Turkey expands crackdown on Kurdish opposition

World 04:06 PM - 2021-03-03

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The Independent Lawyer’s Association (ÖHD) Diyarbakir office has released its latest report on the violations prisoner rights at the Diyarbakır Type D Closed Penal Institution, pro-Kurdish Fırat news agency reported on Tuesday.

 

The report, which relied on the statements of the prisoners, revealed that the letters written in Kurdish were not delivered. The report further said that the prisoners who were transferred to hospitals were treated in shuttles, books and private notes of the prisoners were seized, and some legal publications were arbitrarily blocked.

 

Meanwhile, a local court in Osmaniye province has blocked access to the website of the pro-Kurdish news outlet Mezopotamya Agency. The agency's new website which was introduced following the first ban was also blocked. Hence, the agency’s website was blocked twice in a week.

 

Speak Up Platform (Susma Platformu) released its "Censorship and Self-Censorship in Turkey: December 2019 - December 2020 Report", last week Thursday, left-wing news site Evrensel reported on Tuesday.

 

According to the report, most of the bans targeted the Kurdish press and publications including individuals and organizations associated with the opposition Kurdish groups.

 

The bans on gatherings and events in Van have been going on almost uninterruptedly since 2016, the same report said.

 

 

 

PUKmedia \ Ahval