TURKEY: Demanding Releases & more – 25th Jun 2024

Merhaba from BA! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 25th of June twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

The Council of Europe called on Turkey to release Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, and Osman Kavala, a prominent businessperson. Both men remain in detention despite rulings from the European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, demanding their release.

Demirtaş has been imprisoned on charges related to terrorism and inciting violence, while Kavala is accused of organizing the twenty thirteen Gezi Park protest that started as a demonstration against the cutting of trees in the Gezi Park but turned into an anti-government protest. He’s also accused of involvement in the twenty sixteen coup attempt.

A rapporteur for Turkey from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe visited Turkey to urge the country to comply with the ECHR’s decisions. He condemned Demirtaş’s forty-two-year sentence and highlighted the lack of evidence in Kavala’s case. The Council of Europe initiated infringement proceedings against Turkey for not adhering to ECHR rulings.

Moving on to some news on housing… The government plans to lift the 25% rent increase cap on the 1st of July. While homeowners welcome the chance to adjust rents to market conditions, tenants are bracing for significant hikes in an already challenging inflationary climate. They are worrying about the added financial strain, saying that average rent prices have become higher than the minimum wage itself, currently standing at seventeen thousand liras, which is a little over 500 US Dollars.

In other news, last Tuesday the 18th, the Justice Minister issued an arrest warrant for Diamond Tema, a Youtuber, for inciting public hatred and hostility after his remarks about the Islamic prophet Mohammed. In a video on the YouTube channel Yer6 Film, Tema debated Sharia law and criticized Islamic Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to a six-year-old girl.

The minister stated that the ministry launched an investigation into Tema’s comments, labeling them "insulting, ugly, and provocative." This announcement drew criticism from opposition figures and bar associations for disregarding freedom of expression while also mentioning he wasn’t spreading misinformation about the religion and just stating the facts. However, the minister called these criticisms unfair, saying that Tema’s remarks exceeded free speech limits.

Meanwhile, Tema, who left the country due to threats, described the backlash as a smear campaign and insisted that his views were supported by historical documents.

Earlier this year, Timur Cihantimur, a sixteen-year-old underage driver, hit and killed a man in a fatal car accident. He then fled to the United States with Eylem Tok, her mother. After they fled, Turkey issued an arrest warrant and also requested their extradition from the US for reckless killing and protecting an offender.

Two weeks ago, the US police detained the two and placed Cihantimur in a Connecticut correctional facility for minors. The US court held two hearings for Cihantimur, one on Tuesday the 18th and the other on Thursday the 20th. Despite Cihantimur offering two million US Dollars in bail money, the court denied his release. Users on social media slammed Cihantimur’s family, saying they couldn’t pay off the court in the US, and jokingly said that they should have stayed in Turkey to pay off the court.

On to politics… Özgür Özel, the head of the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party or CHP, suggested that Ekrem İmamoğlu and Mansur Yavaş, the İstanbul and Ankara mayors, could have won the twenty twenty-three presidential election against President Erdoğan. A journalist reported this after meeting Özel, who criticized Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy, saying that either İmamoğlu or Yavaş would have prevented Erdoğan's re-election.

Despite Kılıçdaroğlu's candidacy being controversial and with some part of the opposition against it, the Nation Alliance, the opposition alliance with six parties, unanimously chose him as the candidate. He secured close to 48% of the vote, resulting in Erdoğan's victory. Özel hinted that one of the two mayors might be the CHP candidate in the next presidential election.

On another note, on Monday the 24th, Yalçın Özbey, a key figure in the assassination of Abdi İpekçi, the editor-in-chief of the Milliyet newspaper, passed away in Istanbul. He had been undergoing cancer treatment for a long time.

Back in nineteen seventy-nince, Mehmet Ali Ağca killed İpekçi in Istanbul. After the murder, a court sentenced him to death and put him in a military prison. However, he escaped. Ağca later attempted to kill Pope John Paul II in Vatican City in nineteen eighty-one, but only wounded him. While in an Italian prison, Ağca said that Yalçın Özbey was the one who killed İpekçi. However, Özbey’s connection to the incident was never uncovered. Özbey fled abroad after the assassination but returned to Turkey in two thousand nine. He was never prosecuted.

On to some news on the economy… On Monday the 24th, the Treasury and Finance Minister met with the CHP’s shadow finance minister. Shadow ministers monitor their corresponding ministries in the government. The meeting lasted four and a half hours and focused on the opposition's economic proposals. The CHP proposed an interim raise for the minimum wage, increased pensions, agricultural support, and tax fairness. The shadow minister emphasized that they were against the government's handling of the economic hardships and expressed disappointment, noting that the executive's stance remained unchanged.

More on the economy… Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry announced new tax and income regulations. However, following criticism about how burdensome the new regulations will be, the Ministry is now considering simplifying tax procedures for tips and courier earnings.

Currently, tips are subject to income tax and value-added tax, or VAT, when paid with a credit card. To ease this, tips up to 10% of the service fee will be separately itemized on payment slips, collected in a bank account, and distributed to staff without VAT reduction. The regulation will cover food service businesses, including those offering delivery. Additionally, the ministry is working on supportive measures in labor and social security laws in this sector.

The Ministry is also simplifying tax requirements for couriers. Currently, couriers working independently must keep detailed financial records and pay various taxes. The new regulation will allow for a straightforward withholding tax, exempting couriers from keeping books, issuing receipts, and filing periodic tax returns. This applies as long as their annual income does not exceed three million liras, which is around ninety thousand US Dollars. Their services will also be exempt from the VAT.

As of Tuesday the 25th, the price for one liter of gasoline is expected to reach forty-three three liras, which is a dollar and thirty cents, up from forty liras or around a dollar. The government might increase the tax on gasoline, which will hike the price closer to fifty liras, or one dollar and fifty cents.

On Monday the 24th, the Education Ministry held a dinner for representatives of unions and associations involved in education to discuss the new curriculum. However, the presidents of the Education Workers’ Union and the Education Union declined the invitation in protest of the religion-based curriculum.

On Monday the 24th, a tourist spotted hand grenades near the shore of Eğirdir Lake in the city of Isparta and reported them to the police. The police closed off the beach and found seven hand bombs in the lake. Fortunately, bomb disposal experts from the Istanbul Naval Forces Command removed the grenades safely.

Reportedly, the police discovered seven more grenades in the lake last month. Investigations are ongoing to determine who might have left the grenades.

And to close this edition, the cliffs of the Antalya province in southern Turkey host one of the few nesting areas for the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, with only around 700 individuals remaining worldwide. These seals attract many tourists. Recently, hundreds of paddleboard enthusiasts have visited the area, increasing traffic in sensitive seal reproduction areas.

Experts highlighted that these visits affect both the Mediterranean monk seals and the bats nesting in the caves. They warned that seal pups are dependent on their mothers, and the mothers may abandon them if disturbed. They recommended setting boundaries with buoys to protect these sensitive areas and ensure the seals' safety.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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