EP Rapporteur for Turkey to join the Saturday Mothers gathering

The Permanent Rapporteur of the European Parliament (EP) on Turkey, Nacho Sánchez Amor, will attend as an observer the 975th gathering of the Saturday Mothers/People, scheduled to take place on December 2nd at Galatasaray Square.

This longstanding protest by individuals who have lost their loved ones in detention has been met with police violence and obstruction every Saturday in Galatasaray, Taksim since the İstanbul Beyoğlu District Governorship banned the 700th gathering of the Saturday Mothers/People on August 25, 2018, claiming "no notification was made."

Nacho Sánchez Amor had met with representatives of the Saturday Mothers/People, Human Rights Association (İHD), and the Turkey Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) in the European Parliament in October. Following the meeting, the two organizations invited Nacho Sánchez Amor to Turkey in accordance with the principles outlined in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, of which Turkey is a founding member.

Amor has been serving as the Permanent Rapporteur on Turkey for the European Parliament since September 2019. (AS/PE)