HarekAct offers a topical and chronological collection of news on the EU-Turkish border regime under this section. We link to external newspapers and websites and do not hold the copyright.
Views and opinions expressed in the articles published on HarekAct are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of all editorial board members.
Via Turkey Purge – United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on June 8 that the agency is deeply concerned by continued reports about the alleged push-backs and refoulement at the land border between Greece and Turkey.
“Such allegations of informal forced return have been recorded before, and it is of vital importance that the Greek authorities investigate them thoroughly,” said UNHCR Representative in Greece Philippe Leclerc. “If confirmed, this is extremely worrying. The right to seek and enjoy asylum is a fundamental human right.”
Amnesty International started an Urgent Action calling for the immediate release of Taner Kiliç:
Taner Kiliç, the Chair of Amnesty International Turkey, has been detained in Turkey wrongly suspected of belonging to the Fethullah Gülen movement, which the authorities blame for last year’s attempted coup. He was taken into police custody along with 22 other lawyers on 6 June. His detention is further proof of just how widespread and arbitrary Turkey’s post-coup crackdown has become. We urgently need your help to secure his release.
Via The New York Times – The Greek government denies that account, by the Hellenic League for Human Rights and the International Federation for Human Rights, which say that twice in the last few weeks, on May 24 and June 2, Turks fleeing persecution have been shipped back to their country.
Via Mülteci-Der – The refugee rights organization Mültecilerle Dayanışma Derneği (Mülteci-Der) has issued a statement today demanding the termination of the detention of human rights lawyer Taner Kılıç, founder and former chairman of the NGO and current chair of Amnesty Turkey. We post the statement below. It was originally published on Mülteci-Der’s homepage.
Via Amnesty International– Responding to the news that Taner Kiliç, the Chair of Amnesty International Turkey, was today detained by police along with 22 other lawyers in Izmir on suspicion of having links with the Fethullah Gülen movement, Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:
“The fact that Turkey’s post-coup purge has now dragged the Chair of Amnesty International Turkey into its web is further proof of just how far it has gone and just how arbitrary it has become. Taner Kiliç has a long and distinguished record of defending exactly the kind of freedoms that the Turkish authorities are now intent on trampling. Continue reading Chair of Amnesty International Turkey swept up in post-coup purge→
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”.
