Via Turkey Purge – At least 18 lawyers including Taner Kılıç, the chairman of Amnesty International Turkey’s board, were detained on Tuesday as part of an investigation into Turkey’s Gülen group.
According to the Hürriyet daily, detainees are accused of using a smartphone application called “ByLock.”
ByLock is considered by Turkish authorities to be the top communication tool among followers of the Gülen movement, which is accused by the government of masterminding a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The Stockholm Center for Freedom reports on several illegal pushbacks at the Greek-Turkish land border, we as well have been reported about. It seems that these pushbacks are becoming a systematic method:
In a breach of European Union (EU) and international laws, Greek government appears to have adopted a policy of push-backs of Turks seeking asylum from repressive regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The new practice has been put into action as of mid-May and involved Greek security forces as well as unidentified and masked gunmen who intercept people near Turkish border and send them to other side by force, violence and threats.
Via Turkish Minute – A group of people who were detained on Friday by Turkish gendarmes said they were sent back to Turkey after they crossed the river to Greece, TGRT reported on Saturday, the second such recent incident after journalist Murat Çapan, who had been sentenced to 22.5 years for two news stories, and others were returned home by Greece last month. Continue reading Greece sends Turkish refugees back to Turkey→
Via Bianet– President Erdoğan speaking at the 38th Village Head’s Meeting said that after the wall on the Syrian border was completed, “We will do the same on the Iraqi border and we will carry this out also on proper spots of the Iranian border” and added “They will not be able to enter”.
Via Refugees Deeply – Ten people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Morocco, Congo and Algeria were deported from Lesvos to Dikili on 26th May under the EU-Turkey Deal. Read the article here.
Via Refugees Deeply – There are over 3 million asylum seekers in Turkey. Amel Ahmed moved to the country to volunteer her legal and Arabic skills to help those whose claims are denied. To Refugees Deeply, she explains her day-to-day work – and why it’s not for the faint-hearted. Read the article here.
Via Hellenic League for Human Rights – The unofficial refoulement from Greece to Turkey of persons that are possibly entitled to international protection, not only have not been terminated, but on the contrary seem to be conducted in concert with Turkish authorities violating even the notion of the rule of law. A recent eponymous incident shows the true dimensions of this practice
Via Ekathimerini – Turkey’s coast guard says it stopped 71 Syrian migrants attempting to reach Greece. The migrants were stopped in a rubber dinghy early Tuesday in Izmir province, on the Aegean sea, as they began their journey to the Greek island of Lesvos.
According to Turkish coast guard statistics, more than 5,000 migrants have been stopped so far this year, a fifth of the total number in 2016.
Via Turkey Purge – Three dismissed police chiefs and a university students were detained near Turkey’s Kapikule border gate with Bulgaria on Wednesday. The four people were detained in a military zone in Turkish part while they were reportedly on their way to escape Turkey’s post-coup crackdown to Bulgaria.
According to state-run Anadolu news agency, the detainees had outstanding arrests warrants earlier issued against them over links to the Gulen movement. The government accuses the movement of masterminding the July 15, 2016 coup attempt and has detained more than 120,000 people in its crackdown since then.
