Political and civil society representatives in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeastern Diyabakır province last week issued a statement pertaining to the pandemic-prompted educational problems facing students in the region. The coronavirus pandemic has virtually halted schooling in this underdeveloped province that is home to Turkey’s highest unemployment rate and officials are warning that if the current trajectory […]
Ali lives in one of the Karacadağ villages lined between Turkey’s southeastern provinces of Diyarbakır and Şanlıurfa. Like many young people living in those villages, the 17-year-old goes to work collecting and sorting garbage every year. Ali asked to use a pseudonym for this article. “We can find jobs in metropolitan cities like Istanbul, Izmir, […]
“OK,” I say to the children, “We are all overwhelmed in these corona days. Let’s decorate the house, the new year is coming. Down with the corona and with 2020. Let’s enter 2021 with hope. Come on, let’s make popcorn.” While I make the popcorn, I think of my dear friend Osman Kavala, who remains in […]
On June 9, a regional court in Turkey’s southeastern Gaziantep province ruled on the case of Pakize Hazar, who had been killed when an armoured vehicle ran her over on June 14, 2017. The court unanimously decided that the prison sentence given to the driver be converted into a juridical fine of 18,200 TL ($ […]
A couple of days ago, I and 804 other citizens of Turkey signed a statement, where we reiterated our desire to live a life of justice, peace with dignity and peace of mind on this land, with our livelihood and health under assurance. As signatories from academia, law and medicine, we tried to put into words […]
My hometown Sur is becoming quieter by the day. Those who leave are either moving away to make a living elsewhere or flee from the authorities; those who remain retreat inside their homes and try to power through this dark period in the district’s history. It is now cold in every way possible. I walk through Sur and […]