Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they had spoken to the judiciary to lift the parliamentary immunity of BDP deputies in connection with their encounter with PKK militants on Aug. 17. BDP Deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü said those remarks illustrated how far the government had gone to concentrate all the power in their hands.

Human rights activists spearheaded by the Nor Zartonk Initiative gathered in Istanbul’s Taksim Square to protest the release of Kıvanç Ağaoğlu pending trial, prior to the deliverance of the final verdict. Ağaoğlu had shot Sevag Balıkçı, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origin, to death while they were performing their mandatory military service.

Authorities reassigned two judges and two prosecutors in the case of the Zirve Publishing House Massacre. The decision constitutes an intervention in a fair trial, according to case lawyer Erdal Doğan, while his colleague Ali Koç offered a different view on the matter.

Following the fierce clashes that took place between government forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Şırnak over the weekend, Fırat Ataman, a native of the district Beytüşşebap, told bianet that children of the town were overwhelmed by the experience of war.

Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Binali Yıldırım referred to social media a “threat” that needs to be contained. Minister Yıldırım later denied allegations that they were working on measures to censor social media, but Dr. Özgür Uçkan from Istanbul’s Bilgi University expressed doubt about his statement.

Hatay Governor Mehmet Celalettin Lekesiz yesterday announced they would no longer permit demonstrations or press statements in the southern border province for the stated purpose of “upholding social peace.”

Emma Sinclair-Webb from the Human Rights Watch (HRW) cautioned that the statute of limitations would begin to apply to cases of unresolved murders and disappearances that took place in the 1990s within three years, while speaking at a meeting in Istanbul.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a press release calling for the removal of the hurdles that lie before the investigation of security forces and civil servants for their roles in murders, disappearances and acts of torture that took place in the 1990s.

As the Syrian conflict continues raging on across the border from the southern province of Hatay, many locals have grown weary of the presence of Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops in the area and are deeply worried about the impact of the war on the local economy, Ayça Söylemez reports.

The Department of Living Languages in Mardin Artuklu University is set to launch two courses to teach Hebrew and Syriac. Assistant Prof. Mehmet Sait Toprak said their aim was to train researchers who could conduct scientific studies in their own languages.

Police officers shot Cem Aygün to death in Ankara’s Keçiören district on Thursday on the grounds that he did not comply with their orders to stop. The victim’s father İsmet Aygün told bianet that the police did not even provide him with an explanation.

Eight months on after the Roboski massacre, the People’s Democratic Congress (HDK) paid a visit to the village where the ill-fated bombing took place and shared their impressions on how the locals felt about the incident.

The Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for the Oppressed (MAZLUMDER) launched a campaign for the victims of last week’s lethal blast in the southeastern province of Antep. Campaign volunteer Birgül Aktar, however, noted the difference in people’s reactions to last year’s Roboski massacre.

Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek presented an 11 point document intended to solve the Kurdish issue during a press meeting on Tuesday. Prof. Büşra Ersanlı, who spent 8.5 months behind bars in connection with the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) trial, told bianet that the contents of the document were too murky, however.

The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) finally released its expert report on the computers of three suspects standing trial in the Oda TV case. The report, however, proved to be just as enigmatic as it had remained elusive for the seven months that it took to prepare it.

Officials accused Güllüzar Erman of robbing a bank based on a stranger’s testimony provided under torture and despite the account of events offered by eyewitnesses. Erman has remained under arrest for nine years and received a sentence of life-time imprisonment.

While attacks against Turkey’s historically persecuted Alevi minority have once more picked up speed in recent times, unidentified assailant(s) attempted to torch the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSAKD) in Istanbul’s Kartal district this time around.

Unidentified individual(s) marked 25 Alevi homes with blue paint in Istanbul’s Kartal district on Wednesday. The Alevi Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSAKD) called on the government to roll into action and bring those responsible before justice.

Residents in a village in the southeastern province of Şırnak have been unable to leave their homes without permission from the military for the past 15 days. Locals say their livelihood is at risk, as they cannot venture outside to feed their animals or tend to their fields.

Law enforcement officials arrested college student Ezgi Özgün on the same day and for the same reasons as Sevil Sevimli, a French-Turkish student who had arrived in Turkey as part of the Erasmus exchange program. While authorities released Sevimli, however, Özgün still remains behind bars. “Is justice not blind?” she asks.