Academics for Peace have made a call to “everybody who sides with peace and free thought” to join them on the 20th when they will gather in front of the YÖK building in Ankara to speak out –again- against policies of war, both in Turkey and the world, defend the right to life, and be in solidarity with their colleagues who are being exposed to pressures because they have stood for those principles.

Although the Ensar case revealed the situation in officially non-recognized dormitories affiliated with religious foundations, there have been many other cases brought into light recently, where students –boys and girls- have been exposed to sexual abuse, even violence by their teachers and principals in state schools, particularly boarding schools. 

While Turkey is currently going through a period of grave repressions of the freedom of expression, which targets academicians, journalists, and human rights activists in particular, the sequential yet spontaneous protest actions undertaken by high school students have been evaluated as hope-inspiring and courageous many liberal activists.

Çilem Doğan's case attracted wide public interest and mobilized a committed network of women's organizations which not only supported her in terms of legal assistance, but used her story to defend the legitimacy of women reclaiming their lives by resorting to counter-violence in self-defense. 

The book of Femicide Is Preventable Campaing which is composed of Femicide Action Research, Conference on Urgent Action to Stop Femicide, Guide to Reporting on Femicide and Femcide Urgent Action Plan has been published.

A study commissioned by the Heinrich Böll Foundation found that the OECD's infrastructure investment advice to the G20 finance track lacks coherence with sustainable development and is “out of sync” with recent achievements of the global community.

As a contribution to this process, of which it is an active part, the Foresthouse Sustainable Rural Future Association (Ormanevi Kırsalda Sürdürülebilir Gelecek Derneği) finally implemented its project this year. The project had been planning for phase for some time and was realized with HBSD’s support: The Inventory of Ecological Communities. Up until now, the stories of many organizations have been told in oral or written forms, and in disorganized or organized fashions. However, it was a significant problem that there were not any data-based structural studies carried out on the basis of coherent definitions and concrete indicators. The Foresthouse designed its project according to these guidelines, focusing this time not on only on the structure– of course, without neglecting the spirit.

Organized with the financial support of the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Office (HBSD), and the Technical Assistance for Civil Society Organizations (TACSO), this conference opened up a space for sharing experiences between women’s organizations struggling in the field of violence against women in Germany, Austria, Sweeden, Poland, Hungary, England, Bulgaria, Holland, Spain and Turkey.

Halil İbrahim Dinçdağ’s career as a professional referee was terminated when his homosexuality was exposed by a compulsory military service health report in 2009. His legal battle against the Turkish Football Federation resulted in a victory.  

İhsan Oturmak, a young artist who creates his world of paintings with themes from Anatolian multiculturalism, militarism, education and punishment, opened his first personal exhibition "Three Flawed Operations: Tribe, School, Civilization" in Depo- Istanbul last month. We have talked with Oturmak about his exhibition, the relation of the "powerful" with "school" and what kind of "civilization" is being built on this...