainbow Index, surpassing only Azerbaijan.

Court acquits two children detained during İstanbul Pride March So far, three of the six cases that were opened against the 40 people who had been detained during the 2021 İstanbul Pride Week have ended in acquittal.

Freedom of expression

RTÜK fines four TV outlets for broadcasting opposition MPs' comments on Gezi trial The media regulatory body has once again fined independent TV channels, this time for simply broadcasting politicians' comments

Journalist Nadire Mater wins "press card" lawsuit against Presidency's Communications Directorate Since it was authorized to issue press cards, the directorate hasn't renewed the press cards of 1,371 journalists and has revoked the cards of 1,238 journalists. Bianet Project Advisor Nadire Mater is one of them.

(VK)