NEWS SCAN for Turkey – June 26th, 2013
Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites.
Mentality change for Turkish police a must: Council of Europe Head Jagland
Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland (R) shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu during his visit to Ankara. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ
The head of Europe’s top human rights watchdog took great pains to avoid delivering any remarks which could be offensive to the Turkish government, but a message between the lines concerning the ongoing Gezi Park unrest was quite clear: “The mentality of both the Turkish police and judiciary has to change.”
“There is a clear case law from the European court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on how the police should react to peaceful demonstrations. These are our principals which can be also used here. I’m very well aware that there are groups that have been trying to take over and exploit the demonstrations, which also happens in many places in Europe. Nearly always peaceful demonstrations are being exploited by other groups. But one has to try to control this in a way that doesn’t fuel these groups and give them better arguments than necessary,” Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland said, in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News.
US Ambassador optimistic about solution process
US Ambassador Ricciardone who is currently on a tour through the East and Southeast of Turkey visited the province of Diyarbakir and met Governor Cahit Kirac.
Ricciardone said, “I last visited Diyarbakir in the 1990s. I’ve observed a significant change since then. Everybody welcomed us really nice. Everyone is very optimistic and so am I.”
Governor Kirac touched on their friendship and once again welcomed Ricciardone.
Ricciardone also held a meeting with businessmen in Diyarbakir during his visit.
Fenerbahçe out of UEFA for two years, Beşiktaş for one
Fenerbahçe has been banned from European club competition for three seasons — with one deferred — and fellow Turkish side Beşiktaş for one, European football’s governing body said on Tuesday.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) ruling means Fenerbahçe will be barred from next season’s Champions League and Beşiktaş will miss out on the Europa League. Both bans were connected with match fixing that took place in domestic games in 2011.
“Fenerbahçe are excluded from participating in the next three UEFA club competitions for which they would qualify, including the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League. The ban for the third season is deferred for a probationary period of five years,” the UEFA said on its official website.
Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş set to appeal against UEFA ban
Turkish football clubs Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş are to appeal against a UEFA decision to bar the two clubs from European competitions on match-fixing accusations.
UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Committee announced its decision yesterday following last week’s hearings. Beşiktaş was banned from next year’s Europa League, while Fenerbahçe received a two-year ban, with an additional one year possible if a similar infraction is committed within a probationary period of five years.
Restricting social media “never an option”: Turkish communications minister
Turkish government would never consider putting restrictions on the use of social media in the country, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications BINAALI YILDIRIM said.
The government announced in its recent five-year development plan a fortnight ago that it would move to “take measures so as to decrease the harmful effects of social media on families.” YILDIRIM said any measures would serve to prevent social media from becoming an instrument of criminal activity.
“Such issues were encountered quite frequently during Gezi protests,” he said, referring to the opening of numerous fake accounts on social sharing websites with the apparent goal of lending support to the three-week long demonstrations across the country. Government officials contacted many social media outlets and asked them for their cooperation, the minister said. Twitter was among those solicited, but did not welcome the proposal, Yildirim said. “This is important, of course. If you are operating in this country, you should collaborate with the judiciary and security forces in criminal matters. That’s how it works in all countries,” he said.
26.06.2013
SOURCE: MEDIA
We do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.
