Articles

Alcohol ban to fight COVID

Friday 30 April Following a strong increase in infections in Turkey these last weeks, the government has decided to impose a strict lockdown for three weeks. Schools and unessential stores will be closed, and the sale of alcohol will be prohibited. This decision caught the population by surprise. People don’t understand how banning the sale of alcohol could help in the fight against COVID. Consumers fear a long-term ban that could undermine their rights. They use the hashtag #Don’tTouchMyAlcohol on social media. According to Dogan Erkan, a lawyer from Ankara, they must not heed this ban since it has religious goals. According to the Turkish constitution this doesn’t act as a law. These last years, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried many times to reduce alcohol consumption. Alcohol taxes have been increased and it is very difficult to get a license to sell alcohol. The price of a bottle of raki, the national beverage of Turkey, has been multiplied by four since 2010.
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Demonstrations for human rights in Istanbul

Saturday 27 March Demonstrations started in January against the appointment of the new director Melih Bulu of the Bogazici University in Istanbul. The students are calling for his resignation. But they also have new demands. One week ago, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan published a decree to withdraw from a treaty with the Council of Europe which protects women against violence. Hundreds of women and men gathered in Istanbul to defend rights towards students, women and LGBT community. They demand the end of the anti-LGBT measures taken by the government and the police. But the government refuses to accept the decree of the Istanbul Convention and claims the treaty is meant to “normalize homosexuality.” In Turkey, it’s difficult for women and LGBT to be heard. Last week, dozens of students were arrested for deploying the LGBT flag. Most of them have been released but the face-off is not over. Manifestations pour les droits humains à Istanbul Samedi 27 mars
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Hundreds of femicides sorted as suicides

Thursday 4 March Last year in Turkey, 300 women were murdered, but this number could be higher because a lot of femicides are sorted as suicides. Women’s murders frequently happen in Turkey but most of the time, murderers are not punished. In 2018, Sule Cet’s murder shocked the country. An important pressure on social networks during the trial made it possible to condemn the culprit and his accomplice to a heavy prison sentence. But it was a rare case. Often, to cover the femicides, a lot of culprits claim the death was suicide, even if it is not consistent with the facts. To fight against those injustices, female lawyers who are members of women’s associations denounce the flaws of the Turkish judicial system dominated by men who do not react well to femicides. Five years ago, Turkey passed a law to prevent the violence against women but the law has not been applied. Des centaines de féminicides qualifiés de suicides Jeudi 4 mars L’année dernière en
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a liberal constitution is to guide Turkey for the next century

a liberal constitution is to guide Turkey for the next century On Thursday, Turkey's president announced on videoconference that the country's new civil constitution will be inclusive and liberal after declaring that "It is time for Turkey to discuss a new constitution again." a month ago. During the meeting, Erdoğan stated that among the latest reforms, the offer for a new constitution was the most significant and that he wants Turkey to have a civilian-drafted Constitution by 2023. The president’s proposal came four years after the 2017 constitutional referendum asked voters to decide on an 18-article bill switching from a parliamentary to a presidential system, among other changes. The amendments to the Constitution were jointly introduced by the AK Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Erdoğan was elected president under the new system in 2018 after over 51% of people voted in favor of the changes. The president also touched on economic developm
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Diplomats move in

Sunday 31 January For more than four months, tensions have been present in the Mediterranean. Saturday, the Turkish president’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin declared the talks with Greece are an “important step” in the relations between Turkey and the EU. They want to build better relations based on peace and stability in the Mediterranean and around. Kalin spoke about seeking to solve a number of problems like the refugee crisis, or continue to make efforts to stop the conflict in Syria. The spokesman also hoped for better relations with the US following the election of the new president Joe Biden. Through these talks Turkey is striving to improve its relations with foreign countries. Un peu de diplomatie Dimanche 31 janvier Depuis plus de quatre mois, des tensions persistent en Méditerranée. Samedi, le porte-parole du président turc Ibrahim Kalin a déclaré que les pourparlers avec la Grèce sont une “étape importante” dans les relations entre la Turquie e
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Istanbul is likely to run out of water in 45 days

Istanbul is likely to run out of water in 45 days Major cities across Turkey will be running out of water in the next months due to a severe drought caused by the lack of rainfalls and Istanbul has the worst case, with only 45 days of water left. The country is facing the most severe drought in a decade, with Istanbul, the megacity of 17 million people left with critically low levels of water while the Ömerli Dam, the city's main water source is at its lowest in the last 15 years, at just 20% capacity. According to the Turkish Chamber of chemical engineers, the drought is caused by poor rainfalls and sprawling urban development. Meanwhile, Turkey’s next two biggest cities, Izmir and Bursa are suffering as well, with the capacity of their dams at only 36% and 24%. Wheat farmers in the Konya plain and the Edrine province are fearing crop failure. The situation is so critical that mosques were asked to pray for rain back in December by the directive of the Presidency of Reli
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Pays/territoire : Fettahdere, Fettahdere Köyü Yolu, 38660 Sarız/Kayseri, Turquie
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Dozens of students arrested during a demonstration

Thursday 7 January Since Monday, hundreds of students from the University Bogazici in Istanbul have been protesting against the appointment of the new university director Melih Bulu by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Thirty-six persons have been arrested by the police since the start of the demonstrations. In spite of the decree forbidding meetings by the Istanbul governor to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the students came back to protest Wednesday to demand the traditional election of the new university director take place and call for the imprisoned students’ release. From the 1990s to 2016, the dean of Bogazici University was chosen by elections. But since his re-election in 2018, thanks to the executive presidential system, Erdogan can choose himself the heads of public universities. Several students from this university had already been arrested in 2018 during another demonstration. Des dizaines d’étudiants arrêtés lors d’une manifestation Jeudi 7 janvier
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