Defendant Suleyman Sinkil attended a hearing for the first time in the case about the murder of Birtan Altinbas in police custody in 1991. Sinkil told the court that only he and fellow police officer Bastan were present during the questioning of Altinbas.

Handan Caglayan, who has been acquitted, argued that the ban on using a language other than Turkish for political parties not only limits freedom of expression and organization, but limits womens right to participate in the political process.

At the training seminar on Reporting on Childrens Rights in Diyarbakir, local reporters, NGO representatives and lawyers discussed ways to create a child-friendly media and get children to participate in the media. They talked about violations in media.

Maters groundbreaking work has transgressed many linguistic boundaries and is now available for the English-speaking world at another crucial juncture in the history of the Kurdish conflict in Turkey, as well as of war and militarism globally.

Participants of the training seminar on Childrens Rights and Reporting on Childrens Rights, discussed children who are pushed into committing crimes. It is often said that children are released, that they go unpunished, said lawyer Akco.

Journalists Sucu, Selcuk, Yildiz, and Tasci from Cumhuriyet are standing trial for reports on the Kiziltepe incident. 5 writers will stand trial in 2006 for criticizing the suspension of the Armenian Conference.

Suciyan argues that it is high time that Turkey cleanse the constitution of all ethnic descriptions and concepts of minority and majority, and adopt the guidelines of democratic, constitutional citizenship. Yet the PM still seeks a solution in Islam.

They dont put people in prison any more. But they bring all these cases to terrorise us and produce self-censorship. Look at the Pamuk case. The message is, if they can put Orhan Pamuk on trial, I should steer clear of this stuff says Mater of BIA

The Sisli District Court judge adjourned the trial of Turkish novelist Pamuk until February 7, 2006. Nationalist groups accusing Pamuk with treason booed the novelist and threw eggs on him and supporters during their entry into and exit from the court.

Journalist Birol Duru of the pro-Kurdish news agency DIHA remains in jail since his arrest four months ago. He was arrested in the village of Dinarbey in southeastern Turkey in August, and charged with possessing a videotape of the Kurdish guerrilla PKK.

The court has sent Pamuks file to the Justice Ministry for its authorization to try the novelist. The judge argues that Pamuk should be tried under the former penal code, in effect when he made his controversial statement. The trial could be postponed.

The Supreme Court of Appeals orders retrial for Handan Caglayan based on the new penal code. She had been sentenced to seven months in prison and fined 513 YTL for saying My Dear Sisters in Kurdish in a speech during the 2004 local election campaign.