"The Bastard of Istanbul," the book which landed Turkish writer Elif Shafak in court under the controversial Article 301, has now won her a nomination for the long list of the prestigious Orange Prize.

Conscientious objector Ismail Saygi, who was taken into custody on 16 March, has been arrested. His supporters have planned a campaign for today.

There have been memorial events of the Halabja Massacre in 1988, in which Saddam Hussein ordered the massacre of thousands of Kurds in Northern Iraq.

The fourth hearing in the Malatya Murders case ended with a postponement as the joint attorneys had demanded a recusation of judges.

Doctors from a private hospital in Bursa traveled to the province of Tunceli for the Day of Medicine on 14 March. They examined patients in the districts and also gained a new perspective on Tunceli.

Joint attorneys in the case against the suspected bombers of the Semdinli bookshop have withdrawn from the case in protest. They argue that the military court is not independent and there will not be a fair trial.

An Izmir court has sentenced Prof. Dr. Yayla to a suspended 15-month prison sentence for saying that Kemalism was “more regressive than progressive.”

The US Department of State released its 2007 report on Turkey on 11 March. The report criticises the fact that there has been an increase in torture, that the judiciary is not impartial, and that violence towards women continues.

In the DTP closure case, the Prosecution of the Supreme Court of Appeals has demanded that 221 people be banned from politics. Prof. Köker says there can be no solution when “political participation is prevented.”

Chief of General Staff Büyükanit expressed in an interview that he was open to criticism. So how come so many people are taken to court for “denigrating the armed forces”?

Prosecutor Ayata has dismissed the publishing and printing ban on the Ergenekon operation as “unjustified” and has not opened a case against the Cumhuriyet newspaper.

According to Amnesty International, there has been a regression in human rights in 2007. Torture and maltreatment continue, and trials are still compromised.

After a court has found the Trabzon police innocent of gross negligence, Dink family lawyers are preparing to appeal to the ECHR. The RSF has called for the prosecution of all those responsible.

The Prime Ministerial Office has prepared 45 reports in order to lift the parliamentarian immunity of 27 members of parliament (MPs), most of them from the pro-Kurdish DTP.

The Turkish Peace Parliament Marmara Region Peace Initiative has released a statement calling for a solution to the Kurdish issue and for political parties and the media to be responsible.

On Wednesday, the peace commission of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association staged a protest for peace and a solution to the Kurdish question in Taksim.

Local authorities in Diyarbakir have found a creative means of criticising the ban on Kurdish: They have added Chinese to their repertoire and are awaiting reactions…

A film about a vilage girl in Hakkari struggling against family pressures to become a painter has won a film competition and will now join the international Panasonic film competition.

In protest at Hrant Dink's murder, writer Demirer had called on others to commit the same "crime" as Dink had done, i.e. to recognise the factuality of an "Armenian genocide." He is now facing a trial under Articles 301 and 216.