Even amidst darkness, chaos and despair, life finds a way.
Even under the shadow of a state of emergency imposed after the coup attempt, the pursuit of a sustainable future flickered on.
The Sustainable Living Film Festival, a beacon of hope supported by Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey since its very beginning, persevered against all odds, taking place simultaneously in 20 cities across the country.
On the global stage, Turkey joined the U.S. and China in signing the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change at the United Nations Climate Summit. Yet, one of the first acts of the incoming U.S. president was to withdraw from the agreement.
It would take until 2021 for Turkey to ratify this agreement.
1 – Halfway through a tense year, Turkey survived yet another uprising, adding to its history of military interventions. (Reuters/Murad Sezers) 2 – Immediately after the coup attempt, the State of Emergency was declared; tens of thousands of people, including academics who signed the Peace Declaration, were dismissed from the public sector through mass decrees that violated fundamental rights. The cover of the State of Emergency report we prepared highlights the violations during that period. (hbs) 3 – HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş was arrested at midnight and taken to Edirne, alongside Figen Yüksekdağ. Both remain in prison to this day. (Medium) 4 – After eight years of the Obama era, the US elections resulted in a surprise, with populist Republican candidate Donald Trump being elected. One of Trump's first actions was to withdraw the country from the Paris Agreement, a key element in the global fight against the climate crisis. (NBC News) 5 – That year, the Pride march was marked by police violence. European Parliament member Terry Reintke, the former German Parliament member Volker Beck and Max Lucks, currently one of the youngest deputies of the German Parliament were briefly detained. This image was specially drawn for the article Yıldız Tar penned for hbs. (Bianet)