Human rights in Turkey

The government is trying to pay its "debt of gratitude" to Istanbul by protecting its historical and cultural fabric, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said.

"We love this city, which was entrusted to us by Fatih Sultan Mehmet and Ulubatlı Hasan, with all its districts," Erdoğan said on June 16 during a ceremony to reopen the Vaniköy Mosque in Üsküdar following restoration works.

Supporters of imprisoned People's Democratic Party (HDP) presidential candidate Selahattin Demirtas at an election campaign office in Istanbul, June 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/SEDAT SUNA

The Committee of Ministers decided on Thursday that "a document setting out the possible options" for sanctions should be prepared for discussion at the committee's meeting in September.

Çanakkale represents a milestone of a time when the nation, whose history is full of glorious victories, found its genuine identity, regained its vitality, and rose from its ashes just like a phoenix, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on March 18, marking the 108th anniversary of the Çanakkale victory.

 "We will build the Century of Türkiye together. As long as Bursa, the city of industry, trade, agriculture, sea, mountain, green, peace and foundation, stands with us, there is no issue we cannot overcome," President Recep Rayyip Erdoğan said on Jan. 21. 

Hundreds of people gathered in Istanbul on Jan. 19 to mark the death anniversary of Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his office 16 years ago.

Turkey's highest court on Thursday ordered a temporary freeze on the funds of the country's pro-Kurdish party as it mulls whether to disband it over accusations of links to Kurdish militants.

"I wish every member of our nation as well as the whole humanity a year full of peace, serenity, health and welfare in 2023," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in his new year message on Dec. 31. 

Diyarbakır Prison, which has long been associated with cruelty, torture, and inhumane acts after the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup, turns into a museum, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said visiting the southeastern province on Oct. 23.

Former footballer Zafer Biryol, who was wanted for "being a member of an armed terrorist organization," has been caught in an operation against FETÖ's "football structure" in Istanbul's Büyükçekmece district.

He was found to attend the FETÖ's meetings, visit Fethullah Gülen, the ringleader of the organization, in 2006 and have an account in Bank Asya, a FETÖ-linked bank.

Türkiye is no longer an underdeveloped or developing country but a developed nation thanks to its achievements in the past 20 years, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, vowing more actions and policies to turn the country into a center of attraction for the bright brains.