The Higher Education Board (YÖK) slashed the number of students allowed to enroll in Mardin Artuklu University’s new Kurdish teaching program from 500 down to 250. The university decided to withdraw from the program, but the YÖK declined their request.

Despite the introduction of elective Kurdish and Circassian language courses into school curricula as part of the government’s education reform, demand for these classes have so far fallen short of expectations. The reason has to do with the policies of school administrations and a boycott by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP,) critics argue.

The “Balyoz” (“Sledgehammer”) coup plot trial finally reached a conclusion on Friday. Former members of Turkey’s top brass received hefty sentences of up to 20 years in prison, including ret. Gen. Çetin Doğan, ret. Adm. Özden Örnek and ret. Gen. İbrahim Fırtına.

Education specialist Assist. Prof. Cem Kirazoğlu said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent comments on the status of theological Imam Hatip schools reflect his underlying belief that religious education will breed obedient generations.

An assailant blew himself up at a police station in Istanbul’s Sultangazi district on Tuesday, killing an officer and injuring eight others, including four bystanders. The Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two consecutive blasts that killed 25 troops and injured four more at a barracks in the western province of Afyon on Wednesday evening triggered a flurry of questions with regards to the cause of the incident. The General Staff consequently issued a statement which criticized the press for its coverage of the blast but failed to yield any answers.

Parliament’s Human Rights Commission paid a visit to the Apaydın camp that hosts Syrian rebels in the southern province of Hatay. Opposition MHP Deputy Atilla Kaya said the camp could be providing logistical support for the rebels fighting in Syria, while Kerim Özkul, a deputy of the ruling AKP, denied claims that the camp serves as a training base.

Beytüşşebap District Mayor Yusuf Temel claimed the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) had taken control of the district’s outlying areas in wake of Sunday’s clashes that cost the lives of 10 troops, while Şırnak Governor’s Office vehemently denied his claims.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has increasingly come to view an authoritarian approach to politics as a solution to its own failures, renowned journalist and writer Prof. Mehmet Altan told bianet.

The Fatih Municipal Council approved a new preliminary project to “transform” the historical Roma district of Sulukule in Istanbul despite a court ruling to annul the previous plan two and a half months ago. Architect Aslı Kıyak, Lawyer Hilal Küey and opposition deputy Gülay Yedekçi said the project could not have been rectified in the meantime.

The Education Ministry has introduced a new set of criteria to determine whether a child is fit to start primary school. Prof. Fatma Gök, however, warned the initiative is more about making the children adapt to the government’s policy, rather than the other way around.

A notice presented by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock to the Prime Ministry represents a step forward in the conservation of Turkey’s fish stocks and maritime environment, according to Greenpeace Mediterranean Oceans Campaigner Banu Dökmecibaşı.

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.