NEWS

Not to say that the normalization process will be smooth, especially as Turkiye remains hostage to Azerbaijan in terms of options. Yet normalization between Armenia and Turkiye was never supposed to be that easy or that quick. And after all, look at how far the two sides have already come. This offers a degree of hope and optimism.

biianet website editor Tuğçe Yılmaz, who was detained for one day explanation, is now facing prosecution under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code over an interview she conducted with two Armenian youths on April 24 last year, marked globally as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

Following the 3-year and 9-month prison sentence given to Van Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Abdullah Zeydan, another DEM Party municipality was appointed a trustee. Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality also faced two trustee appointments in 2016 and 2019. We spoke to Serra Bucak, Co-Mayor of Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, about the social and political consequences of the trusteeship practices after Zeydan was sentenced to prison. Regarding the trustee appointments, Bucak said, ‘Even though the government persistently and stubbornly does not learn lessons from undemocratic methods, the people have always said and will say, 'No matter what you do, we are on the side of the just struggle.' The government must now digest and accept the will of the people and give up these anti-democratic practices."

Political documentary photographer Ali Öz, as he calls himself, is not currently working for a publishing organisation. But for a very long time, he has not needed a contract to record Turkey's social and political life. Ali Öz's photographic archive is full of images documenting the story of labour and at the same time recording all kinds of social actions in almost fifty years of Turkey's history. For Öz, who sees journalism not as a job, but as the main endeavour at the centre of his life, which motivation weighs more heavily: political responsibility, professional appetite or the desire to document?

Turkey lived a period believing that torture and ill-treatment fell behind, convinced by this showcase. Yet, this year alone, 692 people or their relatives have applied to the HRFT with allegations of torture and ill-treatment. This is only the number of those who consider applying to a human rights institution in case of victimization, and who have the power and means to do so. Likewise, 2024 was a year in which freedom of assembly and demonstration was largely ignored. According to the data of the HRA Documentation Unit, at least 4,368 people were took into custody under torture and ill-treatment as a result of the intervention of law enforcement forces in peaceful protests.

Andrey X, as he prefers to use the name on social media, is a Russian-Israeli journalist and activist living in Palestine. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he immigrated to Tel Aviv, which turned his world upside down and also gave him an opportunity to delve into Israel-Palestine conflicts. Now he is covering unjust practices in the West Bank. We have talked about conditions, the current situation, and importance of journalism in the West Bank.

The last few years have been a period in which every problem that can be discussed under the heading of agriculture has deepened and multiplied for Turkey, which continues to boast of being an agricultural country because it does not face the real landscape. Agricultural lands are being sacrificed for investments in other sectors such as energy, mining, construction and tourism, which are seen as the main vein of the growth fetish.

Gisèle Pelicot, 72 years old, has won so much admiration and respect for the way she handled the judicial process concerning the gang rape of which she was the victim, that she has become a symbol of courage in recent years, going beyond 2024. “Shame must change sides” she said, “it's not us who should be ashamed, it's them. I don't want any woman who has been raped to feel shame anymore."

On the 18th anniversary of his assassination, Hrant Dink , the founder and editor-in-chief of our newspaper, was commemorated in front of the old Agos office where he had been shot in 2007. Huge crowds attended the commemoration. This year's speech was given by Takuhi Tovmasyan, one of Hrant Dink's close friends. Tovmasyan said, "What was Hrant Dink's crime? His crime was obvious: His love for humanity, his passion for democracy and human rights, his belief in freedom of expression, and as if that were not enough, his advocacy for peace between the two nations and his desire to open the Turkey-Armenia border... On top of all this, his God-given ability to persuade people. This last one scared some people very, very much."

One of the distinctive features of this year is that the number of children who are out of education despite being of compulsory education age is at the highest level of the last three years. Income inequality has reached its highest level in the last 18 years, signalling the severity of the economic crisis in education. 42 out of every 100 children are poor. ERG's report reveals that the number of students between the ages of 6-17 who are out of education increased by 38.4 per cent compared to the previous year.