After the Gündem newspaper has been closed for 15 days for spreading terrorist propaganda, a heavy penal court in Istanbul has decided to close the Güncel newspaper, which it sees as Gündems continuation, for 12 days.

A court in Sanliurfa has decreed that eight rights activists and members of professional associations were in their right to criticise the publication of an Internet memorandum by the General Staff on 27 April.

It was the 21st anniversary of the Human Rights Association but predictably, there was no cause for celebration. President Yalcindag reminded the press of the many losses the IHD has sustained in its campaigns for peace, democracy and human rights.

So-called honour killings still appear in the news with alarming regularity. The very fact that they are called honour killings in some way apologises the crime. According to the UNFPA, 5,000 women are killed every year.

Reporters Without Borders have been monitoring the Hrant Dink murder trial, the first hearing of which was on 2 July. After a letter of suspect Uzundal to the prosecution has become public, the NGO still calls for an urgent investigation

When one looks at pre-election promises, mainstream political parties are suddenly keen to promise a new, more democratic constitution. The track record of the current government and other parties suggests that many of these promises will not be kept.

Despite an ECHR decree condemning the treatment of conscientious objector Ülke, Turkey insists on prosecuting him. Promises to the European Council to change legislation have not been kept.

According to writer Sen, the concept of a professional army serves less the fight against PKK terror, but more Turkeys bid for regional dominance by protecting the flow of global capital in the Middle East, the Caucasus and in the Balkans

After an article on pre-election opinions in Batman, a south-eastern province, was published in the Gündem newspaper on 12 July, an Istanbul heavy penal court has closed the newspaper for 15 days.

Local journalists in Diyarbakir and Bursa have evaluated the election campaigns there. Independent candidates stand a good chance in Kurdish Diyarbakir, while nationalism is on the rise in Bursa.

A gold mine using cyanide in its extraction process has been poisoning thousands of people in the province of Usak since last year. A court has decreed that the mine be closed.

An administrative court has decided that the Internet warning published on the General Staff website during the night of 27 April was a press release. The complaint has been referred to the Ministry of Defence.