Ilgaz Gökırmaklı

Kurdish sociologist Güllistan Yarkın had been put on trial under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) over her doctoral dissertation, which criminalizes “publicly insulting or denigrating the Turkish nation, the state, or key state institutions.” The first hearing of the case was held in Ankara on October 6. While 29 passages from her dissertation are cited in the indictment as the basis for the charges, four of them are related to the Armenian Genocide and historical violence against Armenians. The court ruled to retain the arrest warrant against Yarkın and adjourned the hearing until January 14, 2027.

Raji Sourani, the Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender who has devoted his life to the Palestinian people’s struggle for their rights and continues his work under conditions in which documenting human rights violations in Gaza has become nearly impossible, is continuing his legal fight against the ongoing genocide in Palestine while also calling on the world to speak out: “No power on earth can deter us. We must look them in the eyes and tell them the truth: They are genociders, they are criminals, and they must be held accountable!”

The legal process, which began with the cancellation of Açık Radyo's license and has been ongoing for nearly two years, has been taken to the Council of State (Danıştay). At the center of the process is the use of the term "Armenian Genocide" in a broadcast. The lawsuits filed by Açık Radyo against both the license cancellation and the broadcast suspension were rejected by the court. The court considered the individual use of the term "Armenian Genocide" as freedom of expression, but did not evaluate its use in a radio broadcast within the same scope. The court's approach of limiting freedom of expression based on the medium drew attention.

We are Silivri's mandatory visitors. For now, some of us, but potentially all of us. Although we cannot fully know or understand what our loved ones in prison are going through, there is one thing we have learned through experience: what it means to be an intimate of a prisoner. And I quickly learned the number one rule of being an intimate of a prisoner: to wait.