“In doing their academic studies or sharing their opinions with their students in class, most of the academics in the field of Kurdish Studies try to foresee which opinions and notions will overstep the red lines of the state or might be penalized,” says the report.

2020 has been a turbulent year for Turkey in terms of foreign affairs. The problems of the past year will persist in 2021 as well. Tensions in Eastern Mediterranean and Libya as well as the continued arrest of Kavala and Demirtaş will also be on the agenda.

Turkey’s Ministry of Interior has sent a circular letter to all governor’s offices across the country and announced that cinema halls will remain closed until March 1, 2021 as part of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic measures.

Having rejected the individual application of Osman Kavala, the Constitutional Court has concluded that the 7-month arrest of Yiğit Aksakoğlu in the Gezi trial was a violation of his rights and ruled that Aksakoğlu shall be paid damages.

Greenpeace has compiled the disasters faced by the world and Turkey due to the climate crisis in 2020. The organization has explained the reasons why the climate crisis must be the first item on the agenda next year.

Speaking at the award-giving ceremony of the “2020 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards”, President and ruling AKP Chair Erdoğan has likened Anatolia to a “large folder of artistic creation” and talked about his expectations from artists.

Noting that four women were killed by men in Turkey in a single day, the Dikili Women’s Platform in İzmir has asked why the İstanbul Convention is not implemented in the country to protect women from male violence.

While Turkey’s Health Ministry has announced the latest figures about the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister Koca has indicated that the country will administer the inactive novel coronavirus vaccines in two doses, 28 days apart.

Shortly after the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR ruled that former HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş should be “released immediately”, 108 people, including Demirtaş, have been indicted over the Kobani incidents from six years ago.

Released as part of the “Resilience” project in partnership with a series of media organizations including bianet, “Hate and Disinformation Narratives in the Online Mediascape in Turkey” report analyzes the narratives against four main target groups.

"When we look back, I can say that we're satisfied with most of the work," Ziya Selçuk has said while admitting that everything hasn't been perfect.

Children’s rights organizations have released a statement about a recently passed bill that will pave the way for intervention in civil society activities: “Keep your hands off children’s rights groups: We are enraged, concerned, but determined.”

Sedat Güler, the Secretary General of Bursa Nature Protection Association, says that when they visited an area in Bursa after receiving a tip, they saw that the sewage of 22 mountain villages was mixing in the dams providing the province with water.

Minister Çavuşoğlu has spoken to journalists at a year-end meeting in Ankara.

More than 100 defendants have received prison sentences for "attempted violation of the constitutional order."

İstanbul Aydın University held a ceremony for academic Aylin Sözer, who was killed in a feminicide in İstanbul yesterday. “We have lost the apple of our eye,” said University President Prof. Yadigar İzmirli.

A group monitoring the violations of free expression in Turkey has released a report about the country's legal practices concerning ECtHR decisions.

The police officer who broke Danacı’s arm while intervening in a protest has been sentenced to 1 year, 8 months in prison; but, as the court has concluded that “he will not commit a crime again,” the announcement of the verdict has been deferred.

The İstanbul 3rd Administrative Court has cancelled the “Grand Mosque” project to be undertaken by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization upon the request of the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Kadıköy district in the Anatolian side of İstanbul.

Underlining that air pollution increases the severity of coronavirus, the Right to Clean Air Platform has shared expert opinions about the issue. The platform has also offered its own recommendations for clean air in 2021.