Freedom House is appalled by the arrests of 20 Turkish journalists during police raids December 20, and calls for their immediate release. Among those arrested were journalist Sevinç Tuncelli from the pro-Kurdish DiHA, Çağdaş Ulus from Vatan and Mustafa Özer from Agence France Presse.
Turkish professor Busra Ersanli and publisher and human rights activist Ragip Zarakolu were arrested on October 28 as part of a government operation against the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK), an organization banned by the Turkish government for its alleged connections to the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK).
In an effort to gain admittance to the European Union and comply with its pressure to eliminate legislation targeting religious minorities, Turkey will compensate non-Muslim minorities and return property lost since 1936, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The announcement to return stolen property to Greek, Jewish and Armenian groups - including schools, hospitals, cemeteries and orphanages- comes despite parliamentary opposition to the decree. Minorities will receive financial compensation in the event the property was stolen or seized.
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