IPS Communication Foundation – Bianet

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc announced that plans were under way to include online media under the mandate of the Press Law. The Alternative Information Association has criticised the process by which the bill is being developed, and its scope.

Ragip Zarakolu and Büşra Ersanlı were detained on 29 October as part of the police’s Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) operation. They remain in detention.

The agencies are the main source of news for newspapers and television channels and their statement has created concerns over whether the news is going to be “controlled right from the start”.

Hatip Dicle from the Labour, Peace and Democracy Block is facing prison sentences of a total of 10 years on charges related to a book he wrote in 2008 and a speech he made in 2009.

Folk singer Raziye Kizil has been subjected to ongoing judicial harassment for singing Kurdish folk songs; she currently faces a total of 10 years in prison on related charges.

Funda Uncu and Hasan Basri Ciplak are facing charges of “publishing obscenities” for translating and publishing the book “Olum Pornosu”; the work is the Turkish translation of American author Chuck Palahniuk’s book “Snuff”.

Baris Yarkadas and Sebnem Korur Fincanci were cleared of insult charges; they had earlier published an article about a physician who refused to recognise signs of torture in detainees.

The students were demonstrating against the Higher Education Council and the ruling Justice and Development Party and were faced with massive police intervention using tear gas and water cannons.