The memorandum was collected and published by the Human Rights Department of the Justice and Development Party (in Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – AKP), the conservative Islamist political formation founded by Erdogan in 2001. The dossier collects and exposes all the improvements that according to the AKP, have been registered in Turkey in the real condition of non-Muslim faith communities for the past 18 years, that is, since Erdogan’s Party came to power. Among other things, the dossier, relaunched by the Turkish press, refers to the support offered by government policies to schools and educational institutions headed by Christian minorities and the Jewish community, whose students were exempted from the Islamic religion exam required in order to be admitted to higher study courses.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip faces a growing backlash over plans to convert Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, the former Greek Orthodox cathedral that is now a museum, into a mosque. Once eastern Christianity’s greatest church, it was turned into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in the 15th century and then a museum in the 1930’s
Turkey has launched a military campaign against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, but many civilians have been caught in the crossfire
In Istanbul, a 36-year-old woman is a one-person traveling medical unit treating some of Turkey’s most vulnerable refugees at a time when, for many people, hospitals are not an option. Some refugees do not have their papers in order. Others cannot afford care or fear getting the coronavirus at a hospital
According to the anonymous sources cited, the Turkish President gave a mandate to those present to “Start working” in search of a formula that would make this change possible, taking into account that any restoration of the use of Agyasofya as an Islamic place of worship could take place without closing the building for tourist visits, “just like the Sultanahmet mosque (the Blue Mosque, ed)”. Erdogan urged his interlocutors to carry out the project cautiously, taking into account the fact that the status of Agyasofya represents a ‘sensitive’ topic, on which, however, “Only our great nation can decide”.
Turkey joins other countries in relaxing its strict lockdown measure because of the coronavirus pandemic by letting people go to mosques across the country to perform Friday prayers. Although this lifting of restrictions did not allow people older than 65 to participate in the Friday prayers, many of them nonetheless were seen at mosques
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is planning what’s dubbed ‘the construction project of the decade’, a massive canal connecting Turkey’s Marmara and Black Sea. The canal will provide an alternative route to the Bosporus, one of the world’s busiest waterways, which divides Istanbul. But the project is proving controversial, both domestically and internationally
The conflict in Syria created a global humanitarian crisis, with millions displaced and millions more fleeing to other countries. Turkish military operations that began in early October may be creating a new wave of displacement. Where are these Syrians going?
Syrian journalist exiled in Turkey is at risk of being deported for trying to cover Turkish military operations in northern Syria. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounces this measure, a real obstacle to the right to inform, and asks that he be allowed to work freely
Amnesty urged the authority that this decision should be overturned and the Turkish authorities must end their suffocating crackdown on the ever shrinking number of independent voices