Twitter user shiny (@Idauk) tweets [Tr]:

@Idauk Simdi Antakya'dan arkadasimla konustum.Olu sayisi 100′un uzerinde diyor.Reyhanli'da fiili sokaga cikma yasagi varmis.Hastahaneler perisan.

I just talked with a friend from Antakya. As my friend said, the number of the people were killed is over 100. Also, there is a curfew. Hospitals are all miserable.

Just after the explosions, the Turkish government issued a media ban [en] on the Reyhanlı blasts. This ban received a big reaction on social media. Twitter user denizatam (@denizatam) writes:

@denizatam AKP çareyi buldu, Reyhanlı için yayın yasağı başladı! Ana akım medya yetmedi yerel basını sustur şimdi. http://haber.sol.org.tr/devlet-ve-siyaset/akp-careyi-buldu-reyhanli-icin-yayin-yasagi-basladi-haberi-72848 …

AKP (Justice and Development Party) found the solution. A media ban was initiated for the Reyhanli Blasts! Mainstream was not enough, now it is the time to silence local media.

Journalists protested [en] the media ban. On Türkmax, the media ban was protested in a more sarcastic way, on their comedy show “Heberler”. In the video, the anchorman is opening the program with Reyhanlı blasts. Due to media ban, he remains speechless. Here is the video [tr]:

A picture at bobiler.org on the blast media ban

Although the media ban was lifted by Turkish courts, on May 16, a video on YouTube claims that the ban has fulfilled its purpose. In the video [tr], a journalist interviews several people on the street asking them “what do you think about Reyhanlı?”. The answers are shocking; only one person recognized the blasts, and a few remembered where the town was, and rest had no idea where it was or what happened in Reyhanlı, even though the video was recorded only five days after the blasts. Here is the video:

There are also reports [tr] on racist attacks on Syrian refugees. Since the Syrian civil war, Syrian refugees and militants fled to Antakya [en], a Turkish city on Syrian-Turkey border, and Reyhanlı, a town of the same city. Since the refugees and militants moved [en] into Antakya, the tension between the locals and Syrians has been high. In the report it says:

“Suriyelilerin yaşadığı binalara topluca gidilmiş birçok ev yakılmaya çalışılmış, ele geçirilen kişiler darp edilmişlerdir. Aşırı milliyetçi/ulusalcı eğilimlere sahip partilere mensup fanatiklerinden olduğu söylenen ve her geçen gün sayıları artmakta olan bu gurup, yaşanan gelişmelerden Suriyelileri sorumlu tutmakta, Reyhanlı ilçe merkezinde devriye gezerek sıklıkla yol kesmekte, Suriyeli veya Suriye vatandaşı olduğunu zannettikleri kişileri linç etmeye çalışmaktadırlar”

A group of people went to the buildings that Syrians are living in, they beat the people they caught. As said, these people are the members of ultra nationalist parties and they increasing in numbers, they blame Syrians for the blasts, and they patrol the Reyhanli city center, where they are attacking Syrians or people who look like Syrian citizens.

Turks on social media gave mixed reactions on the attacks on Syrians in Reyhanli.

Twitter user T.C. Zehra Aydogan (@TurkKizi1919) is angry at Syrians in Antakya:

 @TurkKizi1919 Turkiye'ye yerlestirilmeye calistiklari Suriyeli Multeci dedikleri terorsitlerdir.

The so called Syrian refugees that they want to settle in Turkey are, actually terrorists.

Another user, T.C.Devrim #ATATÜRK (@saadet_karakus), is angry at government for helping the refugees instead of the locals:

@saadet_karakus Suriyeli multeci icin milyar dolar harcayanlar,Reyhanlı esnafının vergi, sigorta borçlarını 1 yıl erteliyor.Silsene o borcu buyuk devlet!

The ones, who spend billions of dollars for Syrian refugees, are delaying Reyhanli store owners’ debts for one year. Write off those debts, you big government!

Twitter user Sami Pelitli (@SamiPelitli) says:

@SamiPelitli Reyhanli'da patlayan bomba yuzunden multecileri suclamak, onlara saldirmak nasil bir vicdansizliktir? Bir de irkci degiliz dersiniz.

What kind of remorselessness it is, to blame refugees for the blasts in Reyhanli, and to attack them? And you also say we are not racist.

Journalist Hayko Bağdat (@haykobagdat) tweets:

@haykobagdat ÖSO, cemaat, AKP'li filanlı olmaktan değil, tehcirin ne olduğunu bildiğimden Suriyeli mültecilere toz kondurmuyorum ben.

I am defending Syrian refugees, because I know the meaning of emigration, not because I am fan of FSA (Free Syrian Army), AKP (Justice and development Party), or congregation.

After the death of tens of people and a border town with tens of buildings collapsed [en], life still continues in Reyhanlı. Twitter user Bünyamin Salmanyan (@bunyms) remembers Mustafa Ayaz [tr], who was killed by the blasts in Reyhanlı:

@bunyms Reyhanlı'daki saldırıda hayatını kaybeden 25 yaşındaki Mustafa Ayaz'ın eşi bugün doğum yapmış, adını Mustafa koymuşlar..

Mustafa Ayaz, 25, was killed by the blasts; his wife gave a birth to his son today, and they named him Mustafa…

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Thousands of people made their way on May 1, 2013 to the city's main Taksim Square, a symbolic location where gunmen opened fire on the crowds there during the May 1 protests in 1977, killing as many as 42 people. This year, the government banned any protests or celebration for International Workers’ Day in the square, citing safety concerns due to construction near the area.

Police shot water cannons and teargas to disperse protesters, who fought back with rocks and Molotov cocktails in some cases. Seventy-two protesters were detained.

The response has been criticized as heavy-handed and harsh. Turkey's main opposition party leader Gürsel Tekin told reporters that police shot teargas into houses, hospitals, and even into an ambulance.

Hürriyet, a Turkish newspaper, published a video [tr] of police aggression toward protesters on its website:

Government officials [tr], however, accused protesters of being members of fringe groups, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at police, forcing them to shoot teargas in response. Hurriyet [tr], a Turkish newspaper shared a video of some protesters attacking police forces on its website doing just that:

According the nationalturk.com, opinion on the protesters were divided, with some people not approving of the vandalism against the police, and even some yelling at protesters to “get out, you are not welcome here”.

On Twitter, user Murathan Ceylan (@MurathanCyln) was angry at the protesters:

@MurathanCyln Sizin amaciniz 1 Mayis ı mi kutlamak yoksa polise tas ve molotof atip dukkanlari yakip yikmak mi ?!

Is your purpose celebrating May 1st or throwing rocks and Molotovs at police and stores?

Journalist Serdar Arseven (@sarseven) took the criticism one step forward:

@sarseven Vay namussuzlar, can güvenliklerini sağlayan polisin canına kast ettiler!.. Vatan hainleri!..

You dishonorable people. They tried to kill the police who are trying the protect them! Traitors!

Dilan Alp [tr], a 17-year-old protester, was hit by a teargas canister and fell into a coma. She is awake now and her medical situation is improving.

Although the police department [en] said in statement that she fell down from stairs, and the governor of Istanbul, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu, called Alp a militant and member of a “marginal” group, the video of the incident tells a different story. Here is the video [tr] of that moment:

Reactions were high on social media over her injuries.

Twitter user Berxwedan Yaruk (@BerxwedanYARUK) criticized the incident ironically:

@BerxwedanYARUK Lise öğrencisi Dilan Alp başından gaz bombası ile vurulmuş.Gerçi işçi değil o değil mi? Taksim'e de gitmek istemiş. Öldürülmesi çok normal.

Dilan Alp, a high school student, was hit by teargas. Well, she is not a worker, is she? She also wanted to go to Taksim, too. So it is normal to kill her.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) congresswoman Sebahat Tuncel (@tuncelsebahat) visited Alp in the hospital. She mentioned that the girl's father is a former employee of Hey Textile, a large textile company that went bankrupt this year and whose former workers went on a strike [tr]:

@tuncelsebahat Gaz bombasiyla yaralanan Dilan'in kafa tasında ve çenesinde çoklu kırık var.Babasi hey tekstil direnişçisi.Babasi ile bayram kutlamaya gelmş

There are broken bones on Dilan's head and chin, caused by a teargas that hit her on head. His father is a Hey Textile worker. She came to celebrate the Workers’ Day with his father.

Twitter user Hukukcu Themisler (@themisler) accused the government of caring more for the protection of the construction project at Taksim Square than the protection of its own people:

@themisler 40 bin polis ile Taksim'deki inşaat alanını koruyan devlet, işçi-emekçi insanlara copla gazla müdahalede bulundu:Dilan ALP ağır yaralandı..!

Government, with its 40,000 police, kept the construction area in Taksim Square safe, while attacking workers with teargas and nightsticks; Dilan Alp heavily injured.

But to combat the reactions against the police action, the governor publicized photos of Dilan Alp [tr] allegedly holding a molotov cocktail in her hand. He claimed that she was not innocent, and she was injured while attacking police forces.

Alp was not the only one who was injured. Protesters Meral Dönmez, Zafer Yolcu, İbrahim Akal, and Serdal Gül [tr] were all seriously injured and are hospitalized.

Yolcu was hit on the head by a teargas canister, which fractured his scalp, according to reports. Akal lost one of his eyes and is in danger of losing the other, according to his brother Umut Akal's statement [tr].

Twitter user Ali Fırat (@partizan72_) shared a picture of Yolcu in the hospital:

@partizan72_ AKP hükümetinin taksim yasaklaması İstanbul emekçileri yıldırmadı. ZAFER YOLCU pic.twitter.com/TuYlGjgA72

Ruling party Justice and Development Party's ban could not stop the workers of Istanbul. ZAFER YOLCU pic.twitter.com/TuYlGjgA72

Another user, Esra Aksu Gök (@ESRAAKSU12), expressed his anger over Akal's injury:

@ESRAAKSU12 Bunun bedeli ödenebilir mi? 1 Mayısta yaralanan İbrahim Akal gözünü kaybetti http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/1_mayista_yaralanan_ibrahim_akal_gozunu_kaybetti-1131940 … @radikal aracılığıyla

Can there be any price for this? İbrahim Akal injured on May 1 and lost his eye.

Lawyer Efkan Bolaç (@efkanbolac) criticized the government forces sarcastically for attacking Akal:

@efkanbolac Gerçekten teşekkürü hakkediyorlar! İbrahim Akal atılan bombalar sebebiyle bir gözünü kaybetti. Hastane çıkışı ölmedim diye teşekküre gidecek

@efkanbolac They really deserve to receive thanks! İbrahim Akal lost one of his eyes because of the teargas. He is going to thank them when he is out of the hospital!

Twitter user, Dilan Alatas (@DilanAlatas), mentioned Gül while slamming criticism of Alp, the 17-year-old protester, for being at the protests even though she is not a worker:

@DilanAlatas Dilan Alp'ten sonra,metal işçisi Serdal Gul kafasından aldığı darbe sonucu ameliyata alınmış.Yine de ‘ee işçi değilmiş yea’ diyecek misiniz?

@DilanAlatas After Dilan Alp, worker Serdal Gül went into surgery. Will you still say “so, he was not a worker”?

Twitter user, Astrig Daghlian (@Keghetsi), mentioned Gül, too:

@Keghetsi Serdal Gul de komada, ailesi ‘Çocuğumuza hedef alınarak ateş açılmış başından yaralanmış’ http://www.gercekgundem.com/?p=542493

Serdal Gül in a coma too, his family said: “Our child shot by targeted on purpose and got injured from his head”

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In March 2012 [tr], the mayor publicized the phone number of Ayşegül Avci, a college student, on his Twitter account by mentioning that she insulted him on the microblogging platform.

On February 26, 2013, Redhack published Melih Gökçek cell phone number, along with a series of communications between Gökçek and President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in Turkey Faik Yavuz that seemed to prove their participation in corrupt dealings.

Redhack made a name for themselves in March 2012 when they hacked the Ankara police web servers, known as the Ankara Directory of Security and POLNET, and published the index on the Internet. Since then, they have hacked several government websites and servers, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish Armed Forces, the Presidency of Religious Affairs, and the Council of Higher Education.

Picture is taken from RedHack official page.

The group was deemed an armed terrorist organization in October 2012 by a Turkish court, and government officials in December 2013 decided to build an anti-hacker team of 150 people just to stop Redhack's cyber attacks. But the move did not seem to stop them, and they hacked the Council of Higher Education servers and published documents alleging corruption in January 2013.

After Redhack published the mayor's cell phone number on Twitter, the man responded in a sharply worded tweet to the group, touching off a lengthy back-and-forth between the two.

The exchange began when Redhack announced Gökçek's phone number:

@TheRedHack: Kadinlarin telefonlarini yayinlayan ve RedHack'i 1 ay'da yakalatacagini soyleyen Melih Gokcek cevap vermiyor. Cepten arasak mi=> 05323184151

@TheRedHack: Melih Gökçek, who announced the phone numbers of women and said that he would get us arrested, is not answering us. Should we call his cell phone number: 05323184151

Redhack also published the letters that Faik Yavuz wrote to the several people, including the mayor Gökçek and the prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In these letters, he was asking for favors to get jobs for his friends and relatives. Also in one of his letters to the Mayor, he was asking for some information about a land that he owns, and mentioned how it would be more valuable if the building permit would change. In his letters to Erdoğan, he denied the allegations of the Eid al-Adha (festival of sacrifice) donations fraud [en], by mentioning how he was always a supporter of AKP politics.

@TheRedHack: Kendi iclerindeki usulsuzlukler, RTE ve Melih'e yazdigi mektuplar.. Bugunluk bunlar. Devami sonra ;) Okuyun yayin=> http://redleaks.blogspot.com/2013/02/ankara-ticaret-borsas-baskani-faik.html … …

@TheRedHack: Irregularities between themselves, and his (mentioning Faik Yavuz) letters to RTE (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) and Melih… That's all for today. To be continued. Read and spread. http://redleaks.blogspot.com/2013/02/ankara-ticaret-borsas-baskani-faik.html …

The mayor responded on Twitter with a screenshot of a long message written by him, which included a lot of bad language and scoff, and the message mentioned that the publicized phone number was wrong or even if it were correct it should not count as a success, since at least 2,000 people have it. Here is the tweet:

@06melihgokcek: BU ÇAKMA RedHack'LI GIRİ ZEKALILAR İLE KUYRUĞUNA TAKILANLARA İŞTE CEVABIM… pic.twitter.com/iFlbCCt5s0

@06melihgokcek: Here is my answer for the retards from fake RedHack members and their fans hanging on their tail.  pic.twitter.com/iFlbCCt5s0

The mayor demanded an apology from the group:

@06melihgokcek: YA HATANIZI KABUL EDİP HEMEN ÖZÜR DİLEYİN…YA DA 5 DAKİKA SONRA VERECEĞİM CEVABI OKUYUP YERİN DİBİNE GİRİN…TABİ ONURUNUZ VARSA…

@06melihgokcek: Accept your mistake and apologise to me right now, or… Or be ashamed by the answer that I will give in five minutes… If you have any honor, of course…

Redhack quickly rebuffed the mayor's request for an apology:

@TheRedHack: @06melihgokcek Ulan dingil, ne ozur dileyecegiz senden? Senin adamin bilgisayarindan cikti belgeler, rusvet yiyorsaniz iz birakmayin bari ;)

@TheRedHack: @06melihgokcek Why would we apologise to you, you prick? The documents came out of your guy's computer, well at least do not leave signs after the corruption of yours.

Other Twitter users joined the unfolding argument. One person asked about the allegations of the mayor's assets that he indirectly owned through his sons, by using his political power:

@cgdm_cnr: @06melihgokcek ACityPlus Outlet,Kılıç Petrol,Dikmen Vadisi , Ostim AnkaraSpor üzerinden oğullarına edindiği kanunsuz araziler. iftirami?

@cgdm_cnr: @06melihgokcek The lands that he got by using their sons; ACityPlus, Kilic Petrol, Valley of Dikmen, Ostim, Ankaraspor. Are these true?

The mayor denied the allegations by saying:

@06melihgokcek: Çiğdem ispat edersen ben, etmezsen sen dünyanin en onursuz ve yalanci kişisisin. Hadi onurunu kurtar… @cgdm_cnr

@06melihgokcek: Cigdem if you prove this, then I am; if you cannot prove this, you are the biggest liar and least honorable person in the world. Come on, save your honor…

The day after Redhack published his phone number, Gökçek raised eyebrows by sharing photographs on his Twitter account of a 17-year-old girl named İrem Aksoy, who was taken into custody after she called him “indecent”. First he tweeted about her case:

@06melihgokcek: BUGÜN İREM AKSOY İSİMLİ BAYANI BANA “edepsizsin Melih Gökçek” DİYE (ilave cümlelerde var) HAKARET ETTİĞİ İÇİN KARAKOLA ÇAĞIRMIŞLAR…

@06melihgokcek: Today, a lady was taken into custody for insulting me, by saying “you are indecent, Melih Gokcek” (and there is more to it).

The girl, Aksoy, also tweeted about the incident:

@aksoyirm: melıh gokcek'e hakaretten bugun gozaltına alındım bu surecte benı yalnız bırakmayan tum yoldaslarıma tesekkur edıyorum

Then Gökçek shared photos of İrem Aksoy which were taken from her own Twitter account. On the photos he shared, İrem Aksoy was drinking raki (a Turkish alcohol drink) and the Mayor thought this as a sign of that she was not ‘that innocent':

@06melihgokcek: ŞİMDİ MASUM OLARAK TAKTİM EDİLEN 17 YAŞINDAKİ İREM AKSOY'U TWİTTERDAKİ KENDİ YAYINLADIĞI FOTOĞRAFLARDAN TANIYALIM pic.twitter.com/qQ54lX46wI

@06melihgokcek: Now let's learn about Irem Aksoy, who introduced herself as innocent, through the pictures that she uploaded on her Twitter account pic.twitter.com/qQ54lX46wI.

After Gökçek tweeted two more pictures of her drinking raki again (which can be seen here and here), he fired off a heated response to a Twitter user who questioned his actions. Twitter user “agolge” reproached him:

@agolge: Siz hayatınızda hiç genç olmadınız mı ayıptır… @06melihgokcek

@agolge: Weren't you ever young before? It is a shame what you did… @06melihgokcek

The mayor's response was:

@06melihgokcek: Genç olmak insanlara hakaret hakkı mı veriyor?Edepli yetişeceksinizYetişmemekte direnirseniz biz büyükleriniz size bunu öğreteceğiz @agolge 

@06melihgokcek: Does being young give you the right to insult others? You will grow up as decent people. If you fight against it, we -the grown ups- will teach you that.

Twitter user Ali Remzi Gemalmaz joined in the fray by sharing an old picture of the mayor in a tweet:

@AliRemzii: @06melihgokcek rakı içmek ayıpsa aynı haltı sen niye yedin?yada niye meze oldun rakı sofrasında başgan? zavallısın.. pic.twitter.com/cUbJcglP8I

@AliRemzii: @06melihgokcek If it is a shame to drink raki, why did you do the same thing? Or why did you join the drinking session, mayor? You are pathetic. pic.twitter.com/cUbJcglP8I

After the mayor denied the photo's accuracy, claiming it was a photo montage, famous Turkish porn actor and producer Şahin K. said:

@SahinK_original: @06melihgokcek @AliRemzii Baskan benim filmlerin de hepsi montaj:))

@SahinK_original: @06melihgokcek @AliRemzii Hey Mayor, all of my movies are photo-montage based, too.

Redhack offered up one more picture of the mayor showing him years ago at a table surrounded by people drinking raki:

@TheRedHack: 17 yasinda kizin evini polislerle bastitip resmini yayinlayan çete lideri @06melihgokcek once kendi resmine baksin=> pic.twitter.com/fR0J5fTTwE

@TheRedHack: Gang leader Melih Gokcek who attacks a 17-year-old girl's house with policemen and put her pictures on the Internet should check his picture first. pic.twitter.com/fR0J5fTTwE

Redhack has recently released a documentary called “RED!”[tr] to explain who they are and what they want to accomplish:

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In May 2012 [tr], N.Y., a young girl who lives in Bitlis city of east region of Turkey, who had a mild mental disability, was raped by a man named S.I. and got pregnant after the incident. According to N.Y.'s statement she was raped several times by S.I. and she got pregnant after the rape, which she hid from her family and had a miscarriage on the sixth month of her unwanted pregnancy. She buried the dead body of the fetus. She mentioned that, she was scared and she was threatened by S.I. and this was the reason why she did not talk about the rape to anyone. It was the mother of N.Y. who discovered the tragedy, since her daughter was behaving suspiciously and differently. The Institution of forensic medicine, prepared a report on the incident which shows the father of the dead fetus was S.I. by a chance of 99.9%, due the DNA tests. The Bitlis Psychiatric Hospital also mentioned that, N.Y. was psychologically damaged by the rape. Despite the reports, and the statement of N.Y., the court decided there was not enough evidence to proof that S.I. raped N.Y., so S.I. was acquitted.

Even though, Turkish women can be seen as “lucky” compared to women in other Muslim countries, they still suffer tremendously. According to a study in 2009, only 40% of married women met their spouse on their own and decided to marry. Fifty per cent of women tied the knot through an arranged marriage. The same research shows that 35% percent of women have been subjected to physical violence by their husbands, at least once in their life. In the East of the country, this number goes up to 40%.

Another problem for Turkish women is that they can not get their economical independence, since only 27% of work force in Turkey are women, according to TUIK [tr] (Turkish Statistical Institute). And women are not represented in the parliament [tr] efficiently; there are only 79 women members of the 548-strong member parliament. And 46 female members of the parliament are from the AKP (Justice and Development Party) -the ruling party. That means there are only 33 women members of parliament are from the opposition – a mere 6% of the total number of the members of parliament.

The ruling party of Turkey, AKP, is also putting pressure on women in their speeches and politics on women and women rights. In 2008 [tr], Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey, said in a panel on World Women Day : “For keeping our young population increasing, give birth to at least three children.”

In 2011 [en], Erdogan was furious with Dilsat Aktas, a protester who climbed an armoured police-carrier and was beaten up by police and suffered a hip fracture. He criticized her for attacking police. This was less than a year after another female protester[tr] was attacked by the police, and lost her unborn child, eventhough she had begged the police not to kick her stomach because she was pregnant.

At the end of 2012 [en], another argument on women hit the headlines. Erdogan said “Every abortion is an Uludere” by mentioning the Uludere or Roboski, as known in Kurdish, where 34 Kurdish civilian were killed by Turkish Air Force by an accident, while civilians were passing the border for smuggling and mistaken for terrorists by mistake. But this was not only shocking speech for women. During that same period, the Minister of Health talked about banning abortion: “They are asking what will happen to woman if she got raped and got pregnant? If something happens like that, she should give birth to the child, and if it is necessary the government can raise the child.”

Blogger Jenny White spoke up saying:

What is more disturbing is the reasoning — that if births are not increased, Turkey — and Turkishness — will disappear off the map. This is a jingoistic fear that resonates with the old racialist understanding of Turkishness as soy (lineage, descent), a blood-based nationalism like Germany’s jus sanguinis. In such a conception of national membership, there is no room for immigrants, migrants, or minorities, even if they are culturally assimilated. Ask the fourth-generation Turks in Germany.

Turkey-based writer and columnist Andrew Finkel wrote:

Already, the Turkish parliament has been barking at its master’s voice and is considering restricting the grounds on which, and the term of their pregnancy during which, women may seek an abortion. Turkey liberalized abortion in 1983 in response to high rates of illegal terminations and maternal mortality. If more women start dying again because they are forced to seek illegal abortions, then Erdogan’s odd analogy to the massacre at Uludere may turn out to be more apt than it should.

One of the comments on Andrew Finkel's post was telling of how horrible such statements are:

@AJBaker: Odd how often people with dictatorial instincts think it is their business to regulate a woman's fertility. Both Hitler and Stalin opposed abortion and believed that women should have brood like hens.

Twitter user AncienRose shared a story of a woman who had an abortion when it was illegal in Turkey. The story tells how hard and painful an illegal abortion was, and how prime minister's words can be real if abortion is banned:

@ERIKLIRECEL: “Her kürtaj bir Uludere’dir”: Yasaklı günlerden bir kürtaj hikâyesi » AGOS http://www.agos.com.tr/makale/her-kurtaj-bir-uluderedir-yasakli-gunlerden-bir-kurtaj-hikyesi-205 … @AGOSgazetesi aracılığıyla

“Every abortion is an Uludere”: An abortion story from the days of illegal abortion » Agos http://www.agos.com.tr/makale/her-kurtaj-bir-uluderedir-yasakli-gunlerden-bir-kurtaj-hikyesi-205 … by @AGOSgazetesi

The abortion ban was not enacted because of the protests against it. The protests gathered around one slogan “benim bedenim, benim kararim (my body, my decision)” and a website was created for the pictures all around the world of people against the ban:

It says “my body, my decision” on picture of a woman's hand. Picture is taken from http://www.benimkararim.org/

Here is a youtube video prepared by incisozluk (a Turkish social internet forum) for ‘my body, my decision’ protests:

Turkish women protested, and protected their rights by saying ‘my body, my decision.’ But it seems like they still have a long way to go and fight until it is 100% their decision what to do on their body or their life.

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The visit of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and Democratic Congress of the People (HDK) was part of their tour to cities with relatively small Kurdish populations. BDP is the only party in parliament which stands for the Kurdish people's rights and is also known to be the legal and political wing of the Kurdish guerrilla organization, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK.)

BDP's decision to visit the region, known for its nationalist and conservative population, was a first in the history of the Kurdish movement, since the party focuses on eastern regions and big cities which of a mixed demographic.

At the end of 2012, the Turkish government started negotiations with the imprisoned leader of the PKK Abdullah Öcalan, for a solution to end the 30-year war between the Kurds and the government. At the center of these negotiations is a new constitution, that includes Kurdish identity and will not imprison Kurdish guerrillas who are fighting or have fought against the Turkish military.

The delegations visit to Sinop was the first step in starting a dialogue with the larger Turkish population to garner their support for the Kurdish-government negotiations.

But when the delegation arrived, protesters threw stones and shouted angrily at BDP's member of parliament Sırrı Süreyya Önder. To escape the the attack the BDP and HDK members raced into a nearby teachers’ lodge. The angry protesters then surrounded the building, threw rocks inside and also destroyed the vehicles of the BDP members. Two protesters climbed on the roof of the building to hoist a Turkish flag and a put up a poster of Atatürk, the founder of the country.

BDP members are trying to build a barricade on windows by using the tables and chairs. Picture is taken from Sirri Sureyya Onder's Twitter account.

One of the destroyed cars of BDP members. Picture is taken from Twitter.

During the protest, Sırrı Süreyya Önder shared these pictures on his Twitter account and tweeted:

@sirsureyya: Lincci fasist guruh iceriye tasve yanici madde atiyorlar. Polis birsey yapmiyor. Kendi onlemimizi aliyoruz. pic.twitter.com/yMChw5O0

The fascist, lynch group is throwing rocks and combustible materials inside. Police is not doing anything against them. We are trying to take precautions by ourselves. pic.twitter.com/yMChw5O0

A few hours later the protesters finally left the area, after policemen asked them, rather politely, to leave.

Diyarbakır, a Kurdish city at the south-east of Turkey, hosted protests a few hours later against the lynch attempt. The police responded to these protests with tear gas and water hoses. Protests then spread to other cities, including İstanbul and the capital Ankara.

Protesters left the area after policemen's polite requests of hours. Picture is taken from Ötekilerin Postası's Page.

BDP member of parliament Ertuğrul Kürkçü tweeted about the protests in İstanbul by sharing this picture:

Protests in İstanbul against the lynch attempt. Picture is taken from Ertuğrul Kürkçü's twitter account.

@ekurkcumedya: İstanbul'da eylem devam ediyor. pic.twitter.com/SF9IMD8z

Protests continue in İstanbul. pic.twitter.com/SF9IMD8z

There were mixed reactions to the incident on social media. Journalist Gonca Şenay tweeted a picture taken from inside the teachers’ lodge during the protest and tweeted:

@goncasenay: Sinop ogretmenevinde camlardan iceri giren olmasin diye alinan onlem sanirim cok sey anlatiyor…. pic.twitter.com/RcGWTULq

I guess, the barricades on the windows in Sinop Teachers’ Lodge tell us a lot.. pic.twitter.com/RcGWTULq;

Columnist Hayko Bağdat shared a picture of Sırrı Süreyya Önder while he was building a barricade on a window by tweeting:

@haykobagdat: Sırrı Abi Sinop'ta barışı inşa ediyor…  pic.twitter.com/OlDCW8um

Brother Sırrı is building the peace in Sinop… pic.twitter.com/OlDCW8um

Twitter user B. Akoz shared a a picture of a banner that protesters were holding. The banner says: “Leave Sinop. Only three things can silence Sinop Youth Platform. Sound of Azan (call for prayer), a moment of silence, the Turkish National anthem…”

Here is Akoz's tweet that mentions the “SinopDurDedi” (Sinop said stop) hashtag which was started by the supporters of the Sinop protests:

@BerkAkz: Helal olsun bplı pkklılara Sinop DurDedi mecliste kimse dur diyemedi ama Sinop DurDedi çocuk katillerine .. pic.twitter.com/1or2xKtI

Good, Sinop said stop to the BDP and PKK members. Nobody could say stop in the parliament but Sinop said stop to the child killers… pic.twitter.com/1or2xKtI

Another Twitter user shared a picture of a destroyed car of BDP members and tweeted:

@ErolOnay60: Sinoptaki Bdp'lilerin arabasını Sinoplu kardeşlerimiz yeniden şekillendirmiş :)) Sinop DurDedi pic.twitter.com/PBdW1TWh

Our brothers in Sinop reshaped the car of BDP members :)) Sinop said stop. pic.twitter.com/PBdW1TWh

Written by Baran Mavzer · comments (2)
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Selek's first arrest 

Selek's long journey with the Turkish Judicial System began on July 11, 1998, just two days after the explosions at the entrance of Istanbul's Spice Bazaar. The explosion killed seven and wounded approximately 100 people. Despite suspicions regarding the cause of the explosion being caused by a PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) bombing, six investigative reports indicated that the explosion was not due to a bombing or terrorist attack. Things started to get interesting after this. Pınar Selek was arrested two days after the explosion; authorities assumed that she was a member of PKK.

Another suspect, Abdülmecit Öztürk, was arrested around two weeks after Selek and confessed that they had planned and carried out the bombing together. But, as soon as he was transferred to court, he claimed that he had been tortured and had been made to accept the charges despite non-involvement. During the trial,  Öztürk's confession indicated that his aunt had met with Pınar Selek as her nephew's fiancée. The indictment indicated that when visiting the house, Öztürk and Selek entered a room together and stayed in there alone for a while. The aunt recognized Selek by her picture and admitted that Selek and her nephew had visited. But, while on the witness stand at trial, Öztürk's aunt clearly did not know any Turkish and could only speak Kurdish, which cast doubt on her ability to give a statement in Turkish without any linguist or translator present. This was in addition to dubious reports concerning the explosion, as all reports failed to establish a connection between the explosion and a bomb. The reports suggested that the main reason of the explosion was a gas leak.

The court ordered life sentence for Pınar Selek. Picture taken from her Facebook Page.

The acquittals

Pınar Selek was arrested in July 1998 and freed after two and a half years, on December 22, 2000, by a local court. After an appeal by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Istanbul Police Department's, another group of experts (members of gendarme) proposed that the explosion could have occurred by a bomb, even though, one of the civil experts in the group did not accept the result of the report. This expert prepared another report showing that explosion did not occur by a bomb and claimed that the report prepared by the gendarme experts was unacceptable and not scientific or trustworthy.

On June 8, 2006, the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court announced its first ruling of acquitting Pınar Selek and Abdülmecit Öztürk, saying that, in regard to the Spice Bazaar explosion, “no certain and believable evidence that requires punishment could be found.” This decision was reversed by the 9th Penal Department of the Supreme Court on April 17th, 2007, on the basis that “no verdict had been given.” On May 23, 2008, Selek was acquitted for the second time by the Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court. After another appeal to this decision, on February 9, 2011, she was acquitted for the third time. The public prosecutor appealed the acquittal, just one day after the decision given by Istanbul 12th High Criminal Court. And on January 24, 2013, the court ordered a lifetime sentence on Pınar Selek.

Selek's supporters

On her Twitter account, Pınar Selek called her supporters to the gates of the court during a break before the announcement for the final verdict, by tweeting:

@Pinar_Selek: Davaya karar icin ara verildi.Herkesin Caglayan Adliyesi C kapisinda acilen toplanmasi cok onemli. Gidisat iyi gorunmuyor

A break given before the final verdict. It is so important to meet up in front of the Caglayan Court Gate C. It does not seem good.

Author of “Blood & Belief”, Aliza Marcus expressed shock with the Turkish Judicial System by tweeting:

@AlizaMarcus: The Turkish court system is so unbelievable: sociologist Pınar Selek acquitted 3 times & then sentenced to life in prison

Journalist Balçiçek İlter tweeted:

@Balciceki: Pınar selek'e 3 kez beraattan sonra müebbet! Bu ülkede hukuk bitmiştir! Adalet mi? Guldurmeyin beni!

Life sentence for Pınar Selek after three acquittals. There is no law in this country any more! Justice? Do not make me laugh!

Another journalist Cüneyt Özdemir supported her by tweeting:

@cuneytozdemir: Pınar Selek yalnızca yanlış zamanda yanlış yerde bulunmadı. Yanlış zamanda yanlış ülkede doğdu!

Pınar Selek was not only at the wrong place at the wrong time. She was also born in the wrong country.

Pınar Selek supporters shared this picture on the Facebook Page of “Collectif Solidarité Pınar Selek” to rally support for her acquittal:

Supporters of Pınar Selek are protesting the verdict of the court by carrying a banner saying “We want Pınar Selek's acquittal back”. Picture taken from Collectif Solidarité Pinar Selek Facebook Page.

International organizations were trying to draw attention to Pınar Selek's trial earlier this week. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) posted articles on January 21 on their websites mentioning the continuous judicial harassment against Pınar Selek. In December 2012,  PEN, the worldwide association of writers, also expressed concerns regarding the judicial harassment of Pınar Selek.

After all she has been acquitted three times and still fighting for a fourth acquittal. It might be hard to understand how she can handle a 15 year-long trial which might end up in a definitive life sentence. But, her words on www.pinarselek.com [tr] website which has been lauvhed by her friends to support her, explains how she still fights for her freedom:

Yoksunlukları, adaletsizlikleri, şiddeti keşfettikçe kendi kendimize soruyoruz: “Mutluluk mümkün mü?” Ben, bu kısacık varoluş macerasını güzel yaşamak için adalete ve özgürlüğe ihtiyaç duyanlardanım. Bunun için politika yapıyorum. Başkalarını kurtarmak için değil, mutlu olmak için, herkesinkiyle derinden ve karmaşık bağlara sahip olan hayatımı değiştirmek için… Gözümü yumup mutsuz olmamak için gözlerimi açıp acı çekiyorum.

We ask to ourselves when we explore the poorness, unfairness, violence: “Is happiness possible?” I am one of the people who need freedom and justice to live the very short and beautiful adventure of existence. That is what I am fighting for. Not to save others, to be happy, to change my life which has deep and complicated connections with the lives of others… I am keeping my eyes open and suffering, instead of closing my eyes and being unhappy.

Written by Baran Mavzer · comments (7)
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Miners in Zonguldak. Picture is taken by gecetreni on flickr.

Kozlu, where the accident occurred, is a town in the central district of Zonguldak Province, and also has a tragic history for miners. In 1992, after a firedamp explosion in the mine, 263 miners died. This was the biggest disaster in the 150 years of Zonguldak's mining history. But it was not the only one. In 1983, Ereğli, a town in the central district of Zonguldak Province, again turned into a graveyard for 102 miners after a firedamp explosion. Just three years ago, on May 17, 2010, the death of 30 miners in the same city shocked the whole country once again. After years and years, the only thing that changes is the number of deaths. Even that could not prevent Turkey in passing China to top the list of the numbers of miner deaths per 100,000 miners in the world, according to the International Labour Organisation.

The signs of the accident on January 7 had some similarities to previous ones. A subcontractor company was running the mine, which does not have the required qualifications and has no previous experience on mining, because it is a construction company. Even the government tries to stay away from the responsibilities of the accident, in their inspection on the mine by the inspectors of ministry of internal affairs shows that the subcontractor did not fulfill basic safety and health requirements.

According to the report on Turkey Anthracite Society Kozlu Anthracite Processing Company (the same mine that eight miners died) which was prepared by the court of account in 2011, ‘it is just a lucky coincidence not having a fatal accident in this mine'. As it is clear for all to see, every single department of the government, including parliament, ‘have seen’ these problems about the mine and the subcontractor, but no precautions were taken.

On the other hand, it came out that just one and half years ago, same miners held a protest and a strike that lasted two weeks, and mentioned that they could not get their deserved payments and they were made to work under really bad conditions. According the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, one of the miners, Ayhan Gökgöz (35) mentioned the death of 30 miners on TV during the strike said:

“Bu arkadaşlarımız göz göre göre öldü. Önlemler alınsaydı, hiçbir şey olmayacaktı. İş işten geçtikten sonra ’ah anam bunlar gitti’ denmesin. Sayın Valim, emniyet müdürüm, milletvekilleri sesimizi duysunlar. Biz işçi olmak istiyoruz. Biz çalışma koşullarımız iyileşsin istiyoruz. Yalvarıyoruz yetkililere, Allah için gelsinler görsünler halimizi”

“These friends of ours died so obviously. If there were precautions in place nothing was going to happen. Nobody would say ‘oh so sad we lost them’ after everything is done. Dear governor, chief of security, senator hear us. We want to be workers. We want better working conditions. We are begging officials, for God's sake, see our conditions.”

And another miner simply yelled to the cameras:

“Lamba, maske bile vermiyorlar. Kazmayı küreği kendimiz alıyoruz”

“They do not even give us a flashlight or mask, we even brought our own digging tools.”

And on January 10, 2013, the same miner Ayhan Tokgöz was talking again and this time he said:

Ölen 8 arkadaşımla beraber 30 işçi öldüğünde Karadon Maden Ocağı’na gittik. Beraber ağladık orada. Hatta, ’Biz de böyle olur muyuz’ diye konuştuk ve olduk.

“We with our eight friends laying dead in the mine went near our 30 friends who died in the mining accident when it happened. We all cried together. And even we asked each other ‘Will we end up like that too?’ and we did.”

After the accident, Turkey Anthracite Society Kozlu Anthracite Processing Company's vice director Ali Demirsoy met with the families of the three miners whose dead bodies are still in the collapsed mine. Though his speech surprised the people, as he said “Look you are all veiled women here… It is not important as you are veiled or not, we are in that kind of situation.” It is not the first time of surprising speeches by the officials, after mine accidents in Turkey. After death of 30 miners in 2010, prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said “dying is the destiny of a miner” and Omer Dinçer, the minister of labor and social security, followed him a few days later by mentioning “miners died in a beautiful way, without suffering.”

The reactions of netizens were almost in the same direction with each other – even though they had different political views. Hakan Coşar (@hakancoar1) said on his Twitter account:

Daha çok grizu patlamaları ve göçüklerle gündeme gelen madenciler.Güneşin doğuşunu ve mavi gök yüzünü onlardan daha iyi anlayan var mıdır?

Miners are on the agenda only after explosions and collapses. Is there anyone understanding the sunrise and the blue sky better than them?

Twitter user Dede (@mhmmtgkc) mentioned the government official news channel TRT Haber's program during the accident. He twitted:

Daha yarım saat önce patlamanın olduğu işletme TRT Haber'deydi. Yok güvenlik şöyle yok dedektörler böyle dediler yarım saat sonra facia :S

Just half an hour ago, the mine that had an explosion was on TRT Haber. They were praising the security and detectors and just half an hour later, disaster :S

Ernoyan Ç. (@ernoyan) who comes from a miner family as he admitted, brought another angle to the incident by saying:

Madenci bir ailenin çocuğuyum. Dedelerim de babam da madenlerde çalıştı. Ne zaman bir maden kazası haberi gelse yüreğim parçalanıyor

I am a child of a miner family. My grandfathers, my dad worked in the mines, too. Whenever I hear about a mine accident, my heart shatters in pieces

Acz (@aczvefakr) tried to draw attention to one of the miners who gave his life away by saying:

taşeron çalışan muhsin akyüz 800 TL maaş alıyordu. 14 yerine 7 kere, 25 yerine 10 metre sondaj yapıldı diyorlar. muhsin'i devlet öldürdü.

working under subcontractor, Muhsin Akyüz was earning 800 TL per month. They say explorations have been made just 7 times instead of 14,  just 10 meters deep instead of 25. The government killed Muhsin.

On Turkish social platform eksisozluk.com, one of the users, nicknamed as “nekadarmukemmelimsahaneharukayim” entered an entry telling, how usual these accidents start to become:

haberi duyduğumuzda anlamsız hayatlarımıza ara verip yarım dakika bilemedin 1 dakika etkilendiğimiz, sorumlularının hukuken hiç bir ceza almayacakları, köseleşmiş vicdanları sebebiyle suçluluk bile duymayacağı ”iş kazası”dır.

This is a kind of “work accident” which makes us give 30 seconds or at best 1 minute break to our meaningless lives, the kind of accident which will have no charge for the people who are responsible for it, and by the help of their blunted conscience, they will not feel guilty for it.

Zonguldak once again hits headlines as usual with a mine accident. Even there were reactions on the social media, especially on eksisozluk.com (a social platform in Turkey) and twitter, one of them was telling everything all smooth and clearly. Nilüfer Zengin, sister of Köksal Kadıoğlu who lost his life in the accident, cried out at the funeral of her brother:

“Seni bu ocaklara girmeye mecbur kılan bu düzen utansın ağabey. Sana ’girme’ dedim. Sen, ’Girmek zorundayım, ne yapayım kardeşim, özel sektör bu çalışmadan sigorta vermiyorlar’ dedin. Emekliliğine 5 sene kalmıştı ağabeyimin”

“Shame on the system that puts you into those mines. I told you not to enter there, and you said; ‘I have to do it, what else I can do my sister, this is private sector they do not give insurance without working'. Only five more years were left for your retirement.”

Written by Baran Mavzer · comments (1)
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