TURKEY: International delegation to attend trial of Ayse Berktay (Hacimirzaoglu) in Turkey (1)

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"During the past three years, the Turkish state has imprisoned some 8000 citizens under the guise of fighting terrorism. In a wave of detentions known as the “KCK operations,” it has targeted activists, academics, journalists, lawyers, students, elected officials, translators and publishers on account of their democratic activities in support of the rights demanded by Kurdish citizens in Turkey...

We now wish to focus public attention on Aye Berktay (Hacimirzaoglu), a respected translator, researcher and global peace and justice activist. Since her arrest in October 2011 during the “KCK operations,” she has been held in pre-trial detention in Bakirkoy Women’s Prison in Istanbul. Nine months after her initial incarceration, Aye Berktay’s trial, along with others, is scheduled to run from July 2nd to July 13th, 2012 in Silivri, near Istanbul.

As participants in the (former) World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) network, we have now formed an international delegation to observe the trial of Ayºe Berktay. She helped found the World Tribunal on Iraq in 2003, and was a principal organizer of its culminating session in Istanbul, which took place in June 2005. We know Aye Berktay to be a person of great integrity and honesty. She is not a terrorist, but an idealist who is committed to peace and democracy."

See: Full press release (pdf)

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