Following the Journalists Association of Turkey, the Press Council met with the Minister of Justice Cemil Çiçek and handed in their reform proposal on the infamous article 301 of the Penal code. Main opposition leader Baykal rejects pleas for reform.

A university student has been condemned to a 20-months imprisonment sentence because of his remarks about the pro-Kurdish guerilla group PKK, during a television programme. The court ruled that he made propaganda of the terrorist organization.

Human rights activists decry Turkish army chief Buyukanıts remarks that targeted those who urge for a peace in the Kurdish conflict as disguised attempts to divide the country. Militarist discourse influence the public for the worst, they say.

Participants across Europe gather together to discuss new legal measures to combat domestic violence. In Europe, one fifth to one quarter of all women have experienced physical violence at least once during their lives.CoE conducts a campaign on the issue

Comtemporary Journalists Association criticized the tax investigation towards Kanalturk founders and programmers as hostile and politically motivated. Government is trying to silence media thats not in par with its policies, CGD chair Akabay said.

University student Birtan Altinbas had been murdered in 1991, while under police custody. After 16 years the case still continues. On the last sitting, defendant police officers claimed that they were absent during his interrogation.

A new TV series which promotes use of violence and promotes hate and racist sentiments was removed from broadcast following consistent complaints. This very series contributed to the nationalist ideological climate in the country says, Asst Prof. Celenk.

Three women are facing execution in Iraq on March 3. Saying they never received a fair trial, six activists around world released a petition urging for imminent action to stop the executions and release of all political prisoners in Iraq.

Victims of the 1999 Golcuk earthquake suffer once again as criminal cases filed after the incident which left 17 000 dead because of flawed buildings are dropped one by one as a result of prescription.

10 members of the Basic Rights and Freedoms Association protested the recently broadcasted oath-taking ceremony by a nationalist group, which included hate-speech and openly racist remarks. Protesters demanded a legal investigation into the incident.

Ankara 3rd Court of First Instance condemns 13 administrators of the pro-Kurdish Rights and Freedoms Party for using Kurdish language on the invitations to the party congress. Such cases avert efforts for dialogue, defendants argued.

Participants of the 3rd World Congress Against the Death Penalty, which gatehered between 1-3 February, called on all countries -especially North African and M.Eastern countries and China- to abolish death penalty and to adopt relevant UN protocols.

Radio and Television Supreme Council ruled for a complete ban on the Voice of Anatolia radio station on grounds that it continiously broadcasted programmes that would cause discrimination and hatred among people of different ethnicity in the country.

Daily Yeni Asya editor-in-chief Faruk Cakır has been convicted of attempting to influence the court. The article in question alleged that the State Council shooting suspect in May 2006 had been solicited by retired army officers.

Editor-in-chief of Guney magazine Mehmet Bakırs prison sentence is approbated by the High Court despite harsh criticism by human rights groups. AI, IHD, ÇGD, TİHV and Initiative for Association of 78s called for action against this legal scandal.

Freedom and Solidarity Partys 5th Congress witnessed a first in Turkey as half the delegates elected to the party assembly are women. They explain how years of struggle led to this result and the importance of quotas for gender equality in politics.

General Staffs secret criminal complaint results in a trial for Ismail Besikci on accounts of propulsion to violence and hatred. Known for his dissident opinions on the Kurdish issue Besikcis article appeared on Esmer magazine, December 2005 issue.

Istanbul bureau of the Ankara News Agency is robbed following a controversial article about Hrant Dink murder that was denied by the Police Department. Thieves walk out, taking only the hard disks of computers in the bureau.

100 NGOs and 20 000 signees join the petition by IHOP that call for the removal of the notorious article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. Freedom of expression should only be restrained on accounts of racism, discrimination and call for violence, it said.

A 27-year-old commemorative stamp reveals the evergrown conflict coined by consecutive governments on the island, says Mehmet Hasguler: The politics of separation between Greeks and Turks laid roots in Cyprus following the coup in Turkey in 1980.