Law enforcement officials took four suspects under custody in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa in connection with Monday’s lethal blast in neighboring Gaziantep that killed nine people and injured 69 more. Rioting mobs also attacked the offices of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) once more in Gaziantep yesterday evening.

A minibus rolled over in the southeastern province of Şırnak, killing the driver and nine troops inside the vehicle. The relatives of the victims of last year’s Roboski massacre helped the wounded troops and carried them off to a hospital.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) denied it had any involvement in Monday’s deadly blast in the southeastern province of Gaziantep that killed nine people and injured 69. The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and human rights organizations also condemned the incident.

Eight people lost their lives and 61 were injured after explosives loaded inside a vehicle went off near a police station in the southeastern province of Gaziantep on Monday evening.

The Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB) issued a press release on the Disaster Law and Building Inspection Draft Bill: “All laws that protect the immunity of cities, habitats, nature and professional fields are getting scrapped.”

An article that appeared in a magazine published by the Faculty of Theology at Uludağ University engages in racism under the guise of “science,” according to Turkish-Jewish writer Roni Marguiles. Deputy Dean Recep Cici refused to comment on the issue to bianet.

A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and professional chambers filed a formal complaint against the Fatih Municipality in Istanbul on the grounds they had forged false documents within the scope of the government’s “urban transformation” scheme.

A court finally decided to release Sevil Sevimli, a student who was arrested after she arrived in the northwestern province of Eskişehir from France as part of the Erasmus student exchange program. There are still 2824 more students serving time in jail, however.

Alevi Elder Muharrem Ercan questioned how their community would be able to construct licensed Alevi cem houses while the Turkish state still refuses to grant them recognition as official houses of worship, in response to a recent statement by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who called the Karacaahmet Cem House a “freak.”

Sophomore college student Kayhan Tüney has remained under arrest for a year and a half in connection with terrorism related charges. Among the accusations leveled against him in the police report is “battery” despite the fact that Tüney’s right arm and left leg are 70 percent disabled.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek rejected a proposal by opposition People’s Republican Party (CHP) deputy Hüseyin Aygün to open a “cem house” (Alevi house of worship) in Parliament, citing a “fatwa” (religious decree) issued by the Directorate of Religious Affairs.

The parents of students from five primary schools in Istanbul met with the city’s governor to express their objection to the conversion of their children’s schools into theological Imam Hatip institutions and petitioned the Education Directorate.

The Left-Wing Exiles’ Return from Abroad Initiative Platform asked why they cannot return back to Turkey while the Sept. 12, 1980 coup de tat, which caused them to seek refuge abroad in the first place, is currently sitting on trial.

A new draft law may allow access to free healthcare services for refugees, asylum seekers and tourists in Turkey, as current legislation lacks precision with respect to the exact status of foreigners in the country.

A court in the northeastern province of Erzurum ruled to acquit Hatip Dicle, a member of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) who had lost his seat in Parliament three days prior to last year’s elections due to a court verdict against him on terrorism related charges.

The Ministry of Interior relieved Van Mayor Bekir Kaya of his duties after authorities arrested him as part of the ongoing probe into the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) in the eastern province of Van, even before the expiration of his grace period to appeal.

The Initiative for Solidarity with Arrested Students (TÖDİ) staged a demonstration in Paris to show their support for Sevil Sevimli, a student arrested in the northwestern province of Eskişehir after she arrived there on the Erasmus program to study.

Fears that authorities will turn the Ali Kuşçu Primary School in Istanbul into a theological Imam Hatip High School have sparked protests by students and their parents who held a demonstration before the Istanbul Education Directorate today.

The recent comments delivered by the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate against abortion are not binding for anyone and carry no relevance in a secular country, according to political scientist and legal expert Prof. Levent Köker.

Residents in the Dikmen Valley and members of the Council on the Right to Shelter, a local activist group, poured out onto the streets in Ankara yesterday to protest the new “Natural Disaster Law.”