The long-running ‘Gezi Park’ case in Turkey has taken a new turn, with philanthropist Osman Kavala handed an aggravated life sentence for allegedly facilitating the 2013 pro-democracy protests despite international condemnation. Seven other defendants each received eighteen years in prison.
On the same day, a leading Turkish government figure has spoken in Parliament to condemn what he called ‘filthy’ attempts by the political opposition to recognise the Armenian Genocide.
In London a pro Kurdish rights activist held up a large PKK flag, despite being told he would be arrested in protest against the criminalisation of the Kurdish issue.
Meanwhile, tensions continued to rise in the ancestral Yezidi homeland of Sinjar. Federal Iraqi troops are being deployed to the contested region, where shots were recently fired during tense clashes between Yezidi forces and Iraqi troops.
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