When people ask me, "what is the most important thing you learned about Bobby Sands?" I tell them one simple thing. The most important thing about Bobby Sands is not how he died on hunger strike, it is how he lived.

The Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) Mersin Deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü spoke to bianet about the trying conditions in prisons where hundreds of inmates launched a hunger strike over a month ago. Lawyer Cemil Özen also warned about the prisoners’ deteriorating health condition.

A court in Istanbul sentenced journalist Reyhan Çapan, the editor-in-chief and publisher of the daily Özgür Gündem, to one year and three months in prison for a single headline that appeared on the paper.

Metin Bakkalcı, the head of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV,) spoke to bianet about the ongoing hunger strikes initiated by 615 inmates to protest the obstacles that lie before the use of the Kurdish language and the continued isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK.)

Turkey falls into a category all on its own with respect to clamping down on journalists, according to a new report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ.) The report indicates that Turkey broke its own record in arresting journalists, with some 76 press workers currently serving time behind bars.

The Ministry of Environment and Urban Planning approved a decision to fill the coastline in Istanbul’s Yenikapı district with land and transform it into a meeting square. Critics, however, believe a nearby UNESCO World Heritage Site is likely to be the first victim of that scheme and that the project has to do with the politics of public space.

Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals ratified a life-time imprisonment sentence against Atılım newspaper’s editor-in-chief Hatice Duman, just as it overturned a sentence of nearly 19 years in prison for journalist Necati Abay who was also standing trial in the same case.

The Ankara Chief Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation against the organizing committee of the Peace and Democracy Party’s (BDP) Second Extraordinary Congress only a day after the convention. Members of the committee stand accused of making terrorist propaganda.

The newly appointed police chief in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır voiced unusual and poignant remarks about the Kurdish issue. Critics expressed hope that the sentiments he voiced will translate into action but struck a cautious note as he still remains an agent of the Turkish state.

An artillery shell fired from Syria during the clashes between government forces and the Free Syrian Army there landed on a house in the district of Akçakale in the southeastern province of Urfa today. A mother and her four children lost their lives, while another 13 people were injured. Akçakale Mayor Ayhan complained about the frequency of bombs landing in the area due to the ongoing conflict across the border.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) refused to provide accreditation for a number of dissident dailies to attend its party congress on Sunday. The move drew sharp criticism from journalist associations, while columnist and IPI member Kadri Gürsel called it an act of discrimination.

An Istanbul court ruled to sentence two prison guards and a warden to life-time imprisonment in the case of journalist Engin Çeber who was tortured to death while under custody in 2008.

The court delegation ordered defendant lawyers out of the courtroom in the ongoing Istanbul Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) suit yesterday. Following the lawyers’ objections, gendarmerie troops then forcibly expelled them outside.

Some 20 mainstream daily newspapers in Turkey issued a declaration against the publication or airing of their news reports by internet sites, news portals and broadcasting stations. Such a move would push internet publications back into the underground, the Federation of Internet Media and Informatics (İMEF) cautioned however.

The International Publishers Association (IPA) has called on Turkish authorities to drop the charges against Ragıp Zarakolu, a publisher and a Nobel Peace Prize candidate nominee, as well as his son Deniz Zarakolu who is currently serving jail time.

A court in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır ruled to release anthropologist Müge Tuzcuoğlu and eight more suspects pending trial in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) suit. Tuzcuoğlu criticized efforts to garner support against such trials through the use of personal imagery and emphasized the institutional nature of such crackdowns.

A court in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak ruled to acquit Ayhan Kiraz yesterday, clearing him of charges pertaining to a cartoon he had drawn in response to a spat between the Education and Science Workers’ Union (Eğitim-Sen) and the religious establishment in the district of Çaycuma.

The Council of State stayed the execution of a verdict to relieve Siirt Mayor Selim Sadak of his duties after he received a prison sentence on terrorism related charges. The Kurdish mayor believes the court’s latest decision was influenced by public pressure.

An explosion took place in the southeastern province of Dersim at 18:00, killing six troops and one bystander.

Law enforcement officials took nearly 40 people under custody in raids conducted across Turkey this morning, including the offices of the Human Rights Association (İHD) in the southern province of Mersin.