Retired lieutenant Murat Pabuc, who is standing trial for openly insulting the military forces, by writing a book titled, Deserting the Colored Bench Guard Duty, wrote about the problems he witnessed suc as corruptionin the military.

International PEN, the International Publishers Association (IPA), and other international NGOs, including ARTICLE 19 and Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounce prosecution against Zarakolu who faces prison for publishing Armenian authors books.

Seventy-one reporters and NGO representatives from seven provinces attended the BIA² Seminar. The participants criticized womens misrepresentation and inadequate representation in the media and called for effective reporting.

Following two local judgements, the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a suspended 20-month prison sentence handed to writer Bekdil who wrote The probability for an ordinary Turk to receive a fair trial is one in a million, is going to the ECHR.

Turkish Penal Code bears its sour fruits as Karaca is sentenced for insulting and belittling the military and Orhan Pamuk faces similar charges. 5 journalists from daily Cumhuriyet are pending trial while Dilipak is still tried before court martial.

EU Commission adopts an overall enlargement strategy for the candidate countries Croatia and Turkey, and for the potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans. The principles are: Consolidation, conditionality and communication Oli Rehn says.

Intellectuals from Turkey and overseas join to denounce journalist Dinks sentencing of a suspended six months for belittling Turkish identity. This is a threat against the exercise of the freedom of expression and thought they say.

The European Court of Human Rights has fined Turkey 31,000 in a case brought by several members of the pro-Kurdish DEP, who were found guilty of disseminating separatist propaganda in 1998. The Court unanimously agreed their rights had been violated.

The Human Rights Foundations Batman Director calls attention to F-Type prisons and solitary confinement: These prisons are contrary to fundamental rights and freedoms.

Reporters Without Borders has released the 2005 World Press Freedom Index report ranking 167 countries according to the level of freedom of the press. Turkey has been ranked 98th, fifteen places higher than last year.

After nine months, the Ankara Head Prosecutors inquiry into the controversial Minorities Report remains uncompleted. Professor Baskin Oran, one of the reports authors, calls for the prosecutor to make charges or drop the inquiry.

The brothers of Güldünya Tören, who was murdered in an honor killing, have been found guilty of premeditated murder and of inciting the crime. One has been sentenced to life imprisonment and the other to a term of 11 years and 8 months.

BIA² organized its third seminar on Womens Rights and Womens Rights Reporting in Eskisehir. Educators and media employees from the provinces of Eskisehir, Bilecik and Kirsehir attended the seminar.

A public suit has been filed against Cumhuriyet newspaper publisher İlhan Selçuk, editor-in-chief Mehmet Sucu, and reporter Alper Turgut, for not paying a USD 50 thousand fine levied against them for publishing a report called Acquittal for Torture.

Imprisoned conscientious objector Mehmet Tarhan has begun another hunger strike to protest the violence and injustice he has suffered. The Mehmet Tarhan Solidarity Initiative stated that the treatment of Tarhan is a crime against humanity.

Human rights groups IHD and Mazlumder are concerned about the intensifying recent clashes in the southeast and Kurdish areas, and are campaigning for an end to military operations and the replacement of violence with political solutions.

US based journalists rights organization Committtee to Protect Journalists condemns the sentencing of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink for belittling Turkishness inspite of a contrary report by a court appointed specialist.

Reporters from 31 local media in Adiyaman, Ardahan, Diyarbakir, Elazig, Erzincan, Gaziantep, Hakkari, Igdir, Malatya, Mardin, Mus, Siirt, Sivas, Sanliurfa, Sirnak, Midyat, Nizip and Van discussed Womens Reporting.

The Public Prosecutors office has refused the Ankara Deputy Governors request to close the LGBT rights organization KAOS GL for being contrary to law and morality. Rights groups hailed the decision as a victory for gay and lesbian rights in Turkey.

The Human Rights Foundation and representatives of the European Parliament reported rights violations--especially the mutilation of corpses--are occuring during military operations in Southeastern Turkey due to a lack of oversight.