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.

Talin Suciyan reflects on the groundbreaking Armenian conference and the liberating effect that the open discussion of this history will have for Turkey and for the Armenian diaspora.

Hrant Dink, the editor of the Istanbul based Armenian language weekly newspaper Agos, has been sentenced to suspended 6 months imprisonment for insulting Turkishness in a series of articles he wrote on Armenian identity.

The mainstream media discriminates against women on a daily basis by producing a discourse that relegates women to a second-rate status and portrays them as dependent on men. It does not show interest in rights violations against women.

Abdullah Karatay explains that penalizing families who make their children work isnt an effective solution on its own, and that the issue is one of impoverished families rather than street children.

The proposed changes to the Anti-Terror Law carry penalties of three-year prison terms for publication of the statements of a terrorist organization and terrorist organization propaganda. The changes could result in ECHR lawsuits.

US Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes met with womens advocates in Ankara to promote the Bush administrations policy towards women in the Middle East. Many of the feminist activists used the meeting as an opportunity to criticize the war in Iraq.

Amnesty International-Turkey revealed that Syrian refugee Ahmet Muhammed İbrahim, who was deported from Turkey in March, has been tortured. AI charges that Turkey had violated international agreemnents and disregarded refugee rights.

40 journalists from Ordu, Artvin, Çorum, Giresun, Bulancak, Şebinkarahisar, Kastamonu, Ereğli, Ünye, Samsun, Zonguldak, Trabzon and Kars attended the Womens Rights and Womens Rights-Based Journalism seminar conducted by BİA2 in Ordu this weekend.

Human Rights Watch, the European Commission, and the Womens Platform on the Turkish Penal Code have spoken out to criticize the Ankara Deputy Governors attempt to shut down the gay rights group KAOS GL, calling it a clear example of discrimination

The conference on Ottoman Armenians during the Decline of Empire: Questions of Scholarly Responsibility and Democracy, was held at İstanbul Bilgi University from 24-25 September, despite nationalist protests and a court-ordered postponement.

A total of 40 reporters from Ordu, Artvin, Corum, Giresun, Bulancak, ebinkarahisar, Kastamonu, Eregli, Unye, Samsun, Zonguldak, Trabzon and Kars met at a seminar on Womens Rights and Reporting on Womens Rights by BIA².

Farmers held a protest meeting in Manisa and said that because of government policies, they are earning less for their crops than they spend to produce them. A leader of the farmers in Manisa said, we are living in the worst period in our history.

Yesterday the Fourth Administrative Court decided to halt a conference on Ottoman Armenians that was to be held at Boğaziçi University in İstanbul this weekend. Prime Minister Erdoğan said it is impossible to approve of this decision.

Ankaras Deputy Governor Ekremoglu applies to court to shut down KAOS GL, a GLBT rights group, on the grounds that it is forbidden to found a society contrary to law and morality.

Singer Ferhat Tunç for an article that he wrote and publisher Ragip Zarakolu for publishing a book about the Armenian issue both appeared in court on Wednesday on charges of insulting and deriding state institutions.

From 24-25 September, journalists from Samsun, Kars, Trabzon, Artvin, Ordu, Rize, Giresun, Tokat, Amasya, Sinop, Kastamonu, Çorum, Zonguldak, Karabük and Bartın will attend the Womens Rights and Womens Journalism Training program organized by the BİA²

DIHA reporter Duru was arrested while he was investigating allegations about cannabis planting. The local court has rejected his demand to be released. His camera and tape recorder have not been returned so that the evidence is not fiddled with.

Cengiz Dogan, the editor-in-chief of the Mavi and Kent newspapers in Nusaybin, was arrested and sent to the Mardin E-type prison for publishing PKK statements. The general manager of the newspapers had been arrested two weeks ago.