PRESS FREEDOM

BİA Media Monitoring Desk

2008 Media Monitoring Report

This report was published in Turkish on 16 March 2009.

According to the 2008 annual report published by the BİA Media Monitoring Desk, a total of 435 people were tried for their thoughts last year.

The report lists the trials and struggles of a total of 835 people. Violations of the freedom of expression are presented under seven headings: Attacks and Threats, Detentions and Arrests, Trials and Attempts, Corrections and Seeking Justice, European Court of Human Rights, Reactions to censorship, and Punishments by RTÜK.

Attacks and Threats

On 29 December, it emerged that the Trabzon Chief Public Prosecution had prepared an indictment on six gendarmerie officers accused of negligence in not preventing the murder of Hrant Dink. Following the statements of gendarmerie petty officer Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin, both of whom are on trial at the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace, Colonel Ali Öz, then Trabzon province commander, captain Metin Yıldız and four other gendarmerie officers under his command, Önder Aras, Hüseyin Yılmaz, Hacı Ömer Ünaldı and Gazi Güney, are to be tried for "neglecting their duty", with up to 2 years imprisonment. It is expected that the case of the other two gendarmerie officers will be merged with this case. Şimşek and Şahin are currently being tried without detention, and the next hearing of their case was to be on 4 February 2009.

The 9th Criminal Department of the Supreme Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the decree of Ankara's 11th Heavy Penal Court on the attacks on the State Council and the Cumhuriyet newspaper. Accused were Alparslan Arslan and eight other defendants. The Supreme Court said in its decision that because defendants were said to be linked to the Ergenekon organisation, the cases should be merged and reconsidered by the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court which is hearing the Ergenekon trial.

Kaan Gerçek, who is said to have gone around Istanbul with Ogün Samast, the defendant accused of shooting journalist Hrant Dink, prior to the murder, has retracted his statements made to the police and says that he does not remember anything. At the hearing on 13 October, the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court decided to demand that statements be taken from witnesses Ergun Çağatay and Kaan Gerçek, both not in Istanbul. Gerçek, who was doing his military service in Afyonkarahisar, made a statement in the presence of three lawyers of the Dink family. He had previously told the police and the prosecution "Ogün told me that he had killed someone called Hrant Dink. He showed me his gun and a photograph."  Gerçek now denies this statement and says that he cannot remember anything. Lawyer Belen says that they will file a complaint about the witness.

The broadcasts of local Hizmet TV, Hizmet Radio and Melodi FM in Ünye were suddenly cut off in the night of 11 November. A preliminary investigation showed that the plugs of the receivers had been pulled, thus interrupting the broadcasts. At around 11pm, the problem was fixed and broadcasts continued. However, the problem was repeated in the morning. According to eye witnesses, municipal personnel was in the cabin of the receivers at around 7.30 pm. Because the media organs had broadcast a news item saying 'The municipality is dumping rubbish at the riverside', sabotage is considered a distinct possibility. Ünye mayor Ahmet Arpacıoğlu is claiming that the broadcasts were stopped because they were affecting the municipal radio system, but that he hoped the problem would be solved soon.

Following a letter that widow Rakel Dink sent to PM Erdoğan in April 2007, the Prime Ministerial Investigation Committee started an investigation. It has now completed its report. The report says that although there was no intelligence on a planned attack on Dink, the gendarmerie and police did not take the necessary precautions. It also demands a new investigation into those who neglected to do their duty. The committee prepared a 200-page report and filled 27 files. As part of the investigation, the committee also spoke to suspects Erhan Tuncel, Yasin Hayal, Ogün Samast and Tuncel's flatmat Tuncay Uzundal. The committee came to the conclusion that if a prior bombing of a McDonald's in Trabzon had been solved, the murder would have been prevented.

On 12 November, the International Press Institute (IPI) started a "Denied Justice Campaign" to draw attention to unsolved killings and imprisonment of journalists around the world. Among the journalists listed was Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, a Cumhuriyet newspaper journalist who was killed in a bomb attack on 21 October 1999 in Ankara. Necdet Yüksel, who is said to have had connections to the "Tevhid" organisation, confessed in detention to taking part in the bombing of the journalist, who was known for his research on Islamic groups. IPI also noted that Yüksel claimed that Iranian diplomats had been involved in the murder.

Hayat TV cameraman Servet Mehrekula was attacked by private security personnel when he was filming the strike of Ekspres Kargo workers in Yenibosna who had not been paid for five months. He was beaten, and the attackers confiscated his recordings. They also attacked driver Enver Yalçın. Hayat TV announced that they would file a complaint.

Deniz Tuna, lawyer for the weekly Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper, complained that the prosecution was not acting effectively to deter the emails containing death threats, insults and racist comments. Following the murder of the newspaper's editor-in-chief Hrant Dink on 19 January 2007, the newspaper has filed 19 complaints with the prosecution in Şişli, Istanbul, but no cases have been opened yet. In addition, so Tuna, the prosecution was not approaching the emails as a racist crime. So far, two people ahve been punished with imprisonment for sending threats to Agos: Zafer Filiz received a 3-year sentence by the Şişli 9th Criminal Court for sending a racist and threatening message to the newspaper twelve days after Dink's murder. 19-year-old Rıdvan Doğan received a 2-year sentence by the same court for sending a threatening message after the murder.

Yasin Hayal, who is on trial in the Dink murder case as an instigator to the murder, is also being tried in the case concerning the bombing of a McDonald's in Trabzon. The Trabzon 1st Heavy Penal Court has reopened the case on the bombing, in which 6 people were injured. Hayal had been sentenced to six years eight months imprisonment on 17 April 2006, but he had been released 11 months later. Following the murder of Hrant Dink on 19 January 2007, he was again arrested. The next hearing is to be on 15 January 2009.

After some journalists covering the visit of the Prime Minister to Hakkari, southeastern Turkey, were attacked with stones, their colleagues protested during the parliamentary group meeting of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party. When party leader Ahmet Türk was speaking on 4 November, some of them left the room. Türk noticed this and said that his party had always supported press freedom and condemned all attacks on the press, including physical attacks. The G-9 Journalists' Organisations Platform wrote in protest at the attacks on TV reporters' vehicles in Hakkari and Yüksekova on 2 November. The Press Institute Association  and the national committee of the IPI also condemned the event as an attack "not only on those journalists present there but on the freedom of the press." The Dicle News Agency (DİHA) said that those journalists protesting were those who followed the PM around and did not normally cover DTP events, thus suggesting that the protest was organised by the Prime Ministerial press centre.

The Press Institute Association and the Turkish Association of Photo Reporters (FMD) condemned the attack of Hürriyet newspaper photo reporter Selçuk Şenyüz, who was attacked by hotel security personnel when he was on duty reporting on the wedding ceremony of the son of State Minister Murat Başesgioğlu at the Sheraton Hotel. The reporter was taken to hsopital and underwent a five-hour operation. It will take six months for him to recover completely. The IPI national committee said that using violence to obstruct the media was a violation of the people's freedom to be informed. The FMD called for an unbiased investigation by the hotel management, as well as the prosecution of those responsible.

On 23 October, the car of Haber 73 newspaper editor-in-chief Halil Çoşkun was found burnt out, parked next to Silopi State Hospital. The arson happened a day after demonstrations took place.

Osman Hayal, brother of murder suspect Yasin Hayal, whose denial of being in Istanbul on the day of Hrant Dink's murder has been disproven by evidence, is now on trial for taking part in murder and membership in a terrorist organisation. A secret witness had identified Hayal as the person next to hitman suspect Ogün Samast during the time of the murder. Osman Hayal is thus the 20th person on trial at the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court.

Vedat Yıldız, reporter for the Dicle news agency (DİHA), has filed a complaint after becoming the victim of police violence when observing a protest in the İdil district of Şırnak on 21 October. DİHA announced that another of their reporters, Murat Kolca, who was reporting on events in Adana was targeted by a tear gas bomb in the Toroslar district on hte same day. Mardin reporter Haşîm Abak has claimed that he was threatened by police in the Kızıltepe district on 20 October. On the same day, Ercan Öksüz, a reporter for the agency in Van who was reporting on a rally in the city demanding a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue, was attacked by the riot police.

The Trabzon Criminal Court decreed that two gendarmerie officers on trial for negligence in not preventing the murder of journalist Hrant Dink should be tried not at the Heavy Penal Court but at the Criminal Court of Peace from now on (21 October). Dink family lawyer Hakan Bakırcıoğlu said that they were told about the decision by telephone but were given no reason. The Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace had decreed at a hearing on 26 September 2008 that the trial of Officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin was outside of their duty and had decreed lack of jurisdiction.

On 15 October, Chief of Staff Ilker Başbuğ targeted the Taraf newspaper (without mentioning it by name) and other media organs reporting on the attack on the Aktütün gendarmerie station in Şemdinli, where 17 soldiers died. He said, "I invite everyone to be careful and stand in the right place". Ahmet Abakay, president of the Contemporary Journalists' Association (ÇGD), replied by saying, "I also call on Başbuğ to be more careful when making such statements.The media is not the whipping boy for the General Staff, the government, or other economic and political powers." Sedat Ergin, editor-in-chief of the Milliyet newspaper said, "This is not a style we are used to. He was aggressive. I do not approve of public officials using such an aggressive style, especially not in public." The Taraf newspaper, which had reported that an internal gendarmerie report said that intelligence on an attack was received prior to the attack, was attacked by Başbuğ, who said, "Legal steps have been taken against those leaking such information adn those using it. These are criticisms that are not based on true information and that overstep the mark."Galatasaray University lecturer and journalist Füsun Özbilgen said in reaction that Başbuğ should then disprove the claims by telling the truth, arguing that he could not get rid of the questionmarks hanging over the Aktütün attack in the public mind with such an attitude. Nurettin Öztatar, news editor of the Günlük Evrensel newspaper said that both Başbuğ's comments and the newly-organised weekly inormation meetings organised by the General Staff were attempts to force the media to tow the line.

On 13 October, the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court rejected the demand for an "uncensored" examination of intelligence reports relating to Erhan Tuncel, on trial as a suspected instigator in the murder of Hrant Dink and also a police informant. The court also rejected the opening of a trial against the Telecommunication Directorate (TİB).  The court opposed a new request for the intelligence report, composed by Police Intelligence chief Ramazan Akyürek on Tuncel. 75 pages of the 90-page report have been kept out of court because they are said to contain "state secrets" or details of private lives. Dink family lawyers said that a judge read the report, only found 15 pages relevant to the case and sent the rest of the report back. They demanded a renewed examination of the full report. In the report, which was sent to the court on 22 April, Akyürek said that Tuncel had been hired as a police informant on 17 November 2004 in order to control the activities of Yasin Hayal and the activities of groups going to areas like Chechnia to fight. The report also claimed that Tuncel had been found to be not trustworthy, and that relations had been ended on 23 November 2006. The next hearing of the court on 26 January 2009 will continue with the witness statements of Trabzon intelligence office chef Ercan Demir and Trabzon intelligence branch head Engin Dinç, both of whom were pointed out by Tuncel. The court will also hear the statements of police officers Metin Gündoğdu and Muhittin Zenit again, both of whom had given statements on Tuncel's request before. Joint attorneys had complained that they were not present when these witnesses were interviewed and had asked for renewed statements. The court, which is trying suspected hitman Ogğn Samast, suspected instigators Hayal and Tuncel, as well as five other suspects in detention, has also requested the files on the McDonald's bombing in Trabzon in 2004 and on the two gendarmerie officers tried for negligence at the Trabzon Criminal Court of Peace.

It emerged on 8 October that the Supreme Court of Appeals is demanding that the attack on the State Council, the Ergenekon investigation and the attacks on the Cumhuriyet newspaper be examined as a whole. Chief prosecutor Abdurrahman Yalçınkaya said that the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court, which was dealing with the attack on the State Council, had only been able to use documents and information on the Ergenekon investigation and attacks on the newspaper sent by 17 December 2007. The Supreme Court is thus demanding a new court decree based on an examination of all the documentation that should be sent from Istanbul to Ankara.

On 6 October, it emerged that Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran, former member of the Prime Ministerial Human Rights Consulting Board (BİHDK) had received a new threat by the Turkish Revenge Brigade (TİT) by email. Oran said that he had filed a complaint with the prosecution, but that his previous complaint five months earlier had had no results. Oran had been on trial for the "Minority Rights and Cultural Rights Working Group Report", and was later acquitted. He received a threat by TİT on 30 May. In their second message, those threatening him, also wrote, "You will not gain anything by complaining about us to the state. Look, we are still outside."

On 26th of September, Trabzon's 2nd Criminal Court of Peace sent the file of the two gendarmerie officers who were on trial for neglect of their duties prior to the murder of Hrant Dink to the High Criminal Court by ruling lack of jurisdiction.

Same as the witnesses heard before, Lieutenant Hüsamettin Polat, Branch Director of Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie's Fight Against Smuggling and Organized Crime Unit, told that accused petty officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin had informed their superiors, including Colonel Ali Öz, about the tip for the planning of the assassination of Hrant Dink. Polat told in his statement that Şimşek and Şahin had brought up the information Yasin Hayal's brother in law Coskun İğci had conveyed to them in the daily intelligence meeting held in July 2006.

"Colonel Ali Öz did not show the necessary sensitivity about the intelligence tip regarding Hrant Dink's murder. This was not neglect or ignoring the tip. This did not seem normal to me. I got suspicious. It is not intentional, but I cannot say neglect, either."

Murdered journalist Hrant Dink's family filed a complaint with the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) against the three judges for not doing their duty.

Lawyer Fethiye Çetin accused judges Atilla Sarp, İlhan Hanağası and Sadettin Yaman for "violating the law by making decisions without legal ground" and "restricting the effective right to apply to courts. The lawyers asked for legal and administrative investigation for the three judges. Completing their application on September 25, the lawyers wanted to initiate a legal and administrative investigation against the three judges and inspect their decisions. The application of the lawyers emphasized the fact that the court had ended on June 27 the 1,5 year long investigation by the inspectors of the Ministry of Interior with one paragraph long decision without any legal ground. The investigation was conducted to determine the role of the  Istanbul Police Department in the murder of Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007. The Regional Administrative Court refused to grant permission for the investigation of any of the officers, in spite of the information the inspectors were able to uncover against the officers and the conclusion by the experts that they had some responsibility in the matter.

The lawyer emphasized that this decision ended the chance to prosecute Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, Intelligence Branch Director Ahmet İlhan Güler and the eight police officers.

Reporter Turan Aktaş of  the daily Taraf newspaper  filed a criminal complaint against the police officers who manhandled him during an identity inspection and the Medical Examiner's Officers for submitting a report stating there was no manhandling. The reporter said he had gotten into a discussion about the matter of identity inspection at the Söğütlüçeşme train station with the police officers when he was trying to make a report and after the discussion he was twive manhandled for taking their pictures. The officers, on the other hand, said they manhandled him since he was taking pictures.

After the newspaper of the Doğan Media Group started making news about the Lighthouse (Deniz Feneri) fraud case in Germany and possible connections with the association sharing the same in Turkey and the Justice and Development Party, the Prime Minister attacked the Doğan Media Group, accusing them of shady deals. In return, Doğan accused the Prime Minister of blackmailing them. Assoc. Prof. Aslı Tunç, Head of the Media and Communications Systems Department at Bilgi University said,  "The latest polemic between the Prime Minister and a media boss, threatening each other through the media organs, has reminded us one more time how important democracy is."

At the second week of his accusations directed at the President of the Doğan Group Holding Aydın Doğan, Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdoğan attacked the International Pres Institute (IPI) and the World Press Councils Union (WAPC) for criticizing him in the foregoing altercation. The Prime Minister accused the said organs as being under the control of Doğan. Condemning the threats directed at the Doğan Media Group, IPI President David Dadge demanded Erdoğan take back his ultimatum to the group and stop the pressure on the media. WAPC President Oktay Ekşi also reacted to the Prime Minister's remarks. The Turkish Journalists Association (TGÇ), the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) and the Committee of the Publishing Freedom of the Turkish Writers Union (TYB) protested the Prime Minister As well. Ferai Tınç, President of the Press Institute Association and a columnist for daily Hurriyet, said he could not accept the Prime Minister's attack. President of the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) Gavin O'Reilly and the President of the World Editors Forum Xavier Vidal-Folch expressed great concern in the letter they wrote to the Prime Minister at the attempts to prevent the press freedom.

The headquarters of daily Yeni Şafak was attacked the second time in the last five months. It was concluded by the police that the broken window that was found in the morning of August 31 was broken because of a gunshot from outside. The same building was attacked on July 4, 2001 and May 5, 2008.

In Mustafa Kınalı's report entitled "Two people took Ogün to Hrant", which appeared in the newspaper Hurriyet, Associate Doctor Emin Gürses, who was arrested in connection with the Ergenekon case, tells that there were two individuals with Samast when he went to kill Dink and he learned this from a university student, a woman who witnessed the incident. This explanation, which appears on the 159th page of  the 137th folder in the  appendices of the Ergenekon indictment, is based on the telephone communication Gürses had with an individual who he called "Paşam". These statements in Gürses' telephone interview appeared in the media: "Now the kid (Ogün Samast) who went to kill Hrant Dink went there with two other individuals. The father of the girl who saw this told us, 'My daughter saw them. They were speaking about the event and my daughter was behind them.' The girl is a first-year student in a university. These men and this kid went and killed Hrant Dink. These men are not around. These men took this kid to Hrant Dink's door. Their identities are not known." This new evidence confirmed the images that appeared during the Show TV news showing Dink's murderer with two other people.

The internet sites of www.antenna-tr.org , which publishes the news and information about the activities of the Initiative Against the Thought Crime regarding the freedom of expression, and www.ortakpayda.org, which presents the activities for the common ground searches in the society, were hacked on July 24. Hearing that their site was hacked by a group so bold not to hide their identity, Şanar Yurdatapan, the spokesperson for the initiative, called upon the Prime Minister, the Telecommunication Institution, the Minister of the Interior and the Justice and the prosecutors conducting the Ergenekon investigation to do their jobs. Yurdatapan says these individual who describe themselves as "Sabotage TIM" organize through an internet site named www.atabeyler.org. He wants these internet pirates be investigated thoroughly to determine whether or not they were connected with the Ergenekon organization.

Senior Major Ali Oğuz Çağlar, who was on duty at Trabzon at the time of Dink's murder, said petty officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin, who are on trial for breach of duty at the 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, had done their duties. Çağlar confirmed that the intelligence reports about Dink's assassination plans had come up at a meeting with Trabzon gendarmerie officials but was ignored by Colonel Ali Öz. Gendarmerie informant Coşkun İğci, Sergeant Major Hüseyin Yılmaz, Master Sergeant Hacı Ömer Ünalır and accused Şimşek and Şahin, who were heard by the court previously, had given the above statement about Colonel Öz's involvement.

The subcommittee of the Human Rights Investigation Committee of the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) announced its report about Hrant Dink's Murder on July 23. The report stated that the state was at fault in protecting the life of its own citizen. President of the committee and Bursa deputy for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Mehmet Okutan, who declined to answer the questions of the journalists, said, "We have reached the decision that there was fault, negligence and lack of coordination both in gendarmerie and police organizations."

After going to the European Human Rights Court (ECHR) twice for the Trabzon Gendarmeries and Police officials who did not process the tips regarding Hrant Dink's murder, lawyers of the Dink family are getting ready to go to the ECHR for Celalettin Cerrah as well. Following the preliminary investigation by the inspectors of the Ministry of Interior, Istanbul Regional Administrative Court had decided on June 27 that there would be no investigation against Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah and the seven officials. The decision stipulated that Intelligence Branch Director Ahmet İlhan Güler, Intelligence Branch Vice Director Bülent Köksal, Chief of the Office of the Intelligence Branch İbrahim Pala, Section Chief Şevki Eldivan, Desk Chief Volkan Akbulak and police officers Bahadır Tekin and Özcan Özkan had no fault in Dink's murder and therefore there was no need to grant permission for their investigation.

The court was finally able to take Trabzon Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment commander Colonel Ali Öz's statement after one and a half years. Giving his statement at Bursa's 1st Criminal Court of Peace on July 21, Öz argued that Intelligence Office Director Captain Metin Yıldız informed him about Hrant's Dink murder of January 19, 2007 by calling him on his cellular phone during his visit at Zigana Mountain in the Black Sea region of Turkey. When asked about the statements of Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin that the intelligence reports about Dink's assassination plans had come up at a meeting with Trabzon gendarmerie officials, Öz, who appeared at the court as a witness, said, "This subject did not come up at this meeting. I do not remember it."

Describing Metin Yıldız, Ali Oğuz Çağlar, Hüsamettin Polat, Gazi Günay, Hüseyin Yılmaz and Gökhan Asla as his staff, Öz declined to answer lawyer Cinmen's question if there was an animosity between him and them since he said he did not want to answer. When Dink's lawyers asked if the signature on the Form for Recording and Communicating Information of the Provincial Gendarmerie Command was his, Öz's answer was affirmative. When he was reminded that Yıldız stated for Bolu Criminal Court of Peace on June 9 that he had told him during an intelligence meeting where Okan Şimşek, Veysel Şahin and other commanders were present as well that Hrant Dink was going to be murdered, Öz said that he did not remember if this subject was brought up.

On July 20, Trabzon Governor Nuri Okutan announced that they had reached the decision to launch an investigation about Trabzon's Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Öz and former Intelligence Branch Director Senior Captain Metin Yıldız for their involvement in Dink's murder. Ergin Cinmen, of the lawyers of the Dink family, demanded the cases in TrabzonIstanbul must be combined and added that otherwise the justice would not be served in Dink's case. and

Fethiye Çetin, one of the lawyers for the Dink family, said that they were following the news about the inspectors from the media, since they received no notification about it. She told that the report was going to be submitted to Trabzon Governorship's Provincial Administrative Council and they were planning to get involved depending on the decision of the council.

In the sixth hearing on July 7, Istanbul's 14th High Criminal Court, which is trying the Dink murder case, decided to continue keeping the eight accused under arrest. In spite of the constant demands by Dink's lawyers, the court refused to combine the Trabzon Gendarmerie case with the Dink murder case.

Complaining that he became a suspect in the case he had started as a witness, gendarmerie informant Coşkun İğci said that he had done his duty as a citizen and tried to prevent Hayal from carrying out Dink's murder. He further added that once he had realized he could not have prevented him anymore, he had informed the gendarmerie about Hayal's plans. He was also able to delay the murder for one, one a half months up until October 2006 by telling Hayal that he was going to buy a gun. After this, he said, he had never seen Hayal anymore. İğci repeated the same testimony that he had given during the Trabzon trial and said that among the accused, he had only known Ahmet İskender.

When he asked how many times he met with gendarmerie he told that he knew the gendarmerie people with whom he was in touch since 2004 and he met with them five, six times after the intelligence reports about Yasin Hayal.

The court heard the statement of Hakkı Bahadır Cihan, son of Yaşar Cihan, a provincial chairperson of the Great Unity Party (BBP). He told the court that there was no connection between the BBP and the "Alperen Ocakları" (Hero-Dervish Hearths), claiming that Metin Gündoğdu's statement "our people were going to do the Dink job, they messed it up" was transmitted wrongly. The court heard the testimonies of Ogün Samast's relatives Yaşar Samast and Aslan Samast, and Ahmet Emin Özmete, who saw Ogün Samast running after the murder, Agos employee İnan Murat and Agos advertisement section employee Kristin Dellaloğlu.

Ergin Cinmen, one of the lawyers of the Dink family, argued that the law regarding the prosecution of the state officials and other public officials blocked the investigation and prosecution of those within the state who were responsible for the murder. He said that the said law blocked the three of the four fields of the legal struggles regarding the case. He pointed out to the fact that none of the officials from the Istanbul Police Department whose neglect in the murder had been shown were being prosecuted.

When writer Latife Tekin was speaking at the Karabük Culture Festival she had been invited to, the microphone was switched off. During the event, which took place at the end of June, Tekin was criticising the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AKP) "despicable energy policies." AKP mayor Hüseyin Erer jumped up, saying, "You came here with my money. You cannot talk, you cannot do politics here." The writer replied, "No you didn't give me any money, I paid myself to com here. I am talking. I oppose nuclear power stations and I have the right to say that. If I am making a scene here, have me taken into custody." She said she would not leave the podium. She said, "When I used to come to Karabük, it was different. Now when I come I see that the majority of women is covered...Here and in Turkey, there is an ugly urbanisation which is destroying the environment we live in. But these cities will collapse around us...They came from the bottom and have taken control of the big cities. I don't like those guys...They tok the government. The media has gained a lot of power...Because everything is in their control....The people cannot say anything, nor can teh poor. As soon as you say something, you get the stick." The Women Writers' Committee of Turkey's PEN and the Contemporary Journalists' Association (ÇGD) spoke out in support of Tekin.

On 10 June, the trial of gendarmerie officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin, acccused of negligence before the murder of Hrant Dink, continued. The Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace listened to witnesses gendarmerie sergeant major Hüseyin Yılmaz and sergeant Hacı Ömer Ünalır, attached to the Trabzon province gendarmerie command.  Their statements confirm that there was negligence at the top level in the gendarmerie, beginning with gendarmerie commander colonel Ali Öz. Yılmaz stated that when the defendants received intelligence, they started to do some research. He also said that Ünalır spoke with Şimşek and was told "I have spoken with the boss, he will tell you what to do later." Ünalır said in his statement that they had received intelligence six months before the murder, but that he found out that the police had received the information a year before. Later, he was not involved in the case any more. He addded, "according to our system, there had to be an organisation for it to cout as terrorism. Dink's murder was not terrrorism, it was a case for the law and order department."

On 9 July, the court case concerning the photos taken of Ogün Samast, suspected hitman of Hrant Dink, will continue. There were "souvenir" photos with Samast and a flag on which it said "The soil of the fatherland is sacred and cannot be deserted." The Samsun 4th Criminal Court of peace will consider the demands of Dink family lawyers that the court hear not only the witnesses chosen by the Samsun police but all witnesses on duty. The Samsun prosecution had opened a trial, but not because the officers posed on photos with Samast, but because Samast was taken to the tea room instead of a cell, because permission for taking photos was given and because the photos were leaked to the media. Metin Balta from the Anti-terrorism branch has been accused of abusing his position by being negligent. He faces between six months and two years imprisonment. Police officer Ibrahim Fırat faces up to five years imprisonment for violating the secrecy of the investigation and leaking the photos to the press.

Metin Yıldız, who was Captain in Trabzon at the relevant time, gave a statement on demand of the Trabzon Criminal Court of Peace. He accused Trabzon Gendarmerie Regiment Commander Ali Öz. On 9 June, he told the Bolu Criminal Court of Peace that "we told Ali Öz a year before that Yasin Hayal was making plans." Ergin Cinmen, a joint plaintiff, said that Yıldız stated that he had told Öz about the intelligence  in person and told other gendarmerie officers during a meeting.

After his acquittal by the court for the case about the "Minority Report and the Cultural Rights Work Group Report", Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran, a former member of the Human Rights Advisory Board of the Prime Ministry (BIHDK), has been threatened by the Turkish Revenge Brigade (TİT)with an e-mail sent on May 30. Baskın Oran, who filed complaints regarding similar threats previously, told Bianet that since the name of the organization in the e-mail was seen in connection with other incidents, he was planning to file a complaint through his lawyers today (June 4). The message, which was sent from zerkama@hotmail.com, claims that he will be the new target. Several organisations called on the government not to ignore such a threat to human rights activists in a shared statement: the Peace Initiative, Helsinki Citizens' Charter, the Human Rigths Studies Association, the Human Rights Association, the Human Rights Agenda Association, MAZLUMDER and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.

On 4 June it emerged that there were new recordings on security cameras in the murder of Hrant Dink. Recordings from an bank ATM and from a company's security camera reveal that there was a second person with suspected hitman O.S. During the time of the muder, the person was waiting at the scene of the crime, spoke on the phone and was seen again on cameras on O.S.'s flight path. This person waited in front of Agos newspaper office for a long time and then went into a side street and disappeared in a building site.

When, on 4 May, Vatan newspaper reporter Alper Uruş, photo reporter Ilker Akgüngör and driver Ahmet Şener went to Beykoz, Istanbul, in order to report on two villas said to be owned by the leader of the Ismailağa sect, Mahmut Hoca, they were attacked. After they had taken photos of the villas and were preparing to return, eight people blocked the path of the car. The attackers forced them out of the car, beat up Akgüngör and confiscated the camera and his bag. Following the complaints of the journalists, eleven people were taken into custody but later released. Uruş said that he had made a statement to prosecutor Orhan Korkmaz on 8 May and expected those responsible to be tried.

The Turkish Society of Journalists (TGC) said that columnist Hıncal Uluç had been insulted in a statement by the Fenerbahçe Football club, and that singer İbrahim Tatlıses had also verbally attacked journalists. This, in addition to the attack on the Vatan journalists showed that 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, had turned into a week of attacks on journalists. The Press Institute Associaction also condemned the attacks.

On 4 May, the building of the Yeni Şafak newspaper in Bayrampaşa, Istanbul, was attacked by armed people at 11.50 pm. The unknown person or persons shot at the building front facing the main road five times. Windows in the building broke. The eight employees working at the time threw themselves to the ground. The police examined security cameras. The newspaper announced that it suspected that the attack was a reaction to recent coverage of illegal gangs. The Press Council called on the civilian authorities and the police to do their duty. The attack was condemned by the Turkish Journalists' Society, the Press Council, the Trade Union of Journalists in Turkey, the Association of Contemporary Journalists and the Reporters' Association. The Foundation of Journalists and Writers, as well as the management of the Hürriyet and Radikal newspapers, called the paper to express their solidarity.

Cumhuriyet photo reporter Ali Deniz Uslu was attacked by police when covering the 1 May protests. His right arm was broken at the elbow. Reporter Esra Açıkgöz from the same newspaper was also attacked. Dozens of journalists were unable to carry out their jobs due to the tear gas bombs and pressurised water cannons used by security forces to prevent workers and protesters from reaching Taksim Square. The newspaper's lawyer Tora Pekin said they would file a complaint. Both journalists had identified themselves and shown their press cards, but police continued to attack them. In Şişli, AA camera man Engin Morgül and Reuters camera man Bülent Usta were affected by the pressurised water, and their cameras broke. The Turkish Society of Journalists (TGC) said that the police used "excessive force". The Trade Union of Turkish Journalists accused the police of using violence "knowingly and willingly."

At the fifth hearing of the Dink murder trial at the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court on 28 April, two police officers who had reported that suspect Yasin Hayal had said "(Writer) Orhan Pamuk should be careful" on the way to court were heard. When Hayal said in court that "I am disgusted by Hrant Dink with hatred", joint attorney Erdal Doğan asked whether Hayal knew Dink before the McDonald's bombing. Hayal said that he did not. Then Doğan asked whether Hayal had been influenced by the visits of retired general Veli Küçük and Levent Temiz, former president of the nationalist "Hearths of Ideal" when Hayal was in prison after the bombing. Hayal panicked at the question and shouted, "You are lying, you are lying." Defendants İrfan Özkan and Numan Şişman, both on trial without detention, said that they saw two 7.65 guns in Erhan Tuncel's house. Coşkun İğci, added to the case as a 19th defendant, was not questioned because he did not have a lawyer.

Hrant Dink'in öldürülmesiyle ilgili davanın sanıklarından Erhan Tuncel, polis Muhittin Zenit'le telefonda BBP lideri Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu'yla davanın bir başka sanığı Yasin Hayal'in durumuyla ilgili görüşeceğini söylüyor. NTV'nin duyurduğu habere göre, Tuncel konuşmada Yazıcıoğlu'ndan "Muhsin Başkan" diye söz ediyor; Zenit'e Yazıcıoğlu'nun Trabzon gezisinin programını bildiriyor. "Uçak 8'e çeyrek kala iniyor. Partide yemekli basın toplantısı, partililerle görüşme, cuma namazı, sonra sanayide esnafla görüşme." Tuncel Yazıcıoğlu'yla Yasin Hayal'in durumunu konuşacaklarını, görüşmeye Hayal'in avukatının katılacağını da anlatıyor: "Yasin konusunda görüşeceğiz. Avukatı da çağıracağız, avukat da gelecek. Yasin'in sonraki ceza olayını mı? Hı hı, tamam görüşürüz." Yazıcıoğlu, Dink'in ölümünden önce Tuncel'le görüştüğü iddialarını yalanladı; Tuncel'i kast ederek "Sanki bizzat görüşmüşüm ve görevlendirmişim gibi bir imaj oluşturulmaya çalışılmaktadır" dedi.

Former Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Öz and fromer Gendarmerie Intelligence Branch Head Captain Metin Yıldız did not answer the questions of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee's Hrant Dink murder Sub-Committee on 24 April. Öz said, "We cannot say anything before making a statement in court. But once we have talked in court, we can give you detailed information. Our respect for parliament made us come."

On 18 April it emerged that the Istanbul Governor's Office's Administrative Board has denied permission for an investigation into Istanbul's Chief of Police Celalettin Cerrah, who has been accused of ignoring the warnigns of the Trabzon police prior to Dink's murder and thus of being guilty of negligence. Following the demand of widow Rakel Dink, the board met and decided to allow the questioning of six of the eight police officers in question. The board's decision, signed by Istanbul governor Muammer Güler, allowed for the questioning of intelligence unit head Ahmet İlhan Güler, intelligence unit office head İbrahim Pala, department head İbrahim Şevki Eldivan, desk head Volkan Altunbulak and police officers Bahadır Tekin and Özcan Özkan. Permission for an investigation into Cerrah, as well as intelligence unit vice head Bülent Köksal was denied.

Dink family lawyers have called for a merge of the investigation into 10 soldiers in Trabzon by the Trabzon prosecution (including Colonel Ali Öz), with the main murder trial heard at the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court. The lawyers pointed out that these officers were part of the murder through their negligence and that their falsification of documents made the murder possible. The lawyers have filed their demand with the Istanbul prosecution.

The Human Rights Association (İHD) has demanded that an investigation be started into the listing which the General Staff made of NGOs receiving support from international institutions, arguing that such an involvement by the military in civil life represents a violation of the rule fo law and democratic principles. The Taraf newspaper had reported that Marine Infant General Staff Colonel Dursin Çiçek had prepared a 73-page report and sent it to General Işık Koşaner, then vice-chief of General Staff, in March 2006. The list speaks of institutions "receiving financial help from US and EU projects that want to split up Turkey". bianet was also on the list, as was the Association for the Support and Education of Women Candidates (KADER), Açık Radio, Bilgi University, the History Foundation, and dozens others.

The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) has condemned the behaviour of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan when he spoke to TİVH board member Sezgin Tanrıkulu in a meeting. Erdoğan said, "you are telling lies, you are not honest". TİHV: "In a democracy, politicians and those with public power need to be open to and tolerate criticism. The way they respond to such criticism is a direct measurement of the culture and level of democracy." Tanrıkulu had replied to the PM, "I don't let anyone question my honesty, you can't insult me." The argument had taken place at the beginning of April, when Tanrıkulu had told the PM that the government would have to take political as well as economic steps in order to solve the Kurdish question. Tanrıkulu said that the PM was "not informed enough" about the right to education in one's mother tongue or was deliberately ignroing demands for the right of Kurds to learn and use their mother tongue.

Following the confession of two gendarmerie officers that there were no preventative measures taken prior to Dink's murder, Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace judge İzzet Kabal filed a criminal complaint against Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Öz and nine other gendarmerie officers. The judge was transferred. In his place, judge Şevki Uluçam was brought in, a judge who released Yasin Hayal, now a defendant in the Dink murder case, after 10 months imprisonment in the McDonald's bombing case.

On 6 April, Hürriyet newspaper journalist Ahmet Hakan wrote in his column that lawyer Kemalettin Gülen threatened him after his March 31 column. He had criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the column and had written that  not even a toy gun was fired when Adnan Menderes, a former Prime Minister, was hung. Gülen is alleged to have threatened Coskun by saying "if the party is closed you will see whether a toy gun or something else will be fired" according to the indictment of the case. Hakan claimed that the lawyer was a close relative of sect leader Fethullah Gülen, a cousin or nephew. Hakan also said that Alparslan Arslan, convicted of attacking the State Council and killing one judge and wounding others, mentioned Kemalettin Gülen several times in his first statement in court. He also claimed that lawyer Gülen called Mustafa Birden, one judge wounded in the attack, at home and swore at him.

The Parliamentary Human Rights Committee's Sub-Committee investigating the murder of Hrant Dink was unable to hear Colonel Öz and four other soldiers on 2 April. The Sub-Committee had written a letter to the Ministry of the Interior on 27 March, inviting gendarmerie officers Hüseyin Yılmaz, Hacı Ömer Ünalır, Cevat Eser, Metin Yılmaz and Ali Öz to a meeting where they would give information.

Fethiye Çetin, joint attorney in the Hrant Dink murder case, told Neşe Düzel in an interview in the Taraf newspaper, "there are many connections between Ergenekon and the murder of Hrant Dink. With the statements of the two gendarmerie officers, we can reach those in the Ergenekon organisation who are still active in the police and gendarmerie wing. This is a great opportunity."

Following a hand grenade attack during the time of the State Council attack, the Cumhuriyet newspaper was attacked with Molotov cocktails around two years later. Around three people ran towards the newspaper office, which is surrounded by a wire fence, on 29 March, at 11.24 pm, and threw Molotov cocktails. A journalist leaving the area by car followed them. Nine people were taken into custody, and four of them arrested. Fatih D., Murat A., Bedirhan Ş. were arrested for endangering general security. Umut E. was taken to the Children's Department and later arrested for membership in a criminal organisation and a deliberate arson attempt. Davut Yıldız and underage C.Y. and O.A. were released to be tried without detention. On 5 and 10 March 2006, attempts had been made to attack the newspaper building with hand grenades, and on 11 March the building was damaged in a renewed hand grenade attack.

Several reporters were attacked by police following the riots after the ban on Newroz celebrations in Hakkari's Yüksekova where one person died. Senar Yıldız (İhlas News Agency, İHA), Hamit Erkut and Erkan Çobanoğlu (Doğan News Agency, DHA), Necip Çapraz (A.A. reporter and license holder of the Yüksekova News newspaper), Şevekt Yılmaz (Cihan News Agency, CHA) and Sami Yılmaz (Dicle News Agency, DİHA) were all attacked by riot police at the protests, where people were being taken into custody. Yıldız was hit on the head with a heavy object and had to have an X-ray of his head and stay in hospital for observation. Çapraz' camera was broken. The Turkish Society of Journalists (TGC) and the South-East Society of Journalists condemned the attacks.

The trial of four people accused of sending Prof. Dr. Baskın Oran email threats started at the Ankara 9th Criminal Court of Peace. Following his complaint, the IP addresses of the senders identified them as Kamil Sağlık, Dursun Kaya (working as a night watchman for the Agricultural Businesses General Directorate (TİGEM)), Figen Arslan, an office worker at the Directorate's Trade Department, and Kezban Kılıç. They all denied the accusations at the first hearing. The trial will continue on 14 May. Another trial, concerned with death threats to Oran sent from an Internet café in Samsun, will continue at the Ankara 4th Criminal Court on 6 June.

On 20 March, gendarmerie officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin, on trial for negligence at the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace in connection with the murder of Hrant Dink, confessed that they told their intelligence chefs Ali Öz (then Trabzon gendarmerie commander) and Metin Yıldız about information that murder suspect Yasın Hayal had come to Istanbul prior to the murder on a reconnaissance mission. The two defendants said that they found out in July 2006 that Hayal had come to Istanbul and researched the Agos newspaper and Hrant Dink's home. Following the order of Öz, they had prepared a fake document which said that they got this information from informant Coşkun İğci not before but after the murder, on 20 January (one day after the murder in 2007). The court then filed a criminal complaint against Öz and Yıldız, as well as Hüseyin Yılmaz, Ali Oğuz Çağlar, Hüsamettin Polat, Gazi Günay,Gökhan Aslan, Hacı Ömer Ünalır, Uğur Erdoğan and Önder Aras and called them to court. The court also decided to notify the gendarmerie command in order for disciplinary measures to be carried out. The Reporters without Borders organisation called the statements in court "frightening", saying: "If the security forces in Trabzon had acted, the murder of Dink could have been prevented. Those who knew about murder plans and did not do anything to prevent it must be punished in the most severe way." Colonel Ali Öz has been transferred from the Bilecik province gendarmerie command to Bursa.

Behçet Dalmaz of the Dicle News Agency was attacked by security officials when observing the 18 March Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers in Hakkari and becoming embroiled in an argument with the officials over ID card controls. The Van Lake Journalists' Society Hakkari representative Necip Çapraz said, "In Hakkari province, journalists, who are trying to do their duty of informing the public in the most truthful and fastest way, unfortunately often meet with practices they do not deserve."

The Paris Office of Amnesty International organised a conference in memory of murdered journalist Hrant Dnik on 17 March. Speakers at the conference, entitled "Turkey: What kind of Freedom of Expression?" were AI Turkey coordinator Claude Edelmann, sociologist and journalist Ali Bayramoğlu and bianet's freedom of expression editor Erol Önderoğlu. Önderoğlu criticised the fact that the murder of Hrant Dink was being dealt with in different courts, making it very difficult for the truth to emerge. Bayramoğlu argued that the murders of Santoro, Dink and the three men in Malatya were attempts at obstructing social dynamism in Turkey. Edelmann said that 254 journalists, writers, publishers, artists and rights activists had been taken to court in 2007 for expressing their opinions. He added that the Gündem newspaper and several newspapers succeeding it were banned for 1-month periods and faced threats.

The Parliamentary Human Rights Sub-Committee listened to former Trabzon Police Chief Reşat Altay, now Burdur Police Chief in its investigation of the Hrant Dink murder. Altay accused fromer Trabzon Police Chief Ramazan Akyürek and his team of withholding information from him. He said that it was untrue that the Trabzon police received 17 tip-offs. He added, "I heard about Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal after the murder. Before the murder I did not receive any information." He also claimed that he was not informed about conversations between Tuncel and certain police officers. On 28 February, former Trabzon Intelligence Branch Director Engin Dinç, like the present Police Intelligence Department Head Ramazan Akyürek, accused Istanbul's police chief Celalettin Cerrah. When it emerged that police officer Zenit spoke to Tuncel on the phone after the murder, saying "If he's dead he's dead. It was clear how he would be shot. He wasn't going to run away, but he did", Zenit defended himself by saying, "This is a method. Sometimes we talk like that in order to get more information." The committee also listened to Hüseyin Yavuzdemir, governor of Trabzon at the time.

At the beginning of March, an objection to the Rize Heavy Penal Court's decision not to try seven Trabzon police officers for negligence in connection with the murder of Hrant Dink was rejected. Dink family lawyer Bahri Bayram Belen has announced that they would appeal to the ECHR.

At the fourth hearing of the Dink murder trial at the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court on 25 February, detained suspects Ersin Yolcu, Ahmet Iskender and Salih Hacısalioğlu, all accused of helping with the murder, were questioned. After suspect Erhan Tuncel shouted at Yolcu, the latter used his right to silence, and answered further questions only with "I don't know, I don't remember." Iskender, who owns a stationary shop, said that suspect Hayal gave a gun to hitman suspect O.S. in his shop, but that he (Iskender) did not know why. Yolcu said he had tried to dissuade O.S. from getting on the bus from Trabzon to Istanbul, and that he had met Hayal, who took O.S. to the bus, later. "Yasin told me that if a phone call with the code 0212 (the European side of Istanbul) came, I should give him my phone. Whenever I gave him my phone he went outside and talked. A few months before the murder we thought of killing (writer) Orhan Pamuk. Together with tea maker Süleyman we dissuaded Yasin (Hayal). I am scared of Yasin, and so is everyone else." When Hayal was asked by the judge whether he knew retired general Veli Küçük, now a detained suspect in the Ergenekon trial, Hayal said he did not. Speaking about Dink's murder, Hayal said, "We did not think it would get so much attention. Because we did not know that it would be as sensational as the murder of (journalist) Uğur Mumcu, we got carried away."

Making a statement on 25 February, AKP MP and President of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee Zafer Üskül said that the subcommittee investigating the Dink murder would talk to all the people whose names appeared in the files on the murder but who were not on trial. "The committee is not authorised in a case that is being processed by the judiciary. We are not investigating the judicial process. We are trying to identify whether there are officials who should or should not be put on trial. After listening to these officials, our committee will present a detailed report."

On 22 February, Dink family lawyers sent a petition to the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court, saying that the murder had been planned at the "Alperenler Heath", a nationalist organisation. They cited the fact that suspect Erhan Tuncel had said that he still had the keys for the organisation's place, that he had been photographed with Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, chair of of the Great Union Party (BBP) which is supported by these Hearths, that murder suspect Yasin Hayal worked at the Hearth, and that Mustafa Öztürk was responsible at the Hearth.

In the night of 16 February, a memorial to caricaturist Oğuz Aral in Cihangir Park (district of Beyoğlu in Istanbul) was vandalised. The statue of Aral, who had worked for the Penguin satirical magazine, had been placed there two and a half years before, on the first anniversary of his death. It had previously been splashed with liquid gas and set on fire, and its brass letters have been stolen many times. The statue was pulled out of the ground and smashed and has become unusable. Penguen representatives said, "What happened to the statue has made us very pessimistic about what could happen to us. We are very sad."The magazine said that the police were looking for the perpetrator(s).

On 13 February, Reporters without Borders (RSF) published their World Report on 98 countries. Referring to Turkey, the organisation mentioned the murder of Hrant Dink, the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code and press bans in relation to the Kurdish question. The report emphasised that the judiciary was not investigating the police and gendarmerie officers involved in the Hrant Dink murder and that there was suspicion that evidence had been destroyed.

Başbakan Erdoğan'a bir mektup gönderen Kars Çağdaş Kars Haber gazetesi yazı işleri müdürü Gümüşpala Kortağ, AKP milletvekili Zeki Karabayır'la ilgili "Kayıp Milletvekili Aranıyor" haberini yayımladıktan sonra çeşitli baskılarla karşılaştıklarını iddia etti. Haberin 28 Kasım 2007'de yayımlanmasından sonra haklarında dava açıldığını belirten Kortağ, devlet kurumlarının da gazete üzerinde baskı kurduğunu savundu. Kortağ, "Haberlerimiz nedeniyle ekonomik olarak boğulmak isteniyoruz" dedi. Gazeteci, SSK borçlarıyla ilgili kurumlara yazı yazılarak, ilan paralarının borca karşılık kesilmesinin istendiğini, bu haberin yayımından sonra da gazete sahibi olan annesinin bankalardaki hesaplarına haciz konulduğunu yazdı. Kortağ, gazetelerinin Kars'ta tek muhalif ses olduğunu, olumsuzlukların üzerine gittikleri için de altı yılda haklarında 900 dava açıldığını 899'unun da beraatla sonuçlandığını yazdı.

Prime Minister Erdoğan targeted Ertuğrul Özkök, editor-in-chief of the Hürriyet newspaper, after he had written in the context of the debate on permitting the headscarf in public spaces: "The fact that this permission was pushed through with such a majority and despotism has frightened me...Now even I believe that we have to prepare ourselves for a majority hysteria imposing the headscarf at the doors of primary, middle and high schools and state departments." On 12 February, Erdoğan said, without using names, "And today one of them wrote 'the majority's despotism'. How is that in any way decent?" He added, "Because a step in terms of rights and freedoms was taken in parliament, the CHP and the media group acting with them have started shouting." The Turkish Society of Journalists (TGC) condemned Erdoğan's remarks, saying "It is impossble to understand why the rights to freedom of expression and information are ignored at the same time as the concepts of rights and freedoms are frequently discussed in other contexts." On 13 February, Erdoğan said, "They say they are angry. Anger is also an art of public speaking. I never applaud opression." Referring to the words of the President of the Contemporary Journalists' Association (ÇGD), who had said, "I am speaking with my liver", he said, "Honourable President, you should not talk with your liver or kidneys, but with logic." The Turkish Journalists' Trade Union cited him as saying, "Is democracy being of one type and of one voice? Does everyone have to think the same? Interpretations and criticisms have to be taken with the maturity of a statesperson and have to be tolerated."

At the third hearing in the Dink murder trial on 11 February, suspected instigator and police informant Erhan Tuncel spoke about his relations to the nationalist youth movement, the "Alperen Hearths". As proof that he had worked for the police he cited the names of police officers Muhittin Zenit, Engin Yılmaz and a man code named "Memdu Abi". Zenit and Tuncel had spoken on the phone shortly after the murder, and Zenit had said, "What, they shot him directly in the head....That's the only difference. He wasn't going to run away, but this one did." Tuncel sadi in court, "I did what was asked of me, I would not have done more. If I had had bad intentions, I would not have informed on them." Yasin Hayal, also accused of being an instigator, said that Tuncel was known as the "chief" ("reis") and that he had been involved in the bombing of the Trabzon McDonald's in 2004, too, but had been protected. Hayal said he only found out that Tuncel was a police informant after they had been arrested for the Dink murder. At the hearing, the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court rejected a merge of two other cases with the Istanbul main murder trial. In Samsun and in Trabzon security officers are on trial for neglecting their duty and hiding criminal evidence in connection with the Dink murder.

On 6 February it emerged that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution had decided lack of jurisdiction in the criminal complaints against former Trabzon Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Ali Öz and five gendarmerie officers, as well as Istanbul Chief of Police Celalettin Cerrah and other police officers. They have all been accused of negligence in their duties in relation to the Hrant Dink murder. Prosecutor Selim Berna Altay has sent the criminal complaints files on Cerrah and the Istanbul police officers to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution. The Dink family lawyers have demanded that all those within the state responsible for the murder should be tried together with the hitman, participants and instigators at the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court.

On 1 February, colleagues and the Turkish Journalists' Society (TGC) commemorated Abdi İpekçi, the editor-in-chief of the Milliyet newspaper who was killed 29 years ago, in 1979. Visiting his grave at the Zincirlikuyu graveyard in Istanbul, journalists emphasised that for the last 30 years, even if the actual killers were mostly found, the forces behind the murders had never been brought to light. Orhan Erinç, president of the TGC, said, "Our anger has not quietened. The murder was investigated in a shallow manner. The forces behind the hitmen were not found. We believe that the file has been put aside because of the time lapsed; for us, the murder is one of the many with unknown killers."

On 24 January, Cumhuriyet journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu, who was killed in front of his house in 1993, was commemorated at his grave ni Ankara. The so-called "Hope Trial", which also investigates the murders of Prof. Dr. Muammer Aksoy, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bahriye Üçok and Prof. Dr. Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, is now in its eighth year. The case was started by Prosecutor Hamza Keleş of the State Security Court on 11 July 2000. There are 17 suspects, and the prosecutor asked for 9 death penalties (the death penalty has now been outlawed in Turkey). The trial continued on 14 December 2007. Following two annulments by the Supreme Court of Appeals, the case was taken on by the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court. Public prosecutor Salim Demirci has demanded a life sentence under severe conditions for Ekrem Baytap for "attempting to change the constitutional order by force", 18 years 9 months imprisonment for Mehmet Ali Tekin and Hasan Kılıç for "leading an armed terrorist organisation with a special aim", 12 years and 6 months imprisonment for Abdulhamit Çelik, Fatih Aydın, Yusuf Karakuş and Mehmet Aydın for "membership in an armed terrorist organisation". Ferhan Özmen has already been sentenced to a life sentence under severe conditions.

The International Hrant Dink Foundation, founded five months after the journalist's death, has received a death threat by email. Fethiye Çetin, lawyer for the foundation, filed a complaint with the Şişli Public Prosecution on 22 January, demanding that the person sending the message be identified and punished. The lawyer said that the mesage was sent on 20 January 2008, and that it included insults, a death threat and praise for a crime and criminals. The message, which was signed under the name M. Kemal Yenigün contained racist and discriminatory expressions and praised those who killed Dink.

On 22 January, suspect Yasin Hayal's brother-in-law Coşkun İğci, a police informant who was added to the list of suspects later, accused Trabzon gendarmerie officers Okan Şimşek and Veysel Şahin of knowing of the murder plans but not doing anything. The two officers are on trial at the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace. İğci said at the court hearing, "Three months before the murder I told them that Hayal was going to kill Dink. They told me they would follow the case." Ergin Cinmen, lawyer for the Dink family, demanded that the court rule lack of jurisdiction and send the case files to the Istanbul 14th Heavy Penal Court dealing with the murder trial. He also demanded that the defendants be tried under Article 83 of the Turkish Penal Code.

On 19 January, people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper office in Şişli, Istanbul, to commemorate Hrant Dink, murdered there a year earlier. His widow Rakel Dink addressed the crowd from the office window, saying, "They are saying 'who went to jail?' I wish they had let my violin (her term of endearment for her husband) live and he were in prison now, because if they had let him live, he would have been in prison for the third month of his sentence under Article 301. What has my country's justice system done about the gendarmerie, who even knew beforehand what gun would be used, what have they done about the hearths planning the murder? What has my country's justice system done about the vice governor and his so-called friends who were trying to intimidate my husband?" Ana Maria Cabanellas, president of the International Publishers' Association (IPA), Sara Whyatt from the International PEN and Maureen Freely from the British PEN joined the commemoration. The Reporters without Borders (RSF) said in a statement that authorities had to continue their efforts to identify and punish all those who knew about the tragedy beforehand.

On 17 January, the family of Hrant Dink filed a criminal complaint against Istanbul Chief of Police Celalettin Cerrah and Istanbul police officers with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution for negligence in connection with the murder. The complaint argued that even if these people were not directly part of the hierarchic structure of the organisation, they knew about it and willingly helped it. The lawyers also demanded the trial of six Trabzon gendarmerie officers for hiding and tampering with criminal evidence, and abuse of and negligence in their duties.

In January, new police chief Faruk Ünsal in Sakarya, western Turkey, invited journalists for a breakfast, which eight local newspapers, two local TV stations and representatives of national media organs attended. Referring to newspaper reports that there was an increase in burglaries in the city, Ünsal said, "From now on we are going to look at the kind of news the newspapers are covering. We cannot evaluate those who write good news and those who write against us in the same way." On 8 February, Sakarya Journalists' Society president Sezai Matur protested: "Ünsal is trying to bring the concept of accredited journalism to the local level. If he tries to categorise newspapers, he is making a mistake." Adapazarı Journalists' Association president Mustafa Gümüşel said, "What Ünsal wants is for no one to write what is happening in the city."

The Reporters without Borders (RSF) announed that 86 journalists and 20 media employers were killed in 2007. The organisation drew attention to the fact that 90 percent of the murders were not solved. The two most important court cases in 2008, so the RSF, would be that of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya in Russia and that of Hrant Dink in Russia.

Detentions and Arrests

Barış Keskin, radio speaker for Olay FM and presenter at Olay TV, as well as Burak Özgün, Olay TV programme director, were taken into custody after hosting Serpil Aslan from the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed (ESP). They have been accused of spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation. They hosted Aslan on 5 August, before she was arrested for alleged membership in the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP), and they were taken into custody on 29 August. Following their transfer by the Bursa prosecution to the 5th Criminal Court of Peace, they were released. Keskin said that they had discussed current affairs, such as the Ergenekon investigation, the AKP closure trial and the presidential elections. The Bursa branch of the Contemporary Journalists' Association (ÇGD) evaluated the event as "an attack on the freedom of communication" and added, "The fact that our members, who have proven their respectability in Bursa, have had to spend a day in the corridors of the police, forensic medicine and court is saddening; the fact that they have been released pending trial is good news."

Former DEP MP Mahmut Alınak has gone to prison for the second time this year for calling for civil disobedience to press for a solution to the Kurdish question. He has been sentenced to 4 months 5 days imprisonment. Before going to prison on 15 December, the former MP of Kars and Şırnak said: "The court offered me the opportunity to pay a fine instead of imprisonment, but I did not accept. I will feel the bitter cold of the handcuffs deep in my soul, but if freedom comes at a price, then I will pay this price and carry the handcuffs as a medal of honour." Alınak was released after 4 months and 5 days imprisonment.

On 17 November, eight people from hte High School Young Hope group were released after having been taken into custody before for taking part in a protest. The eight people, five of them under 18, were taken into custody by anti-terrorist units, but released after being taken to the public prosecutor. The studnets said that they had been taken into custody for a press statement they had made about the governor. They said that they had been threatened in custody, with utterances like "Who do you think you are" and "Know your place".

Derya Bayram, a reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), was taken into custody when covering a protest by Kurdish women on the Galata Bridge on 31 October. She was released by the prosecution on 2 November. She stands accused of organising the protest, and will be tried without detention.

Mehmet Ali Varış, technical manager of the Belge Publications and former manager of the Tohum Publications was arrested on 30 October, after an article he wrote about İbrahim Kaypakkaya was published in the "Uzun Yürüyüş" (Long March) magazine. Varış was held up at an ID control in Beyoğlu and taken into custody. He found out then that he had been sentenced under the Anti-terrorism law for the article and that he had been looked for by the police. Ragıp Zarakolu, owner of the Belge Publications said that the State Security Court, which has been abolished now, twice acquitted the article, but that Varış was sentenced to a fee of 20,000 YTL in absentia at the Istanbul 12th Heavy Penal Court in May. Although Zarakolu had notified the police press branch of the new address of the publishers, the court notification was sent to the old address, thus leaving Varış uninformed. Writers and publishers at the yearly TÜYAP Istanbul book fair, which was on at the time of Varış' arrest, organised a signature campaign.

Sertaç Kayar (24) and Yunus Tosun (24), reporters for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), were taken into custody after covering an event involving two plain clothes police officers. On 19 October, they were walking through Beyoğlu, central Istanbul, when they heard shots. Following the sounds, they saw two plain clothes police officers shooting into the air in the Hacıahmet neighbourhood. They were preparing to take photos with their cameras, when the police officers came up to them and asked them what they were doing. Although they had their press cards hanging around their necks and said they were journalists, they were taken to the Kasımpaşa police station and their statements were taken. The police officers claimed they had thrown Molotov cocktails. They spent the night in the police station and were released by the prosecution the next day.

Following simultaneous operations in 12 provinces on 8 September 2006, people were taken into custody for alleged membership in the illegal Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP). Hasan Coşar, writer for the weekly Atılım newspaper and Semra Yalçınkaya, member of the Socialist Youth Association (SGD) were released on 7 October. Coşar, who is a leading member of the Human Rights Association (IHD), and Yalçınkaya are under court control, meaning that they cannot travel abroad and have to sign in at a police station every two weeks. Their files are considered classified information. The Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court is trying them for "leadership of an armed terrorist organisation." Their court case continued on 31 December. The IHD, the Contemporary Lawyers' Association (ÇHD), the Foundation of 78'ers, the Initiative of Ankara Intellectuals and Artists as well as defence lawyers have said that Coşar was taken into custody unlawfully. They have argued that the only evidence found during the operation was one paragraph of text on a computer print-out which said that Coşar was the Inner Anatolian Region representative of the Socialist Platform for the Oppressed (ESP).

The court case of 23 other people arrested during the operations against the MLKP started around 14 months later, on 26 October 2007. One of the persons on trial is Füsun Erdoğan, broadcasting coordinator of Özgür Radio. Erdoğan, Atılım editor-in-chief İbrahim Çiçek, Atılım publishing coordinator Sedat Şenoğlu, former editor-in-chief Ziya Ulusoy and newspaper writer Bayram Namaz have been in prison since their arrests.

The 23 defendants are held responsible for 296 actions in the indictment, and face prison sentences from 10.5 to 45 years, totalling 3,000 years. Some of the defendants stand accused of attempting to change the constitutional order by force. Four other people, one of them Dayanışma (Solidarity) newspaper editor Emin Orhan, who were also arrested on the same day as Coşar, were released on 7 August 2007, after spending more than 10 months in prison.

Tutku Türkol was apprehended by Kadıköy/İstanbul police on September 5. The victim claimed that the police had taken her Birgün newspaper and ripped it to pieces, while asking her why she was reading it and from where she way buying it. Following this, she was apprehended and kept in the station for a while, being verbally and physically harassed in the process. Eighteen-year Türkol was kept in the station for forty minutes and threatened. She says she will go after them. Türkol later filed a criminal complaint against the police officers. Co-Spokesperson of the Greens Party Bilge Contepe said in the announcement she made, "These police officers who committed this crime should be suspended, but this is not it. All the police officers who are responsible for this outrage, from the superior of the Moda Station to the chief of Istanbul Police, should be suspended until the investigation is over."

Meryem Özsöğüt, a member of the central executive committee of the Health Workers Union (SES), who was apprehended on January 8 for participating in a press release in Ankara, arrested and put in jail, was released on September 5. Özsöğüt was accused of "being a member of a terrorist organization" and "doing propaganda of a terrorist organization" after she participated at the commemoration of Kevser Mızrak.

Writer Murat Coşkun has been in prison since August 22 for "provoking hostility among people" with his book titled "Acının Dili Kadın" (Woman who is the language of pain), published by Peri Publishing in January 2002. He was sentenced to one year fifteen days. The writer had to give a statement to the court for his book while he was in the Bursa Prison for being a member of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). After his release, the writer had gone back to Adana, where his family lives. The writer was sent back to prison when the case about his book was finalized by Istanbul's 12th High Criminal Court on August 22. It was claimed, said publisher Önal, that the 128 page long book had a passage where the members of the Turkish Armed Forces were called "vultures" and another passage where the propaganda of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) was done through PKK militant Zeynep Kınacı, whose code name was given as Zilan.

On August 12, Kurdish politician Mahmut Alınak was sent to jail since he refused to pay the fine the court ordered for the crimes of which he was found guilty. While one of his crimes was proposing the names of left wing and pro-Kurdish figures Deniz Gezmiş, Vedat Aydın and Musa Anter, all killed, as street and park names, the other one was protesting the prison conditions of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), who is in jail for life. Alınak surrendered to the prosecutor of the city of Kars after the press release and was taken to the Kars Prison. Alınak describes entering prison as one's duty in Turkey in the fight against the existing anti-democratic practices.

The twenty-four students from the Youth Federation who were taken into custody for organizing a caricature exhibition titled "Common Enemy America" at the Sivas branch of the Education and Science Workers Union (Eğitim-Sen) on May 23. Among the 24 students, İlker Ekiz, Elbil Çınar, Mustafa Doğan, İbrahim Karataş and another person are still in the Sivas E Type prison. The case of the five people, who are accused of "organizing a caricature exhibition", "reading the Tavır periodical" and "being a member of the Youth Federation", was declared confidential. The case will be tried in the High Criminal Court of Erzurum province.

Hacı Boğatekin, owner of the newspaper Gerger Fırat, was released after 109 days in prison. He was arrested by the Criminal Court of First Instance of Gerger, Adıyaman on July 30 for writing that there was a close relationship between Prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı and Fethullah Gülen, a religious leader of a powerful Muslim community.

On July 25,Istanbul's 13th High Criminal Court accepted the Ergenekon indictment. Thus, the case with 86 suspects, 47 of whom arrested, will be held on October 20. It refers to the many incidents such as the assault on the State Council on May 17, 2006 and daily Cumhuriyet on May 5-10 and 11, 2006, the murders of Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007 and Pries Santoro on February 5, 2006.

The indictment states that the said activities were organized with the intentions of creating chaos through "nylon" (imaginary) terrorist organizations to create chaos to help prepare the conditions for military coup. İlhan Selçuk, license holder of the newspaper Cumhuriyet, is accused of "forming and administering an armed organization named Ergenekon", "attempting to overthrow the government by force", and "provoking armed uprising against the government", facing life imprisonment twice. Selçuk was taken into custody on March 21 and was later released pending trial. Journalists Vedat Yenerer, Güler Kömürcü, Ferit İlsever, Adnan Akfırat, writers Ergün Poyraz and Ümit Oğuztan are described as the people who organize the relations with the media. Yenerer, Kömürcü and Akfırat are facing 15 years in prison for the charge of "membership in an armed terrorist organization." İlsever, director of the television channel Ulusal Kanal and Serhat Bolluk, chief editor of the periodical Aydınlık, are facing 35 years in prison for the charges of "membership in an armed terrorist organization" and "provoking armed uprising against the government."

Early in the morning on July 1, twenty four people, among them the retired generals Hurşit Tolon, former commander of the 1st army, Şener Eruygur, former head of the Gendarmerie Forces and president of the Atatürkist Thought Association, Levent Ersöz, former Gendarmerie General Command Intelligence Department head, and Mustafa Balbay, the Ankara bureau chief of the daily "Cumhuriyet", Sinan Aygün, Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) Chairman were taken into custody. Eleven media profession organizations that make up of the Turkish Journalists' Union (TGS) and the G9 Platform announced their concern over the detention of the journalists in the prolonged Ergenekon investigation. In its announcement, TSK said, "We respect the decisions of the independent judiciary. However, the latest developments bring up the question whether or not the independent judiciary has become a tool of the political struggles between the groups in the state."  "The G9 Platform, too, stated that "their colleagues would go and give their statements when asked by the prosecutor, but, considering some of these journalists' stance against the government, the way these journalists are detained creates some concern." The prosecutors conducting the investigation objected to the release of Mustafa Balbay, retired admiral İlker Güven, Prof. Dr. Ercüment Ovalı, vice president of the Pioneer Youth of the Worker Party (İP) Tunç Akkoç, Hamza Demir, Neriman Aydın, Turkish Radio and Television reporter Murat Avar and Siyami Yalçın.

Among those arrested in the Ergenekon investigation and sent to prison at different dates are journalist Vedat Yenerer, Ulusal Channel general broadcasting director Ferit İlsever, Aydınlık magazine editor Serhan Bolluk and journalist Adnan Akfırat, Ulusal Channel's Izmir representative Hayati Özcan and Açık İstihbarat (Open Intelligence) website owner Behiç Gürcihan. Because the indictment has not been published yet, it is not known whether their arrests are related to their journalistic activities.

On 16 May, desk editor Ali Turgay of the Yedinci Gün newspaper was arrested when he went to the Beşiktaş court to give a statement. He was released on 25 June, when the Istanbul 12th Heavy Penal Court decided to try him without detention, but he is not allowed to leave the country. Turgay stands accused of aiding and abetting an illegal organisation, praising a crime and a criminal, alienating the public from military service and spreading propaganda for a terrorist organisation. Turgay said in court that he rejected the accusations and demanded a release and acquittal. His laywer Kılıç said, "Publishing a newspaper does not require siphoning money out of banks or getting loans. The prosecutor's indictment says that the newspaper is financed by an organisation, but these claims have no basis in fact." The court case continues on 3 December.

Two weeks after his arrest, conscientious objector Mehmet Bal was released, following the decision of the Adana 6th Army Corps Military Court, which based its decision on the report by the Iskenderun Military Hospital, which said that Bal had not been fit for military service "at the time of the crime and after." Bal said that after being taken into custody on 8 June, he experienced torture and lynching attempts at teh Beşiktaş 2nd Military Police Division Command. He was released to be tried without detention on 24 June. Bal's lawyer Meriç Tümer said that even if the medical report resulted in an acquittal, they would not accept it, because "my client is using his right to conscientious objection, which, even if it does not exist in Turkish law, exists in international law."

The court case of 23 people arrested as alleged members of the MLKP on 8 September 2006 continued on 24 October. 14 months after their arrest, the defendants had been taken to the Istanbul 10th Heavy Penal Court on 26 October 2007 for the first time. Özgür Radio broadcasting coordinator Füsun Erdoğan and Atılım newspaper editor-in-chief İbrahim Çiçek read defense statements of around 20 pages. They argued that because they were socialist journalists and supported the rights of the oppressed, they had been associated with the MLKP. Lawyer Kırdök said that the defendants had said previously that after they had been taken into custody by police, they had been forcefully taken to a house in the village of Ocaklı, province of Aydın, where, in front of members of the press, the police had pretended to catch them as a group. According to the lawyer, there are no recordings of that day, which strengthens the allegations. The court decided to release Hatic Bolat because of health issues and postponed the next hearing to 20 February 2009. At the previous hearing on 5 and 6 June, Hasan Ozan, Fatma Siner and Fethiye Ok had been released.

Himself addicted to cigarettes, Hasan Erdoğan was held at the police station for five hours after saying during a chat at the Tunceli Pertek district governor's (kaymakamlık) office: "If cigarettes kill, the prosecutors should do their jobs, but they aren't." Erdoğan's lawyer said that Pertek Chief Public Prosecutor Fethi Ahmet Tosun had been present at the chat, which was about a ban on cigarettes. Erdoğan was later called from the cafe to the police station to give a statement, and, so the lawyer, is facing an investigation under Article 301.

On 20 May, after taking collected signatures against the three-hour central university exam to parliament, three members of the Labour Youth, Şerafettin Gökdeniz, Sercan Bakır and Ekin Can Kınık were taken into custody when they protested and shouted the slogan "Born in Istanbul, Became US citizen, Tayyip Erdoğan, son of murderer Bush." Their lawyer Kamil Tekin Sürek evaluated the dention as a "sign of the intolerance the Justice and Development Party shows towards dissidents." The reason given for the detention was that the slogan "denigrated state leaders" and that the protest violated the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations.

Hidayet Tiryaki, district chair of the Democratic Society Party, and Sinem Irem, of the Peace Mothers' Initiative, were arrested after a press statement in front of the Batman Human Rights Monument on 11 May. They stand accused of alienating the public from military service and of spreading propaganda of a terrorist organisation. They were taken to the Batman M-type prison. In the press statement, they had said, "We, who create new life, say 'enough' to this negative picutre which causes lives to be lost. In this war, where women are not allowed to make decisions, it is us women again who suffer most."

Mine Kaynak (43), employee of the Alınteri newspaper, was arrested after reading a press statement on Worker Women's Day (8 March) in Adana and wearing a red T-shirt, which was alleged to be "organisational uniform". She was arrested on 30 April, and the attempts of her lawyers to have her released were unsuccessful. Kaynak said that she had read a press release at an organised event, and that she had worn a "beaded, decorated, but red" T-shirt. Her lawyer Yusuf Akıncı said that his client was accused of membership in the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party - Front (DHKPC) and of praising the organisation. Others participating at the press release were members of the Rights and Freedoms Front (HÖK), who had carried a placard about 17 Maoist Communist Party members who had been killed in Tunceli. A poem about the resistance of working women in the USA had been read. Akıncı said that his client, mother of three children, was being held in the Women's Closed Prison in Adana. Because some of the people in her file were being looked for by the police, the lawyer was concerned that it would take a long time until she would be taken to trial.

Conscientious objector Halil Savda was taken into custody and later arrested when he took part in a press statement demanding the release of conscientious objector İsmail Saygı. The Çorlu Military Hospital health board later (25 April) decided that Savda would be given a medical report showing him unfit for military service and that he would be exempt from military service in peace times. Savda later explained on the savaşkarşıtları.org pacifists' website that he had had no say in the report. "I do not accept the decision of the military judiciary and its institutions, which have no inkling of freedom and law. I will never take a gun into my hands."

Prof. Dr. Gençay Gürsoy, president of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), was taken into custody at 5 am in the morning of 3 May for allegedly having violated Press Law. Gürsöy explained that he had been fined in relation to a magazine of a cultural/art foundation he was president of in 2000. He never received a written notification, and the Ankara duty 11th Criminal Court of Peace signed a warrant of arrest in his absence. The warrant has been lifted, and Gürsöy has been released. His case will continue at the Beyoğlu 2nd Criminal Court in Istanbul. Gürsöy said that he found it "meaningful" that his arrest followed a complaint made against the Istanbul governor and Istanbul police chief after police had used tear gas at hte Şişli Etfal hospital, where there were patients, on 1 May. Doctors staged a protest against Gürsöy's detention and the police violence on 1 May. When they wanted to leave a black wreath with the words "We condemn" in front of the governor's office, the police prevented them from doing so.

On 30 April, Vedat Kurşun, license holder and desk editor for the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper, was released, but cannot leave the country. He is be tried in the Diyarbakır 6th Heavy Penal Court for spreading PKK propaganda. Prosecutor Tuncer Çetin argued that the journalist was not a member of the organisation but committed a crime in the name of the organisation. He cited Articles 220/6 andd 314/2 of the Turkish Criminal Code and Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, saying that the newspaper had published articles in favour of the organisation in the 13 issues published from 12 September 2006 to 12 August 2007 and demanded punishment for each separate crime of spreading propaganda. The newspaper issues had described PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as "leader of the Kurdish People", "leader of the KCK", "esteemed Öcalan" and "Leader Apo." Members of the HPG, linked to the PKK, were referred to as "HPG guerillas."

Hacı Boğatekin, owner of the Gerger Fırat newspaper, has previously been put on trial under the Anti-Terrorism Law for writing about the "increasing influence" that the Fethullah Gülen movement had on the government party and society. Following an article called "Feto and Apo", published on 4 January 2008, the journalist has been arrested for allegedly attempting to influence the course of the case against him through publications. He faces a 7.5 year prison sentence for the case already open against him.

Murat Kolca, reporter for the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) was arrested by decision of the Şanlıurfa 3rd Criminal Court on 20 January 2008. An arrest warrant had been issued in his absence because he had not made a statement at a trial against him at the Izmir 8th Heavy Penal Court. Kolca was released at the first hearing. On 2 April 2008, Ersin Çelik, a DİHA reporter in Malatya, was arrested in Diyarbakır, following the statement of an informer. He was released at the first hearing. Another DİHA reporter in Mersin, Mehmet Ali Ertaş, was taken into custody on 2 April 2008, when covering protests in Mersin against the police violence at Newroz in Van, Hakkari and Yüksekova. Ertaş was arrested on the grounds that there was a likelihood of escape and destruction of evidence. He was released at the first hearing of the case. Sıdık Güler, the representative of DİHA's office in Van, was taken into custody and then arrested on 4 April 2008 because of an investigation against him. After he gave a statement in Van, he was released.

DİHA reporters Ali Buluş  and Mehmet Karaaslan were taken into custody and arrested as part of an operation at the Gündem newspaper's Mersin office on 19 April 2007. They have not been taken to court for eight months and are being held at Mersin E-type prison on charges of PKK membership. Faysal Tunç, another DİHA reporter, was taken into custody during an ID control in Eruh, a district of Siirt province, when he was on his way to Şırnak. DİHA reporter Behdin Tunç was taken into custody on the same day when he was returning from covering a march to Ömerli village in Şanlıurfa, the birth village of Abdullah Öcalan. He is accused of knowingly and willingly aiding the PKK organisation. Both Faysal Tunç and Behdin Tunç are in Diyarbakır prison. Haydar Haykır, another DİHA reporter in the Şırnak province, was taken into custody in the Cizre district of Şırnak on 8 January 2008. He was arrested on 12 January and taken to Batman H-type prison.

On 28 March, three students from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara were taken into custody after hanging up posters of Mahir Çayan and his friends, killed in Kızıldere on 30 March 1972. The university security guards had called the gendarmerie. The three students, Deniz, Seçkin and Murat (they did not want to give their surnames) were released after making statements at the police station and being taken to the prosecutor.

On 27 March, Taraf newspaper Soner Arıkanoğlu was taken into custody after reporting that a search at the headquarters of the Workers' Party (İP) as part of the Ergenekon investigation had resulted in the find of a plan of the Supreme Court of Appeals. The police took the Ankara office representative into custody in Ankara. He was taken to the Anti-Terrorism police branch in Istanbul, the Beşiktaş court and finally the Kadıköy prosecution in Istanbul. Citing Article 12 of the Press Law, Arıkanoğlu refused to reveal his source of the information and copy of the map. The newspaper had printed an article entitled "They were going to attack the Supreme Court of Appeals" on 24 March 2008, showing a map which detailed all the security measures for the building. The Association of Contemporary Journalists (ÇGD) condemned the detention.

İlhan Selçuk (83), license holder and editorial writer of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, was taken into custody at 4.30 am on 21 March as part of the Ergenekon operation. Ahmet Aakay, president of the Association of Contemporary Journalists (ÇGD) condemned the detentions of Selçuk, Workers' Party (İP) leader Doğu Perinçek, İP vice cair and Ulusal channel broadcasting director Ferid İlsever, as well as former university rector Kemal Alemdaroğlu: "Taking Selçuk into custody is an act of intimidating the dissident press. What the colleagues in detention have in common is that they have opposed practices of this government in writing, broadcasting and statements." İbrahim Yıldız, editor-in-chief of the Cumhuriyet newspaper, said: "They are trying to silence the Cumhuriyet newspaper. Legal steps have been taken against these unfair detentions. If anything happens to Selçuk, who will be responsible?" Selçuk was released the following day. Ferit İlsever, journalist Adnan Akfırat, and Aydınlık magazine editor-in-chief Serhat Bolluk were arrested. Because there is a publishing and broadcasting ban in relation to the operations, there is not enough information about the accusations levelled at them. the International press organisations FİJ and RSF condemned the detention of Selçuk.

On 1 March, six students of Kocaeli University, two women and four men, experienced police violence and were taken into custody after hanging up posters of the youth union Genç Sen demanding free education and students' rights. After being held at the Saraybahçe police station for three hours, they were released.

At 6 am on 21 February, singer Ferhat Tunç was taken into custody from his home because he had not made a statement in an investigation against him related to a speech he made at the Düzgün Baba Festival in the Nazimiye district of Tunceli two years ago. On 12 Augst 2006, during a concert he gave at the festival, he spoke about members of the Maoist Communist Party (MKP) who were killed in the Mercan valley in 2004. He is accused of spreading MKP propaganda. The singer told the prosecutor that he had said at the concert that he believed in peace between people in Turkey, that he had known many of the killed members from childhood, that he could not be untouched by the event and that he had expressed his feelings in a song, which, he said, was not aimed at spreading propaganda. The Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association said that the singer was taken into custody with force used, and that it was clear that the detention was aimed at putting pressure on Ferhat Tunç with his dissident identity and on the use of rights and freedoms.

Faruk Aktaş, owner of the Muş News newspaper has been sentenced to 1 year and 9 months imprisonment, following the complaint of Muş's former vice governor İbrahim Küçük, about whom he had written in terms of corruption. Aktaş was taken into custody when he was stopped for an ID control in Kadıköy and then arrested on 13 February. He was sent to Bayrampaşa prison in Istanbul. He had been sentenced for two articles, one entitled "Robbery in the province, profiteering in the district" and one "They only help those close to them", the latter published on 30 September 2003. Aktaş's lawyers succeeded in getting the case considered according to the new Criminal Code (in force since 1 June 2005), and Aktaş was released on 14 February.

Vedat Kurşun, the license holder and responsible editor of the Azadiya Welat newspaper, who had been arrested and on trial since 5 February, was released on 15 April. His lawyer Servet Özen had objected to the arrest, arguing that his client had come forward himself, and that there was no suspicion of escape. At a hearing on 25 March, the prosecution had demanded punishment for PKK propaganda.

Following the publication of an article entitled "Feto and Apo" in the Gerger Fırat newspaper in Adıyaman on 4 January 2008, newspaper owner Hacı  Boğatekin was taken into custody on 8 January. It is said that Public Prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı said about the article, in which the religious sect of Fethullah Gülen was mentioned, "You cannot call the Hodja master Fethullah Gülen, whom millions of people respect, 'Feto'. Immediately apologise in your next issue, otherwise I'll make you regret it." Boğatekin is to be tried without detention. He has complained about the prosecutor to the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors. The prosecutor had insisted on an arrest.

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)

On 9 December, the ECHR decreed that a one-week publication ban for the Yedinci Gündem newspaper for publishing statements by imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan represented a violation of the freedom of expression. Following the appeal by newspaper owner Hıdır Ateş and editor Hünkar Demirel, the ECHR unanimously decided that Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated. The fact that the Supreme Court of Appeals did not notify Ateş and Demirel of their decision after they had appealed to that court, also represented, so the ECHR, a violation of the principle of a fair trial. The ECHR awarded the two applicants a total of 4,800 Euros general damages and 1,000 Euros for legal costs.

On 2 December, the ECHR decreed that the confiscation of a Labour Party (EMEP) bulletin by the police had violated the freedom of expression of EMEP official Ahmet Gemici. The court has sentenced Turkey to paying 1,180 Euros damages. Following the sentencing of Gemici to a fine by the Izmir Criminal Court of Peace, his appeal at the Izmir Criminal Court was dealt with without any hearing, which, according to the ECHR, represented a violation of the right to a fair trial. On 16 November 1999, the police raided the party office and confiscated bulletins. The ECHR has objected to the fact that the bulletins were taken without any previous notification to Gemici.

Considering the appeal of historian Taner Akçam, the court has demanded detailed information from the Turkish government on the amendments to Article 301, which came into effect on 1 June 2005 and was amended on 29 April 2008. The ECHR is going to evaluate the appeal of the historian, who supports the thesis that there was a genocide against Armenians in 1915. He has appealed on the grounds that punishments under that Article are illegal, and that they violate the freedom of expression and that Article 301 is a "law of discrimination." Akçam has become subject to an investigation under Article 301 for an article entitled "Hrant Dink, 301, and a Criminal Complaint", which was published in the Agos newspaper on 6 October 2006.

On 13 November, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to paying 41,000 Euros in damages to former Adana public prosecutor Sacit Kayasu, who had tried to put former coup general Kenan Evren on trial. In August 1999, Kayasu had filed a criminal complaint against Evren as a normal citizen. When that did not receive an answer, he prepared an indictment against Evren on 28 March 2000. This resulted in a censure punishment from the High Commission of Judges and Prosecutors. Kayasu appealed to the ECHR on the grounds that Articles 13 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated.

On 21 October, the ECHR awarded the Yeni Evrensel newspaper 3,000 Euros in damages for an article they wrote about general Levent Ersöz, who had fled the country after being searched for as part of the Ergenekon investigation. Newspaper officials Fevzi Saygılı and Bülent Falakaoğlu had received heavy fines from the State Security Court under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terrorism Law. The ECHR decreed that part of the article may be considered incredible, but that the article as a whole did not represent an encouragement to attack public officials or did not threaten Ersöz in any notable way. The newspaper had reported that Ersöz was Gendarmerie Regiment commander when two members of the pro-Kurdish HADEP party, Serdar Tanış and Ebubekir Deniz, disappeared. The Turkish court had described Ersöz as a "public official on duty in the fight against terrorism" and had decreed that naming Ersöz in the article had made him a target of terrorist organisations.

On 21 October, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to paying a total of 8,500 Euros for violating the freedom of expression of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Özgür Kadının Sesi (Free Woman's Voice) magazine. HADEP member İsak Tepe had been tried for "separatist propaganda" for speaking of the "heroes in the mountains" and the "liberation of the people". Although his case had been suspended under the Conditional Amnesty Law, he was awarded 2,500 Euros compensation and legal costs. Kadriye Kanat and Gülşen Bozan, representatives of the monthly Özgür Kadının Sesi had been punished under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terrorism Law for publishing a statement by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on the status of women in today's society in April 2001. Turkey has been sentenced to paying them 2,500 Euros compensation. IHD branch president in Muş, Sevim Salihoğlu, had been convicted in April 2002 for possessing "illegal publications", issues of the Yedinci Gündem newspaper (16 and 29 September issues) when the İHD was searched. The ECHR said that Salihoğlu could not have knwon about court decisions to confiscate the newspaper issues and that those decisions had not been aimed at him. The European court awarded him 1,000 Euros compensation. The court further awarded Mehmet Zeynettin Unay, who as a HADEP official had criticised military operations and the government policies in the southeast in August 1998, 2, 500 Euros compensation. Unay had been tried by the Izmir State Security Council in March 2001, and the trial had been suspended for five years under the Conditional Amnesty Law. The ECHR decreed nevertheless that his freedom of expression had been violated illegitimately.

On 23 September, the ECHR sentenced Turkey for punishing Sakine Aktan, a reporter of the newspaper Özgür Bakış, for having an interview with the President of the Kurdistan Journalists Association. Turkey will pay Aktan 1,500 Euros in damages for pain and suffering. The Istanbul State Security Court had sentenced Aktan to prison for one year and eight months in May 2001 and fined her in February 2008, both for her interview published in December 1999 regarding the problems of the reporters working in the Kurdish media. The decisions were based on article 312 of the old penal Code. Aktan was acquitted when he was retried under the new Penal Code that went into effect in June 1, 2005. But, the decision was appealed by the prosecutor of the case. Now, the sides are waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals. The ECHR in its announcement regarding the case that since a retrial process was commenced, the right to a just trial was not violated, but the the 10th article of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers the freedom of expression, was violated. Since the statements in the interview which criticized the Turkish State, rather very harshly, did not encourage use of violence or call to an armed resistance or uprising, the ECHR described the sentences given to Aktan "disproportional and unnecessary in a democratic society."

On 17 July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sentenced Turkey to paying  Abdullah Yılmaz and Erdem Kılıç, administrators of the Çiğli District for the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), who were sentenced in November 1998 for participating in an activity on the grounds of "harboring and helping an [illegal] organization", 5,000 Euros for restricting illegally their right to freedom of expression and trying them unfairly. Izmir State Security Court (DGM) had sentenced Yılmaz to three years four months in prison and Kılıç to four years four months in prison for participating in a meeting in Izmir to protest the arrest of Abdullah Öclan, imprisoned leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). The ECHR also ruled that the trial was not independent and objective since there were military members in the court during the time of the trial. The ECHR stated, "Even if the goal was to protect the public order in the tense political climate at the time when Öcalan was caught, the sentences given were disproportional both in quality and quantity in comparison with the licit  goals (...) they were unnecessary in a democratic society.

On 17 June, the ECHR convicted Turkey of violating the freedom of expression of Hasan Buran, owner fo the Fırat'ta Yaşam (Life at the Euphrates) newspaper. On 19 March 2001, unsold issues of the newspaper had been confiscated by court decree. This, so the ECHR, represented a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Three articles in the newspaper were used to justify the confiscation. They criticised the government, wrote about Kurdish freedom and cultural rights and about resistance in prisons. The court decreed that they "incited the public to hatred and hostility." The ECHR decreed that the articles did not contain any encouragement of violence, calls for rebellion or hate discourses. The articles in question were an interview by editor-in-chief Mehmet Boncuk with Assoc. Prof. Fikret Başkaya, entitled "Civil Society: A medium for apoliticisation", an article entitled "Let us liberate Newroz", and an article entitled, "13 March, the scream of rebellion against the fortresses of oppression."

On 29 April, the ECHR decreed that the imprisonment of Mehmet Kutlular, owner of the Yeni Asya newspaper, had been a violation of his freedom of expression. Kutlular had made a sppech during a religious meeting and had handed out flyers which said that the 1999 earthquake had been a "divine warning." The ECHR awarded Kutluar 5,000 Euros compensation. Kutlular had spoken at the 39th death anniversary of Said-i Nursi at the Ankara Kocatepe Mosque, referring to the earthquake that had cost the lives of tens of thousands of people. He had been arrested on 22 May 2001, and was later released under the Adjustment Law No 4744 from Kırklareli prison.

On 20 April, the ECHR awarded writer Yalçın Küçük 3,000 Euros. Küçük had been sentenced under Article 312 of the old Turkish Penal Code for "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" in a speech he made about the Kurdish question. The Ankara State Security Court further sentenced him for separatist propaganda and aiding and abetting. On 4 November 1999, he was sentenced to 6 years 6 months imprisonment, as well as a fine. The ECHR emphasises that the speech had not encouraged the use of violence and had not called for an armed resistance or rebellion. The punishment was thus decreed to have been "unnecessary in a democratic society" and "disproportional."

On 4 April, Fethiye Çetin, one of the joint attorneys in the Hrant Dink murder case, told journalists that they had applied to the ECHR in August 2007 in relation to lack of prosecution of Trabzon gendarmerie officers. They had applied in terms of the right for a fair trial and an effective appeal to a court, and would continue to inform the ECHR of developments.

On 18 March, the ECHR decreed that Turkey had violated the right to defense and the freedom of expression of İHD Izmir branch representatives Ecevit Piroğlu and Mihriban Karakaya when trying to close down the branch without a reason. The ECHR awarded Karakaya, who had been punished after organising a press release to protest against the Afghanistan operation of the USA in October 2001, 1,000 Euros compensation. The Izmir governor's office had sent a letter to the İHD branch on 10 July 2001, demanding that 13 people, among them Karakaya, be excluded from the association. The İHD had rejected this demand on the grounds that there were no criminal convictions. Two people were punished by the Izmir Criminal Court of Peace in December 2001 without a hearing and without the chance to defend themselves. Karakaya faced a second trial and was sentenced under Article 34 of the Association Law. His punishment was approved in December 2001. The ECHR has argued that Article 34 was not applied in a reasonable manner.

On 4 March, the ECHR sentenced Turkey in the case of Zeynel Abidin Kızılyaprak, a writer who had been convicted for two articles in the Özgür Bakış newspaper. The ECHR said that Kızılyaprak had not been informed of the days of hearings when a trial was opened, and that Kızıltoprak had thus been unable to defend himself. This, so the ECHR, was a violation of Article 6/1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Kızılyaprak, who had been sentenced for "separatist propaganda" under Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, was awarded 2,000 Euros compensation.

On 21 February, the ECHR sentenced Turkey in the case of Mehmet Mustafa Yalçıner, who had been punished with imprisonment and a fine after making a speech as a member of the Central Executive Board of the Labour Party (EMEP) in 1993. The ECHR decreed that the aim of Yalçıner's speech had been to show the threat that civil peace was under in the country and found the punishment "disproportionate and too serious." The fact that the defendant had not been notified of the opinion of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals was a violation of the right to a fair trial, but the ECHR did not award any compensation in this area. However, it did award Yalçıner 2,000 Euros compensation for the violation of his freedom of expression.

On 31 January, the ECHR sentenced Turkey in the case of Judge Mehmet Emin Albayrak, who had undergone a disciplinary investigation and had been transferred for reading the Özgür Ülke newspaper and watching Med TV. The ECHR argued that there was no proof that the judge had acted in a biased manner in cases because of watching/reading the media said to be linked to the PKK, and argued that Turkey was restricting the freedom of expression more than necessary in a democratic society. Albayrak had said that he had been treated in that manner because he was Kurdish, but the ECHR rejected this interpretation. He was awarded 6,000 Euros by the court.

On 8 January, the ECHR sentenced Turkey in the case of Şanar Yurdatapan, the spokesperosn of the Initiative against Thought Crime, saying that his freedom of expression in the discussion on conscientious objection had been violated. Yurdatapan had been sentenced to two months imprisonment for an announcement that had included the opinions of conscientious objector Osman Murat Ülke. Yurdatapan's sentence and arrest, so the ECHR, were "unnecessary in a democratic society". The court decreed that the statement did not encourage violence and did not directly call for desertion. Yurdatapan was awarded a total of 3,500 Euros.

On the same day, the ECHR decreed that the punishments given to the Evrensel newspaper and the ban of the Daily Evrensel newspaper in the provinces under emergency law were violations of the freedom of expression. It awarded newspaper representatives Fevzi Saygılı, Nizamettin Taylan Bilgiç and Serpil Kurtay 4,000 Euros compensation, and Evrensel newspaper owner Fevzi Saygılı 2,500 Euros.

Reactions to Censorship and Monopolisation

97 lecturers from Bosphorus University, Istanbul, among them Nermin Abadan-Unat, Lale Akarun, Güzin Gülsün, Yavuz Akpınar, Zühre Aksoy, Ercan Alp, Kuban Altınel and Fatma Taşkent protested against court decisions blocking access to Internet websites, saying that this represented a violation of the freedom of Internet users to communicate and access information. They called on a change in laws, and for an end to the policy to close down complete websites when a complaint about one item is made.

On 4 December, the Istanbul Chamber of Physicians has protested against the warning that forensic medical experts Elif Kırteke, Serhat Gürpınar and Lale Tırtıl were handed by the Forensic Medical Institution when they criticised a report which stated that a girl sexually abused by Hüseyin Üzmez did not suffer psychological damage. Representatives of the Chamber of Physicians gathered in front of the FMI building in Yenibosna, Istanbul and read a press statement.

On 2 December, around 200 journalists marched from Taksim Square to Galatasaray Square in protest of recent dismissals in the sector, running into hundreds, as well as the violation of social rights of journalists. The journalists had followed the call by the Turkish Journalists' Trade Union (TGS).

Reporters without Borders (RSF) condemned the fact that access tp the video sharing website Youtube has been blocked four times this year. On 20 November, the Telecommunications Council endorsed the fourth court order blocking access to the site, this one issued on 30 October by a magistrate's court in Cubuk, in Ankara province.The authorities claim that content posted on YouTube is either disrespectful to Kemal Mustafa Atatürk, the Turkish Republic's founder, or supports the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)."We have said it before and we say it again now - blocking access to YouTube is wrong," Reporters Without Borders said. "It has been blocked since 5 May, as a result of an earlier court order, and the obstinacy shown by the authorities is unacceptable. Denying Turkish citizens access to this file-sharing site violates freedom of information."

The alternative dictionary nacizanebilgi.com has also had access blocked. Creationist Adnan Oktar, representative of the Science Research Foundation (BAV) is suing the web site representatives for 8,000 YTL compensation for attacking his personal rights. Following the demand of Oktar's lawyer Melih Demir, the Silivri Civil Court of First Instance closed the site as a precaution. Tansu Gürsel, owner of the site, has announced that the site has been banned because of Oktar's complaint, and that he is working with lawyers to have it reopened.

At the start of the trial of Baris Pehlivan, producer of the programme "I am a witness" on the 24-hour TV news channel CNN Türk, and Nurettin Yilmaz, a former Kurdish politician and parliamentarian and author of "Witness of the recent past," in the Istanbul district of Bakirkoy on 18 November, Reporters without Borders (RSF) has condemned the trial. Charged with "inciting hatred and hostility" under articles 216 and 218 of the criminal code, they could get four and a half years in prison."There is still strong opposition to public discussion of cases of torture," Reporters Without Borders said. "There is no justification for such reticence, regardless of the reasons. Torture is disgraceful and barbaric, and is condemned by international law. Torturers should not be protected by a law of silence. It is the victims - and those who help to make the public aware of torture - who should be protected. Instead, they are prosecuted."

Nuri Yaman, MP for Muş  province of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) asked İbrahim Şahin, General Director of TRT state television why the state channels had hosted "more than 25 people from the governing party, 17 from the main opposition, 13 from the MHP, 3 from the DSP and 1 from the BBP, although the latter two do not have any parliamentary group, but has never accepted anyone from the DTP, which is represented with 21 MPs and a group in parliament." Şahin said, "I told them when they visited me; if they respect the national unity and integrity, and the unitary structure of the state, then of course they can go on TV, any time..."

After the publication of photos of Ayla Yavaşcan, the wife of the Governor Yusuf Yavaşcan of Şanlıurfa, in a black "çarşaf" (chador), a court ordered police raids on the local Reha, Bayrak, Adalet and Şanlıurfa newspapers on 10 November. During the searches, computers and some documents were confiscated in the offices. The house of Kamil Güler, former PR manager for the governor, who is said to have distributed the photos to the press, was also searched. The raids and confiscations were condemned by the Southeast Anatolian Journalists' Society. Rehat newspaper license holder Recai Ayhan said, "Because I published photos of the governor's wife, my printing presses were confiscated. I am going to get justice for this."

Sultan Özer, diplomacy reporter for the Daily Evrensel newspaper has claimed that her accreditation was not renewed by the Prime Ministerial Office because she wrote critical news items and provocative questions. Other journalists whose accreditation was not renewed were Hasan Tüfekçi and Turan Yılmaz (Hürriyet newspaper), Abdullah Karakuş (Milliyet newspaper), Fatma Çözen (Star TV), Ali Ekber Ertürk (Akşam newspaper). The ban emerged on 10 November and provoked condemnation from the Assocation for Human Rights and Solidarity with the Oppressed (MAZLUMDER), the Turkish Journalists' Society (TGC), the Contemporary Journalists' Association (ÇGD), the G9 Journalists' Platform and the Press Council. Ahmet Arslan, press advisor of the PR directorate of the Prime Ministerial Office said that Özer had not received renewed accreditation because she did not fulfil the criterion of attending regularly.

Ufuk Uras, chair of the ÖDP and Istanbul MP, asked about Internet bans in parliament. He asked, "How many court decisions to block access to websites have been taken based on applications by Adnan Oktar? For how many of these applications were Gebze and Silivri Civil Courts of First Instance chosen? Why were they especially chosen? When is the government considering making changes to Law 5651 concerned with Internet publications? What does our ministry think about courts banning complete access to websites in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights?"

The Cumhuriyet newspaper has complained about the broadcasting and publishing ban on the investigation into alleged torture carried out in the case of Engin Çeber, who died in prison, and his friends Cihan Gün, Özgür Karakaya and Aysu Baykal, who also allege torture. Lawyers Tora Pekin and Bülent Utku said in an application on 4 November that torture could only be prevented if the media was allowed to cover events and inform the public, and that the desire for justice of those tortured and their relatives did not affect the objectivity of the judiciary. They demanded that the ban, put in place by the Bakırköy 9th Criminal Court of Peace, be lifted.

Orhan Erinç, president of the Turkish Journalists' Society (TGC), spoke at the night of the Burhan Felek Press Service Awards, saying that he found it dangerous that broadcasting and publishing bans had become routine.

The EU Commission wrote about its concerns on the freedom of speech in Tureky on the 15th and 16th page of its 91-page Progress Report. The report warned that there needed to be efforts to follow the rules of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the ECHR and to respect the freedom of expression fully. The controversial Article 301 was said to cause political interference. The report also called for an evaluation of evidence that pointed towards the negligence of gendarmerie and other security officers in the murder of Hrant Dink. Following changes in Article 301, 257 case files were sent to the Minister of Justice. The Ministry evaluated 163 files in September and rejected an investigation or prosecution for 126 of them, but gave permission for 37 files.

The weekly Politika newspaper was handed a one-month publication ban by the Istanbul 10th Heavy Penal Court for "reporting PKK organisation statements" and "praising a crime and a criminal" in its second issue of 3 October 2008. The newspaper had put imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's words "The people are pointing at us" into a sub-heading, and had used the heading "Big sit-down protest in Diyarbakır. The address for a solution is Öcalan."

Cem Özdemir, member of the Green Party in the European Parliament, announced a withdrawal of his support for Turkey's participation in the Swiss "Culturscapes"  festival because, he argued, the Turkish Ministry of Culture had applied censorship. In letters sent both to the Ministry and to President Abdullah Gül, he reminded them that he had previously supported the festival, but added, "Bureaucrats in Turkey need to be reminded that they have to make efforts in order for Turkey to become an EU member. The EU has no place for censorship. They should then join a festival in Northern Korea." According to the Tagesanzeiger in Switzerland, the Ministry of Culture, which supported the festival with 800,000 YTL (400,000 Euros) had asked for a film "Gitmek" (Going) to be withdrawn from the programme. Festival manager Jurriaan Cooiman had first complied, but later expressed his regret to the newspaper. The Cinema Writers Association (SİYAD) had expressed its "great worry" over the censorship: "This situation is a new example of the increasingly random censorship. We call on Minister of Culture Günay to do his duty by preventing such efforts." Hüseyin Karabey, the director of the film in question, said, "In a phone conversation with the Ministry, I found out that they were not aware of this censorship event. I believe that the honourable Minister of Culture Ertuğrul Günay, who speaks of a liberal constitution at every opportunity, will do the necessary."Minister bureaucrat İbrahim Yazar said, "We have worked on the programme for around 1.5 years and created a very varied programme. That is why we had to make choices, and we did."

Adnan Oktar sent bianet a "warning" through his lawyers on 28 October, saying that he would go to court and sue for the closure of access to the bianet website if the news organisation did not take an article about him off the site. He alleged that the relevant article, entitled "Adnan Hoca against the Internet: All closures violate the law", insulted him and represented a defamation. His lawyers Kerim Kalkan and Ceyhun Aydoğan reminded bianet that they had achieved the closure of other websites (wordpress.com, richarddawkins.net, egitimsen.org.tr, groups.google, gazetevatan.com, etc.) previously and gave bianet a 24-hour deadline. After a consultation with its lawyers, the bianet management decided not to withdraw the article, written by Yaman Akdeniz (Leeds University law faculty lecturer) and Kerem Altıparmak (Ankara University political sciences faculty, human rights centre) on 20 October. Reporters without Borders (RSF) expressed its support for bianet against this "absurd censorship."

11 NGOs from the IT sector have called on two "expert" courts in Ankara and Istanbul to consider the Internet bans in a common statement entitled "Turkey must get rid of the shame of Internet bans." The organisations have also called for a reevaluation of Law 5651 and the definition of the "forbidden items" that are taken from the Internet. The statement was signed by the Internet Technology Association (INETD), Turkey IT (TBD), Turkey IT Sector Association (TÜBİDER), Linux Users Association (LKD), All Internet Houses Association (TİEV), Turkish Librarian Association (TKD), University and Research Librarians' Association (UNAK), Medical IT Association (TurkMIA), METU Alumni Association (ODTÜ MD), Citizens' Initiative and the Participant Lawyers' Group (KAV). Internet users have started a large signature campaign on the Internet asking President Abdullah Gül not to stay silent at the closure of blogger.com websites. RSF has also announced that Law 5651 needs to be reviewed because it allows for arbitrary decisions.

On 20 October, the Diyarbakır 1st Criminal Court of Peace blocked access to the worldfamous Internet diary /blog site blogger.com. The decision was made following the complaint of the digital broadcasting company Dijitürk, which had complained that some sites included excerpts of football matches. The website blogspot.com was also closed. Access to Youtube has been blocked for six months. In the last year, access to 1112 websites was blocked in Turkey for different reasons. 861 of them were closed by the Telecommunications Institution without a complaint, while 251 were closed after court decrees. 415 were closed because of sexual exploitation of children, 390 for obscenity, 79 for offering the possibility to gamble, 51 for "crimes against Atatürk", 25 for gambling and betting, and 12 for prostitution.

In this years World Press Freedom Ranking by the RSF, Turkey and Armenia ranked 102nd among 173 countries. Turkey was 101st last year. In the report, published by RSF on 22 October, Turkey was described as a country which permits frequent violations of the freedom of press and expression, limits editorial independence, forces censorship and auto-censorship, and limits Internet freedom. In the previous years, Turkey's ranking was as follows: 2002: 99 out of 139 countries, 2003: 116 out of 166, 2004: 113 out of 167, 2005: 98 out of 167, 2006: 98 out of 168, 2007: 101 out of 169.

While questions about the deaths of 17 soldiers in the Aktütün attack by the PKK have been left unanswered, Chief of Staff İlker Başbuğ and the government have attacked the media. Tarhan Erdem, former MP, journalist and manager of the KONDA public opinion research company, has said that the media can only be criticised by citizens, and that it is the duty of the government to inform the public on events. He defended the publication of secret documents by the Taraf newspaper, but criticised the fact that the newspaper added comments. He further said that if an institution that was criticised in the press wanted to refute a news item, then it should be the spokesperson of that institution.

On 15 October, the gazetevatan.com website of the Vatan newspaper was blocked to Internet users. Following the complaint of Adnan Oktar (also known as Adnan Hoca and using the pen name Harun Yahya), the Silivri 1st Civil Court of First Instance temporarily blocked access to the cite. Oktar's complaints have resulted in the closure of many websites, including eksisozluk.com, superpoligon.com and wordpress.com. The Şişli 2nd Civil Court of First Instance blocked access to evolutionist Prof. Richard Dawkin's site richarddawkins.net. On 18 September, the Gebze 1st Civil Court of First Instance banned access to the website turandursun.com, a website created in memory of writer Turhan Dursun, who had been killed in a gun attack on 4 September 1990. In this case, the complainant is unknown.

On 15 October, the General Staff Military court put a ban on an article by the Taraf newspaper published the previous day. The article, entitled "We Said 'Make a Confession on Aktütün...We Reveal Details", was said to be in violation of the broadcasting and publishing ban and Article 329 of the Turkish Penal Code, which deals with the crime of revealing state security details. The Taraf newspaper had previously been warned by the military prosecution when it wrote that intelligence units had previous knowledge of an attack in Dağlıca. The newspaper had been threatened in order to reveal its sources, and had been told, "surrender the documents, or we will take them with armed forces." The IPI National Committee reacted to the ban by the military prosecution, saying that it was a "worrying situation" for the state of press freedom in Turkey.

On 13 October, it emerged that a Kurdish theatre play entitled "Araf", about the life of Kurdish intellectual Musa Anter, had been banned by the Izmir Governor's Office and police force without any reason given. The play, written by Cihan Şan and acted by Aydın Orak, had been scheduled to be performed at the Selahaddin Akçiçek Culture Centre in Izmir's Konak municipality. A source in the municipality who chose to remain anonymous said that the police had argued that spectators would shout slogans and create problems. The police was cited as saying, "If necessary, we will fill the front of the culture centre with riot police, but we will not allow this play." Theatre actors and rights activists protested against the ban with a press statement. The play was later staged in the Mesopotamia Culture Centre in Istanbul.

The daily Kurdish language newspape Azadiya Welat received a one-month publication ban for news items and articles in its issue of 5 October 2008. Citing Article 6 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, the Istanbul 12th Heavy Penal Court decreed the ban, saying that the newspaper had published PKK propaganda and statements of the organisation. Newspaper representatives said that the closure decision was based on an article entitled "An umbrella party is necessary for democracy", written by leading PKK member Mustafa Karasu and using the Firat News Agency (ANF) as a source, and an article on the attack on the Aktütün Gendarmerie Station in Şemdinli, where 17 soldiers had been killed. Citing Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and case law of the ECHR, Emine Demir, the newspapers editor-in-chief, said that "even very influential, hurtful or dissident opinions" had to be evaluated within a framework of freedom of expression. She demanded the immediate lifting of the ban. Servet Yılmaz, lawyer for the newspaper, filed an objection with the Diyarbakır Duty Heavy Penal Court on 8 October, asking for it to be forwarded to the Istanbul court. Editor Tayip Temel, Kurdish Writers' Association president İrfan Babaoğlu, Dicle News Agency (DİHA) Diyarbakır representative Kadri Kaya, Free People (Özgür Halk), Hope of Life (Heviya Jine) and representatives of the magazine Liberated Patriotic Youth protested against the decree in front of Diyarbakır court.

An assembly of the Council of Europe from 29 September to 3 October in Strasbourg discussed a report prepared by German parliamentarian Wolfgang Wordarg and came to the conclusion that "member states of the Council of Europe must evaluate the degree of press freedom in their countries, using principles created by the Council and comparing laws and implementations." It has been recommended to the 47 member states that they regularly measure press freedom. If there is a high number of press court cases, this would be an indication that problems exist and that laws need to be revised. The council further said, "State and government authorities cannot be protected against insults or criticism any more than ordinary citizens. This cannot be an aggravating factor in the penal code. Media organs cannot be closed down and journalists cannot be imprisoned for critical interpretations."

Following the temporary closure of Turkey's popular alternative dictionary Ekşi Sözlük, on 3 October, access to the website anarsist.org was blocked. Site representatives were not given any legal warning or notification and were only told that access had been blocked because Adnan Oktar had been insulted. They said, "If even the slightest criticism of Adnan Oktar is accepted by courts as an insult, then this is a legal scandal." They further pointed out that they could not be held responsible for any of the activities listed in Law 5651 which regulates the closure of Internet websites. In addition, they argued that it violated basic rights and freedoms for a state institution to decide who could access which information.

At the end of September, Constitutional Court Rapporteur Osman Can, who had submitted a report against closing the Justice and Development Party (AKP), was terminated from his job at Çankaya University . Can learned that he was not going to teach in Çankaya University any longer when he called the school to find out the hours of the course he was going to teach. He said the school did not give any explanation regarding the reason for its decision. Associate Professor Dr. Osman Can was giving lectures at Çankaya University as a contracted member of the faculty. He was warned twice by the university administration about urging, in his writings, for the removal of article 301 and the recognition of the conscientious opposition as a right. Osman Can, who was the rapporteur of the case for allowing wearing headscarves in the universities,  had opposed closing of the AKP and insisted that the headscarf regulation should be taken into consideration within the context of freedoms. Can's lecturing was ended in Ufuk University in 2006 as well.

Immediately after the popular internet dictionary of Turkey Ekşi Sözlük was banned for a short period, the internet site of anarsist.org was banned, too. The ban came on the grounds that well-known creationist Adnan Oktar, writing under the pen name of Harun Yahya, was insulted, and no formal warnings were issued. Anarsist.org representatives criticized the decision by indicating the scandalous nature of the decision as basically any critique against Adnan Oktar was construed as insult. Furthermore, they argued that they were not held responsible for any of the deeds included in the law regarding the crimes committee in the internet. They also criticized the existence of a state institution with the authority to determine whether or not what kind of knowledge can be accessible, indicating that such a practice was outright violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms.

A complaint by Adnan Oktar (also called Harun Yahya) led to the banning of another internet site on September 24. This time, the 2nd Civil Court of First Instance of Gebze in Istanbul banned the internet site of the Union of Education and Scientific Workers (Eğitim-Sen), egitimsen.org.tr. The access to the site was banned as a reaction to the Union's press release about Adnan Oktar's Creation Atlas, which was sent to the schools free of charge on February 28. Describing the move as illegal, the Eğitim-Sen lawyers said that they were trying to remove the ban. The 2nd Civil Court of First Instance has just banned evolutionist Richard Dawkins's site for the same reason last week.

Ten professional press organizations, responding to the call by the Turkish Journalists Society (TGC) on September 23, announced a statement condemning Prime Minister Erdoğan for attacking and making a call to boycott the Doğan Media Group. They described Prime Minister's handling of the situation as the kind of hostility against the Press Freedom never seen anywhere around the world that that targets both the media and readers. The following organizations responded to the call of the TGC: the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), the European Journalists Association (AEJ), the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD), the Communications Research Association (ILAD), News Union affiliated with the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), the G9 Platform, the Press Council, the Press Senate and the Press Institute Association. The organizations declared that the monopolization in the media should e prevented, the editorial independence should be secured and therefore the obstacles, restrictions and bans that the freedom of expression is facing should be removed.

Istanbul's 9th High Criminal Court banned the circulation of the newspaper Alternatif for one month on the grounds that it published statements on behalf of the "PKK/KONGRA-GEL" (Kurdistan Workers Party). Alternatif had begun its life in May. The court concluded the application by the Office of the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor to have the September 20 issue of the newspaper seized on the same day that it was filed and the newspaper's sale and circulation were banned. The two articles for which the newspaper was banned were titled "They can meet with the Democratic Society Party for solving the problem" and "Claim your mother tongue", first one expressing the opinions of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), who is in prison for life, and the second one Murat Karayılan's, another high-level PKK official. In the article, Öcalan says that he was given medicine that helped his breathing, but was being subjected to many disciplinary punishments for provoking people with his messages, and another punishment was on its way. Öcalan is quoted in the article as saying "I am warning the people against the cultural genocide and the dangers; I express my opinions. They want me to hand over the people to them, without resisting..." In the other article, Karayılan mainly talks about the issue of mother tongue and announces that he supports those who show their reaction to the ban on Kurdish and "the cultural genocide policies." Cevat Düşün, license holder and chief editor for the newspapers Alternatif and Gelecek, says that they will not give up even though both newspapers were banned three times altogether.

On September 18, the 1st Criminal Court of First Instance of Gebze banned the access to the internet site turandursun.com created for the memory of Turan Dursun, writer who was murdered by a gunman on September 4, 1990. The name of the person or the institution responsible for the banning is not clear.

The new Chief of Staff has added two new newspapers to the list of the allowable media organs in the meetings of the Armed Forces. Previously unwanted Yeni Şafak and Star were the new newspapers in the introductory meeting of the new Chief of Staff on September 16. The ban continues for the newspapers Zaman, Vakit, Taraf, Evrensel, Birgün newspapers and  the STV and Hayat TV channels. These media institutions and their Ankara representatives could not attend the meeting at the General Staff. Birgün's Ankara representative Nuri Kayış described the ban as unlawful and not nice.

The Istanbul Governorship banned the slogan "Yankee Go Home" that the Turkish Communist Party (TKP) wanted to use in its activities for the 88th anniversary on September 10 on the grounds that creations of minorities should be prevented according to the law regarding the political parties and that it might hurt the relationship between Turkey and the United States. TKP's lawyer Özgür Murat Büyük said that they objected to the decision by filing a petition with the Istanbul Governorship. The State Council had annulled in February a similar decision in regards to the Socialist Power Party which had used the same slogan eight years ago.

The internet site dailymotion which was banned in the beginning of August was opened to access in the beginning of September.

On September 3, Istanbul's Şişli 2nd Criminal Court of Peace banned world famous evolutionist Prof. Richard Dawkins' internet site (richarddawkins.net) in Turkey on the grounds that Adnan Oktar's personality was violated by this site. The court reached the decision to ban the site on September 3. The site was accused of containing insults against Oktar's (known as Harun Yahya too) book titled "Atlas of Creation". The internet users who try to reach the site come across a statement saying that 'The access to the site has been banned by court order'; no explanations about why, when and by which court order the site has been banned are given. Oktar had managed to shut down the Google Groups in Turkey before as well. In addition to Dawkin's site, video sharing sites Youtube, kliptube and geocities are still banned in Turkey.

More than 500 internet site and blog owners protested the closing of the internet sites by making their sites inaccessible temporarily. One of these sites http://anafikir.com/sansur/ (the main theme.com/censorship/) appeared with a text on a black background with a statement saying "This is a preview of the future of the internet! Everyday another site is being banned. We are curious what kind of internet we will have, if the internet banning goes at this rate. This is the simulation of the future." This particular site gave technical assistance to those sites who want to be part of this movement that will last until August 20. The internet site elmaaltshift.com joined the campaign by responding with the statement "The access to this site is denied by its own decision." in its own site. http://www.sinema.com/ followed it. http://www.zargan.com/, known by the internet users as the English-Turkish dictionary, is supporting the campaign, too. In the past year, Eksi Sözlük, Antoloji.com, Wordpress, Indymedia İstanbul, Youtube, the newspaper of Gündem, Google Groups, Geocities and many other internet sites have been banned by the courts.

Ankara's 11th High Criminal Court banned gundemonline.com, a site about the Kurdish problem, on August 7 without any justification. However, it was not known what particular page of the site led to the banning. According to one of the site authorities, Ramazan Pekgöz, their site had been closed by court orders four times so far. He said that nobody had given them any explanation about the situation. Since it was a very long process to remove this court order, they simply continued their existence by changing names.

The 12th High Criminal Court of Istanbul had seized the August 10, 2008 issues of the newspaper Birgün for "allocating space to PKK's opinions" by publishing Hakan Tahmaz's interview with Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) representative Murat Karayılan, titled "Tek Taraflı Ateşkes Sorunu Büyütüyor" (One-sided ceasefire is making the problem worse). The interview was conducted at PKK's headquarters in Kandil in the northern Iraq. Tahmaz wrote in his interview that although Karayılan had emphasized that the person on the street was against living in violence, he had also told that they were not interested in a one-sided ceasefire, since this would bring more harm, and therefore they would continued with "the legitimate defensive war" activities.

Istanbul Police Department announced that they were planning to file a lawsuit against the newspaper Radikal for publishing in the headline an article titled "Did you have no shame?" by İsmail Saymaz about another set of friendly Ogün Samast photographs that the police officers had taken. The police department construed the report as an insult. The Radikal report criticized the fact that Ogün Samast was smiling in the pictures, looking very happy. This, the article claims, casts a shadow on the objectivity of the police. Answering bianet's questions regarding the article, Saymaz emphasized that he was doing his job when he took these pictures as the police officers too when they took Ogün Samast's pictures. However, he could not help mentioning that one of them was not doing his job right.   He also stated that while he, as a journalist, could use his initiative to critique, the police did not have a similar right when it came to taking the pictures of a murderer. Saymaz concluded by stating that he would be honored to be sued in this case. Reporter Ismail Saymaz of daily Radikal reacted to the announcement by the Istanbul Police Department that they were going to file a lawsuit against the news titled "Did you have no shame", which had criticized the picture-taking session the police officers had in a rather happy atmosphere with Ogün Samast, murder suspect of Hrant Dink, right after he was caught. He argued that the Police Department did not have the right to use such an initiative, especially in the case of such an important person like Hrant Dink. He also added that while a journalist could criticize such an incident, but it was not the duty of the police to entertain a murderer.

On the 100th anniversary of the lifting of censorship, the Turkish Journalists Society (TGC) Press Freedom Award was presented to reporters Gökçer Tahincioğlu of daily Milliyet and Kemal Göktaş of daily Vatan at the Dolmabahçe Palace. Both journalists are under investigation for publishing the permission given by a court order to the Police Department, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Gendarmerie to monitor the communications between people.  TGC's president Orhan Erinç criticized the latest move as a form of censorship never experienced before.

Hayat TV, founded on December 3, 2007, with the slogan "Life's all colors", found itself unable to broadcast on 16th of July. Their satellite connection was cut by the Türksat authorities on the grounds that they had supplied  pro-Kurdish RojTV with images about Newroz celebration. Meeting with the Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK), Türksat, the Ministries of Interior and Communication, Hayat TV managed to start broadcasting again. Hundreds of people gathered for the call of the Association of Intellectuals for Democracy to protest the shutting of Hayat TV.  From the Galatasaray Post Office in Istanbul, the group faxed a protest text titled "Turn On My Television" to the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK) and Türksat A.Ş. The Association of Intellectuals for Democracy  is formed by the Turkish Writers Unions (TYS), PEN Center for Turkey, the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), the Platform of  Istanbul Branches of the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Türk-İş), the Platform of Istanbul branches of the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), the Provincial Coordination of the Turkish Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects (TMMOB). Hundreds of people, including representatives from non-governmental organizations, joined the press release organized by the Association of Intellectuals for Democracy to support Hayat TV, which was banned from broadcasting right at the centenary celebration of the end of censorship in Turkey. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) protested the closing of the channel without any warning and indicated to the Turkish authorities that this was a sign showing that some media institutions in Turkey were under pressure.

On July 10, the Turkish Writers Association (TYB) presented the 2008 Freedom of Thought ad Expression Awards to journalist-writer Perihan Mağden, who works under the lawsuit threats, representative of Evrensel Printing and Publication Songül Özkan and publisher Vural OKur from the province of Bursa. Announcing the 2007 Publishing Freedom Report, Ragıp Zarakolu, president of the TYB Committee of the Publishing Freedom, brought up the lack of necessary laws and how he became the first person convicted under article 301, one of the major obstacle in front of the freedom of expression. He also stated that until up to the middle of 2008, 47 books by 38 writers published by 22 publishers had been or was still being investigated and prosecuted. 7 books were acquitted and 17 books were convicted. The report also stated that the violations were based on the charges "to praise the crime and the criminal" (TCK 215), "to do propaganda of an organization or its goal" (TCK 220/8), "to provoke hatred and hostility" (TCK 216 former 312), "to be against the bans of the Turkish Law of Alphabet and its Application" (TCK 222), "to attempt to influence the process of fair trial" (TCK 288), "to alienate people fro military service" (TCK 318), "to do propaganda of an organization" (TMY 7/2), "not to report a crime" (TCK 278). Speaking at the award ceremony, Mağden said that she was tired of seeing the prosecutors more than her husband, her children and her friends, she was under too much pressure, and she would quit being a columnist if she felt she was under censorship or self-censorship.

On July 3, the General Staff threatened the newspaper Taraf by sending a letter that if they did not return the documents they used in Dağlıca story, they would get them through a law-enforcement action.. In this story, Taraf had published some secret documents about the incident Taraf's Chief Editor Ahmet Altan said that the prosecutor threatened the newspaper by crossing the legal boundaries. The prosecutor had asked the newspaper how these documents were secured from an institution as important and critical as the General Staff and stated that their share of responsibility in this chain needed to be determined. It was stated in the military intelligence report published by Taraf  where and when the ambush was going to take place and who were going to take part in it. The intelligence report was prepared by Van Gendarmerie Law and Order Corps Command, numbered 3590-2292-07/İDAM (63939). Reporters Without Borders (RSF) criticized the method the military prosecutor resorted to and stated that forcing a newspaper to reveal its source was a really an intimidation tactic, demanding an end to the threats by the prosecutor.

Latife Tekin, a famous Turkish writer, who was invited to participate in Karabük Culture, Art and Industry Festival, received Karabük Mayor Hüseyin Erer's reaction, when she started talking against government's energy policy. Upon Erer's declaration that she cannot discuss politics, Latife Tekin left the conference. Hüseyin Erer is a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).International Association of Writers PEN Turkish Center Committee For Women Writers, which made an announcement on July 2 to support Tekin, said that the mayor's shutting up of Latife Tekin by violent means was a perfect example of the totalitarian mentality. The committee asked the public not to forget this incident and show its reaction. The head of the Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) Ahmet Abakay had said in his previous statement about the incident that the Prime Minister and the top administration of the Justice and Development Party should be first to hold this aggressive mayor responsible for his act.

Following the discovery of a weapons arsenal in Istanbul's Ümraniye district, the investigation into ultranationalist Ergenekon organisation began. The Istanbul 10th Penal Court's publication and broadcasting ban has been in effect for a year (since 15 April 2007). On 21 June 2007, the Istanbul 9th Heavy Penal Court also decreed a publication and broadcasting ban.

Following a PKK attack on a gendarmerie traffic check point in the Dereli district in Giresun on 27 June, the Giresun Chief Public Prosecution brought a publication and broadcasting ban the next day. The decision stated that publishing and broadcasting photographs and camera recordings after the event in local and national media represented propaganda for the organisation, and that frightening and threatening qualities of criminal organisations should not be reflected. Newspapers were informed of the decision.

The Istanbul branch of the Association for Human Rights and Solidarity with the Oppressed (MAZLUMDER) arranged a press briefing on 17 January, concerning Nuray Canan Bezirgan, who had said in the talk show Teke Tek hosted by Fatih Altaylı that she did not like Atatürk. Bezirgan also joined the press conference, saying, "Not liking someone is not an insult." Ayhan Küçük from MAZLUMDER said that the debate following the programme was malintentioned, that Bezirgan had only answered Altaylı's questions, and that a lynching campaign had been started.

Lawyer Kamil Tekin Sürek criticised the investigation of Bezirgan for her comment on Atatürk. He said, "No one is forced to love Atatürk." He said that the 57-year-old Law on Crimes Committed against Atatürk had to be abolished or at least revised. The law, so Sürek, was very narrow and was used to penalise even the slightest criticism of Atatürk. He pointed out that poet Can Yücel had been tried for "insulting Atatürk" after likening him to a dog in the Gerçek magazine in 1993.

On 12 June, representatives of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) presented their defence in the case opened to close the party for alleged separatist activities. The case cites Article 68/4 of the Constitution. The DTP said that the 141 events cited in the indictment did not constitute reasons for closure, and that 129 cases were cases of freedom of expression and the freedom of association. The defence also pointed out that the indictment used news coverage of certain national newspapers as evidence rather than investigating the events independently.

Nuri Kolaylı, president of the Bursa Journalists' Society (BGC) announced that planned changes in Law No 4734 on State Bids would end in the closure of local media organs. The changes would mean that job advertisements would only be posted on the web, leaving the local press without advertisements and thus their most important income. Kolaylı said that local newspapers were trying to survive with advertisements they got from the Press Advertisement Institute.

Ali Osman Koca, general secretary of the Turkish Parliament, has called for an end to the campaign by the Turktime.com website, which has appealed to Parliamentary Speaker Köksal Toptan to return his armoured car worth 1 million 274 thousand Lira. The website had criticised Toptan for accepting such an expensive car and had started a campaign on 29 May, arguing that the moral personality of both Toptan and the parliament were being damaged. Koca cited Article 9 Law 5651 on Broadcasting Regulations on the Internet and Intervention in Internet Crimes and demanded and end to the campaign. Otherwise, so Koca, he would use other legal channels.

On 7 June, the Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism initiative (Dur De) organised a forum for everyone opposing "rumours of military coups, memoranda and Ergenekon". Around 50 people met in Beyoğlu's Tophane Tobacco Depot and agreed that a struggle for the rights of expression, belief, association and existence needed to be collaborated on.

On 4 June, Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Diyarbakır Bar Association President, criticised Devlet Bahçeli, chair of the National Movement Party (MHP), who had said that plans for Kurdish broadcasts on the state TRT channel were "a gesture for and resignation to the mountain personnel of the PKK". Tanrıkulu said, "Such utterances are not appropriate in today's understanding of politics."

In the middle of May, students at Yüksekova University in the province of Hakkari started a signature campain in support of Erkan Çapraz, journalist for the Yüksekova Haber newspaper. Çapraz has been facing investigations and trials. The students emphasised that freedom of expression and press freedom were vital conditions for democracy. Under the slogan "Don't Touch Yüksekova Haber", they demanded more freedom for the journalists to carry out their profession. The campaign text, published on the Internet, said, "We are worried about this! We demand an end to the oppression of Yüksekova Haber, which contributes greatly to the pluralist journalism in our region and our country, and we believe that the press needs to be given the opportunity to be free."

Speaking in Diyarbakır, Prime Minister Erdoğan said that they had consigned one TRT channel to languages other than Turkish and that this channel would soon begin to broadcast. He said, "The determination of our government to develop democracy and human life continues. Our priority is the development of non-governmental organisations." Diren Keser, broadcasting director of the local private Gün TV in Diyarbakır, said that because of regulations dating from 25 January 2004, it was very difficult to broadcast in mother tongues. Keser said, "4 hours of Kurdish broadcasts may seem enough in Istanbul or other places, but for Diyarbakır it is certainly not enough." Since 7 June 2004, TRT Radio 1 and TRT 3 TV broadcast a half-hour programme of Bosnian, Arabic, Kırmanca Kurdish, Circassian and Zaza during the week.

On 21 September, the report on Turkey prepared by Dutch Christian Democrat MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten was accepted by the European Parliament with 467 votes. There were 62 votes against and 61 abstentions. The report has called for the development of the commitments of freedom of expression. The report acknowledged developments in 2007 and expressed optimism at PM Erdoğan's claim that "2008 will be a year of reforms." Further delay, so the report, would seriously affect EU accession negotiations. Amendments of Article 301 were considered "a first step" in further necessary reforms.

Seven rights organisations (Human Rights Association (İHD), the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly (HYD), the Platform for Conscientious Objection, the Initiative against Crimes of Thought, KAOS GL, Pink Life (Pembe Hayat) and the Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Initiative (Dur De)) have called for the abolition of Article 318 of the Turkish Penal Code, which penalises the "offence" of "alienating the public against military service" with imprisonment. A signature campaign was organised, and among the signatories were academics, writers, artists and activists. In a statement, the İHD protested against the trial of Birgün journalist Gökhan Gençay under Article 318 for publishing an interview with conscientious objector Erkan Bolat under the title "Let us dry up the human source of wars."

On 11 May, the Istanbul 13th Heavy Penal Court decided to seize all the copies of a book entitled "Collected Writings" by Mahir Çayan, leader of the Turkey People's Liberation Party - Front (THKP-C) who was killed in 1972. The court decreed that the book represented propaganda of an illegal terrorist organisation by praising a crime and a criminal. Sabri Kuşkonmaz, lawyer for the publishers Su Publications who objected against the ban, said, "Seizing copies of a book means the execution of a book. For such a decision, a more detailed examination needs to be carried out." He added, "The names of organisations mentioned in the book written by Mahir Çayan have become elements of recent political history. These organisations existed at the time the texts were written; remembering them does not mean spreading their propaganda."The same court had decreed on 10 May that another book published by Su Publications, entitled, "Revolutionary Marches, Folk Songs, Laments and Poems" was to be seized.

At the 28th General Meetinng in Seoul, South Korea, the International Publishers' Association (IPA) decided to award its 2008 Publication Freedom Award to Ragıp Zarakolu from Turkey. Zarakolu has faced countless trials and imprisonment for books translated into Turkish which his Belge Publications published. IPA president Ana Maria Cabanellas said that Zarakolu had displayed "exemplary courage". He was awarded the prize on 18 September.

The Istanbul 9th Heavy Penal Court handed down a one-month publication ban to the weekly Yedinci Gün newspaper for "spreading terrorist propganda", "publishing statements by a terrorist organisation" and "praising crime." On 12 May, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution demanded the seizure and ban of the newspaper under Article 6/end of the Anti-Terrorism Law. The court said that it had found 11 offences on the twenty pages of the 12-18 May 2008 issue.  However, it is not known exactly what parts were punihsed. Ramazan Pekgöz from the newspaper said that without changes in laws, the censorship culture could not be changed.

Following the access ban on Youtube.com by the Ankara 11th Criminal Court of Peace on 24 April 2008, a second court, the Ankara 5th Criminal Court of Peace, also placed an access ban on the global video sharing website. Previous bans had been decreed by the Ankara 3rd and 1st Criminal Courts of Peace and by the Sivas 2nd Criminal Court of Peace.

On 5 May, the Initiative against Crimes of Thought revived a thirteen-year tradition of civil disobedience actions with a press statement in front of Üsküdar court in Istanbul. Lawyer Eren Keskin, former DEP MP Mahmut Alınak, Agos newspaper's former editor Aris Nalcı and former licence holder Sarkis Seropyan were among the 200 people who "informed" on themselves for agreeing with the thoughts of singers Bülent Ersoy and Ferhat Tunç, which have been defined as "crimes".

The Turkish Journalists'  Society (TGC), the Turkey Writers' Union (TYS) and the Communication Studies Association (İLAD) awarded imprisoned journalist Hacı Boğatekin with a plaque for his contributions to the freedom of expression and press freedom on 3 May, World Press Freedom Day. At the ceremony at Bahçeşehir University on 4 May, Cumhuriyet newspaper owner and editorial writer İlhan Selçuk and Genco Erkal, writer of the Sivas 93 play, were also awarded a plaque for their efforts for freedom of expression. The award for Boğatekin, who has been in Kahta prison since 13 April, was accepted by his nephew Fırat Boğatekin. TYS general secretary and poet Tevfik Taş said that Boğatekin was practising "honourable journalism" in Adıyaman's Gerger district and that he was in prison for calling religious leader Fetullah Gül "Feto". "We condemn this mentality and we know that we also participate in Boğatekin's offense. It is sad that we have to experience such situations in this day and age."

On 21 April, the Index on Censorship organisation awarded its Freedom of Expression Prizes. The Guardian Journalism Prize was given to Arat Dink and the weekly Agos newspaper.

On 21 April, the EU's Committee of Foreign Affairs ratified the report on Turkey written by Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten. 53 people voted for, 2 against the ratification. There were four abstentions. The report calls on the Turkish government to make radical changes in Article 301 and other articles as soon as possible, so that these articles may not be applied arbitrarily.

The lawyers of Adnan Oktar, also known as "Adnan Hoca", have managed to block access to the Geocities portal in Turkey. Previously, they had caused the blocking of the Google Groups Internet communications group site. It is not known what the Ankara 9th Criminal Court of Peace based its decree on. After blocks on access to alternative dictionary Ekşi Sözlük, Antoloji.com, Wordpress, Indymedia İstanbul, Youtube, Gündem newspaper, Fırat News Agency (ANF), and Google Groups, now Geocities has been blocked since 4 February.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso commented on amendments of Article 301 in parliament. On 11 April, Şanar Yurdatapan, spokesperson for the Initiative against Crimes of Thought, said, "It is ridiculous to amend Article 301, it is not necessary. It has to be totally abolished. 301 is an article which was put in and used to prevent the criticism of the state."

At the beginning of April, the Silivri 2nd Civil Court of First Instance blocked access to the Google Groups site. The PEN Turkey Centre, the Turkey Union of Writers (TYB) and many other communication groups thus found access to their groups blocked. On 2 April, PEN Turkey, TYB, and the Association of Literature had condemned the ban on the cite and others. TYB representative Metin Celal said, "It is impossible to understand these bans. We have a saying, to burn a duvet because of one bed bug. I believe that it is inappropriate to ban a whole system on the Internet just to prevent communication of one group." The Reporters without Borders (RSF) organisation had also reacted to the ban from Paris, saying, "This decision is disproportionate. If the accused content can be taken out, why ban a whole site?"

On 4 April, the broadcasts of DEM TV were stopped without any legal warning and no explanation. Channel representatives reported that they were told by Turkshow that they had been told verbally by Turksat representatives to cut broadcasts, but Turksat denied having received any such orders.

The 145th issue of the Yürüyüş (March) magazine was confiscated and the magazine was handed a one-month publishing ban by the Istanbul 12th Heavy Penal Court. The magazine was accused of spreading propaganda of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party - Front (DHKP-C). The magazine had featured short biographies of the ten revolutionaries killed in Kızıldere. Magazine representatives argued that the relevant article did not mention the DHKP-C, and that at the time of the Kızıldere event the DHKP-C organisation did not exist yet.

On 21 March, the independent press centre Indymedia-İstanbul website was blocked after a decree by the General Staff Military Court.

On 20 March it emerged that the Haftaya Bakış (Look at the Week) magazine had been handed a one-month publishing ban by the Istanbul 11th Heavy Penal Court for allegedly spreading PKK propaganda. The newspaper, which had started publishing on 1 December 2007, was given the punishment for an article entitled "I call on Erdoğan", which included a call by PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, and an interview with Mustafa Karasu, member of the Executive Council of the KCK (Kurdistan Democratic Confederation), entitled "A Newroz to Grasp Freedom". The decision was based on Article 6/end of the Anti-Terrorism Law. The newspaper was closed for the issue published on 17-23 March 2008.  This is the third publishing ban since 8 December 2007. It had been given one-month publication bans on 8 December 2007 and 2 February 2008. Newspaper representatives announced that, since 2007, nine newspapers had been closed a total of 23 times, saying that during the time of the current government this number was higher than ever. It especially criticised the intolerance towards Kurdish media. Since 1 January 2008, the Haftaya Bakış, YedinciGün, Yaşamda Demokrasi and Toplumsal Demokrasi have been handed six publishing bans.

Retired military judge Ümit Kardaş has said that he was refused access to a military leisure centre in Fenerbahçe, Istanbul, for "security reasons." He said that he had been given no concrete reason and that he had written to the General Staff and Prime Ministerial Office to demand an explanation. In October 2007, the Prime Minister had reacted angrily to the comments of retired staff on the attack in Dağlıca where 12 soldiers were killed. The PM had said, "They will have to face us." The Ministry of Defence had decreased the number of people entitled to enter the military leisure centres, banning anyone who talked or wrote about their period of duty or anyone destroying the sense of trust in superiors and commanders. Kardaş believes that that he has been banned from entering for sharing his views in the press.

The US Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its report on Human Rights Implementations published on 11 March that Turkey generally respected human rights but that several problems in several areas continued, referring to an increase in reports of maltreatment and torture and continuing problems because of Article 301 and "crimes" committed against Atatürk.

When the broadcast of a documentary on the Abchasian Republic was cancelled on 10 March despite having been previously announced on TRT 1, groups protested. Circassians living in Turkey decided to boycott the channel. The Federation of Caucasian Associations (KAF-DER) wrote a letter to the TRT general manager İbrahim Şahin and TRT managers to protest against the cancellation of the documentary.

The Cumhuriyet newspaper, which faces many investigations and preliminary fines for publishing articles on the Ergenekon investigation, faces a new investigation for an article published on 29 January 2008, in which it reported on the arrest of nine persons. However, the Şişli Chief Public Prosecution decided that the news item had limited itself to court procedures and that it was not necessary to take newspaper representatives İbrahim Yıldız and Güray Tekin Öz to court.

Şefik Türk, deputy mayor of Diyarbakır's Yenişehir municipality, which has continuously faced problems for publishing municipal messages in Kurdish, has announced that they would prepare the 8 March Women's Day posters in Chinese as a protest. Türk said, "At the moment our mayor Fırat Anlı faces five court cases and three investigations. They are telling us that we can publish messages, but that we cannot publish them in a language that people can read or understand. Let us see if they start an investigation into Chinese posters?"

On 22 February, the Ankara 11th Heavy Penal Court issued a publication and broadcasting report on the BOTAŞ operation which has gone to court. On 27 February, the ban was announced to radio and TV institutions on the RTÜK website. The ban announcement cited Article 22 of the constitution, Articles 3/2 and 19/1 of the Press Law and Article 187/3 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Furthermore, RTÜK announced on 21 February, that Seydi Çevik, an employer of RTÜK who had been arrested on 22 October 2007, had been taken off duty.

Tayyip Temel, editor for the Kurdish-language daily Azadiya Welat newspaper, said that if a lifting of the ban on Kurdish brought a solution to the Kurdish question, it was meaningful. Temel said that the newspaper faced hundreds of cases for "spreading propaganda" in a language that the courts did not understand. He added that all indictments avoided saying that the newspaper wrote in Kurdish. Adil Kurt, broadcasting director for the Kurdish programmes of Diyarbakır's private Gün TV channel said that it was very difficult to broadcast in Kurdish. He called for an end to the compulsory translation of programmes (which made live TV impossible) and for the limit of 45 minutes programming a day. "Kurds have 12 channels via satellite, and most of them broadcast 24 hours. They cannot expect us to compete with our 45 minutes from Diyarbakır." Kurt also said that the TRT's once-weekly slot of Kurdish was not being watched: "The broadcasts openly deny Kurdish, using other letters instead of the Q, W and X letters of the Kurdish alphabet. He said that he had made his complaints known to the RTÜK regional authority.

After the General Staff announced the beginning of its ground attacks in Northern Iraq, it asked journalists not to enter the area "for their own security."  NTV news director Mete Çubukçu, who for years worked as a reporter in regions of conflict, said that this announcement passed responsibility on to the reporters: "The operation is in an area which is difficult for journalists to reach, and an area with few civilian settlements. Today, all armed forces in the world make these kind of 'warnings', but they violate the spirit of journalism and limit the right of the people to be informed." Faruk Balıkçı, president of the Southeastern Journalists' Society (GGC) said that journalists of the region had not yet met with any restrictions, but criticised the announcement for limiting the working space of journalists. He emphasised that working in conflict zones always carried a certain amount of risk for journalists, but that it should be the duty of the army to provide security and make things easier rather than warn journalists and obstruct them.

On 17 February, the Istanbul 9th Heavy Penal Court decreed a one-month publishing ban for the weekly Yaşamda Demokrasi (Democracy in Life) newspaper. The newspaper was banned for alleged PKK propaganda and "praise of crime and a criminal in its 3rd issue of 17-2 February. Lawyer Özcan Kılıç said that they had appealed to the ECHR 15 times because of newspaper closures. The ban referrred to articles published on the 9th anniversary of the capture of now-imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Two articles were entitled "Curses rain on Conspiracy", "Öcalan: America is playing foul", while one by Cemil Bayık, entitled "Until we win with 'Êdî Bes e'" (the Kurdish for 'enough'), another by Selahattin Erdem entitled 'Êdî Bes e', and an article by Mustafa Karasu entitled 'We condemn the conspiracy" were also cited as reasons for the temporary ban. Hüseyin Bektaş, license holder of the newspaper, announced that they would appeal to the ECHR. He criticised the AKP government, saying, "In one year newspapers were stopped from publishing 21 times. What freedom is the AKP government talking about?"

A delegation of the Federation of International Human Rights (FIDH), which had come to Istanbul to attend the third hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case on 11 February 2008, announced its report of the Turkey visit. In the report, the federation called on complete access to documents to be given to lawyers of the Dink family, particularly documents relating to the attitude of security officers. It further called for the abolition of Article 301.

Joost Lagendijk, co-chair of the Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Committee, also came to Istanbul to attend the murder trial hearing. He called for an immediate amendment of Article 301.

More than 400 academics, among them sociologist Assoc. Prof. Mesut Yeğen from METU and lawyer Prof. Dr. Mithat Sancar from Ankara University, signed an Internet campaign on the hemozgurlukhemlaiklik.blogspot.com website, in which they called for both freedoms and laicism. The campaign called for legal sanctions of discrimination, the abolition of Article 301, an end to compulsory religious education classes, a guarantee of academic freedom, equal rights for Kurds, Alevis and non-Muslims, an increase in social and trade union rights for workers, and equal rights in education.

Musa Kart and Zafer Timoçin, caricaturists who are being investigated for "insulting the President"  for caricatures appearing in the Cumhuriyet newspaper, have been supported by the Cartoonists Right Netwok İnternational (CRNI), and the Reporters without Borders (RSF). The RSF condemned the investigation, saying that PM Erdoğan had also gone to court against Kart and three other caricaturists for portrayals of himself. David Dadge, director of the International Press Institute (IPI) had previously called on all accusations against Kart and Timoçin to be taken back. The case against the caricaturists was later dropped.

The Gendarmerie General Command's Gendarmerie Public Peace Corp's Command Military Court put a publishing and broadcasting ban on the attack in Hakkari province's Dağlıca on 21 October 2007, when 12 soldiers were killed, 17 injured, and eight soldiers kidnapped by the PKK. The eight soldiers were brought back to Turkey and then put on trial. The military court asked for the ban to start on 1 February, and RTÜK announced it on the same day.

On 30 January, the Izmir 7th Criminal Court of Peace blocked access to the youtube.com video sharing website following the demand by Izmir Public Prosecutor Ahmet Şinasi Aygün, who argued that one video insulted Atatürk and Turkishness. The ban was alter lifted. The site faced three bans in the last two weeks, one by the Ankara 12th Criminal Court of Peace on 17 January, and one by the Sivas 2nd Criminal Court of Peace on 16 January.

On 29 January, lawyers working for the Doğan Publishing Group applied to the Istanbul 9th Heavy Penal Court to have the ban on reporting on the Ergenekon operation lifted. Şehnaz Yüzer and Günay Erkan argued that the ban represented censorship, saying that it was the right of the people in a democratic and laicist state to be informed of developments. The court considered the objection to the ban on 1 February and rejected it. The court had previously rejected an objection on 21 June 2007 and did not see a need to change its decision. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecution had asked RTÜK to remind all publishing and broadcasting bodies of the ban on 22 January.

Nuri Çolakoğlu, president of the TV Broadcasters' Association, commented on a new RTÜK bill which bans programmes "encouraging the use of cigarettes, alcohol or drugs", saying that such encouragement was not given in any broadcasts. He argued that there were serious differences in European and Turkish legislation and that they would work on convincing RTÜK that such a law would only make things worse. According to a RTÜK official, if "one or two glasses of drink are shown, it will not be considered encouraging if someone says, 'Damn it, I have not been able to stop drinking that stuff", when alcohol or cigarettes are consumed, they will be blanked out.

The 17 January 2008 issue of the local Çoban Ateşi (Shepherd's Fire) newspaper was confiscated on demand of the Gaziantep Chief Public Prosecution because of the publication of a short biography of Abdula Pêşew in Kurdish and a poem by him. The Gaziantep 3rd Criminal Court of Peace decreed on 18 January that the publication of Kurdish letters which did not appear in the Turkish alphabet vioated the Law on "Wearing of a Hat and Turkish Letters", Article 222 of the Turkish Penal Code. Citing Article 25/1-2 of the Press Law, the court decreed the confiscation of the issue. Four police officers entered the newspaper's office and confiscated 26 copies of the issue, while editor Yasin Yetişgen was asked to make a statement.

On 17 January it emerged that Van Chief Public Prosecutor Yahya Akçadırıcı had filed a criminal complaint against all media organs who did not follow the publishing and broadcasting ban on the eight soldiers first kidnapped and then released by the PKK. The Günlük Evrensel newspaper, which had interviewed the families of the soldiers, was handed a 40,000 YTL fine. The Sabah, Hürriye, Milliyet, Zaman and Birgün newspapers had to pay 20,000 YTL each. On 7 January, the journalists said that they had not used the expressions of the soldiers word for word, but had only published the views of the families, saying that this did not constitute a crime and was part of press freedom. However, the fines were not revoked.

On 11 January, following the application by public prosecutor Sadullah Ovacıklı, the websites www.gergerim.com and www.bianet.org were handed temporary injunctions by the Gerger Civil Court of First Instance. The court considered the objections to the injunction on 18 January, but rejected a lifting of the injunction. The court decided that an article entitled "Shocking words from the prosecutor" published on the gergerim.com website and an article entitled "How do you dare call Fethullah Gülen 'Feto'?" published on the bianet.org website had to be taken off the websites. Bianet did not take the article off its website, but the gergerim.com website wsa forced to follow the order. The articles had claimed that the prosecutor Ovacıklı had said to journalist Hacı Boğatekin, "You cannot call our venerable hoc Fethullah Gülen, whom millions respect, Feto. Immediately apologise in a second issue or I will make you regret it." Fethullah Gülen is the leader of a popular religious movement in Turkey.

Academics, writers, artists, lawyers, political scientists and members of the Peace Iniative have reacted to attempts to lift the immunity of Ahmet Türk, MP for the pro-Kurdish DTP, saying that they share in his crime. In a statement they declared, "If Türk's words are a 'crime', then we are also criminals."Türk had commented on the refusal of the General Staff to invite DTP MPs to the 30 August reception, saying, "It has become obvious that the crime of separatism, which is always being talked about, is actually being committed by someone else."

Punishments by Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK)

The news channel NTV is still on trial for quoting the words of Cyprus' Foreign Minister Erato Kozaku-Marcoullis describing Turkey as a state that occupied the northern Cyprus, refuses to abide by the international treaties and is threatening [to the existence of Cyprus]. The case at the Regional Administrative Court of Istanbul was filed upon the warning of the Supreme Council of Radio and Television (RTÜK).  The RTÜK had warned the news channel, which had quoted these words from its Nicosia representative Selim Sayar, for "not conducting its broadcasting activities in accordance with the understanding of public service based on the rule of the law, the general principles of the Constitution, the fundamental rights and freedoms, the national security and the public decency."  The RTÜK also made reference to the following passage by the foreign minister: Moreover, we do not see the comments by the Four-Star general Yaşar Büyükanıt encouraging. These explanations will take Turkey back a few centuries. I know you do not like what I say, but this is how we feel. Here, the Turkish Army is preventing the citizens of a country that is a member of the European Union to obtain their human rights. This is the role of the Turkish Army on the island..."

The file about RTÜK's warning of Izmir's local radio Demokrat Radyo for airing a news report titled "Devlet Derin Devlete Karşı" (The State is against the Deep State) from daily Sabah about the Ergenekon operation. By broadcasting this report that had appeared in Sabah on Jabuary 23, 2008, the local radio found itself facing the accusation of violating the principle of "Radio, television and data broadcastings are done within the framework of public service in accordance with the general principles of the Constitution, the belief in the Rule of Law, fundamental rights and freedoms, the national security and the public morality." The Demokrat Radyo same radio had received another warning based on the allegation that its broadcasting "was encouraging use of violence and provoking the feeling of racial hatred", when it aired news about the attack against the provincial headquarters of the Democratic Society Party (DTP). Counterattacking, the administrators of the radio had taken the warning to the Administrative Court and argued in the court that it had in fact aired this news to point out to the harm such attacks would cause to the relations between different groups. The court has not reached a decision yet.

RTÜK has demanded an explanation from Star TV, which, in its news programme, showed discussions and protests in the general assembly in parliament on 4 June with the well-known music of a comedy on a chaotic school class (Hababam Sınıfı) playing in the background. RTÜK has accused the TV channel of equating the difficulties the Parliamentary Speaker had with that class. Should the defense of the channel be deemed insufficient, it will be punished with a fine.

RTÜK has handed down a "warning" to Star TV for the utterances of pop singer Bülent Ersoy, a jury member on the live Popstar Alaturka competition programme. RTÜK found her utterance to be in violation of the principle that Radio, television and data broadcasts respect "the rule of law, the general principles of the constitution, basic rights and freedoms, national security and general morals." Ersoy had said that, if she had had a child, she would not have sent it to fight. She faced a separate trial for that utterance.

Following a motin filed by DTP deputy chair and Diyarbakır MP Selahattin Demirtaş, State Minister Mehmet Aydın listed the punishments handed out by RTÜK since 2000. The information was published on 25 March. Since 15 May 2002, there have been 2,022 warnings, 262 programme bans, and one withdrawal of a licence for a radio station.

On 6 February, RTÜK issued a warning to Kanal D for publishing secret camera recordings of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in the Arena programme. The programme had said "This operation shows that the TMSF is the nightmare of its corrupt employees as well as the nightmare of those siphoning money out of banks." RTÜK decided that this violated Article 4/1 of Law No 3984 on Radio and TV broadcasts, related to the rule of law.

Information: BİA Media Monitoring Desk, Tel. (0212) 251 15 03, Faks. (0212) 251 16 09, E-mail. hukuk@bianet.org