There is no freedom of expression for atheists! The use of technology for bad purposes must be displayed The “Bulb Tayyip” slogan got another prosecution Tear gas bomb for protestors in Gezi Park Police violence against female reporter Censorship claim to stockings advertisement in University BDP’s didn’t get supported with their “Public Iniative” proposal Prime Minister Erdogan: If you wanna drink go home and drink at home

1. Think, think…
Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin(Issue
22/13, 31 May 2013)
There is no freedom of expression for atheists!
People of “A group of Atheists” had protested the ordered imprisonment of Sevan Nisanyan by
releasing a communiqué. It is told that the communiqué has been written in order to draw
attention to juridical and intellectual distortion and double standard.
It includes statements like “if the insults and injustices against atheists are not considered as
crime on the ground that it is not a close and real danger for atheists – which is not the case
because people who do not fasten are beaten or teachers who are teaching evolution theory are
subject to oppression and the actions are becoming stronger following the statements against the
atheists-, then, how one can claim that what Fazıl Say, Sevan Nişanyan or some other bloggers’
words are creating a close and real danger for believers?”...
The use of technology for bad purposes must be
displayed
The attention is drawn to the use of technology for bad purposes in the workshop of “Ensuring

2. Respect of Freedom of Expression” which took place within the forum of "Political Transitions
from a Human Rights Perspective: Experiences and Challenges" taking place within the
framework of 38th International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Congress. Lawyer Şirin
Ebadi, winner of Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, told about the fight which was going on against the
DPI-Deep Packet Inspection technology which was sold by Nokia Siemens to spy on the
opposition in Iran. Ebadi underlined the fact that human rights could not be sacrificed for
commercial benefits. She said:
“One of our journalist friends used his cell phone to tell us that he was fine while he was hiding
outside the city. After that, the government used this technology to catch him and he was tortured
and condemned to six years of prison. This incident sparked off widespread protests. Nokia
Siemens as a firm released a statement to the press emphasizing the fact that the government of
Iran was using the technology to limit the freedom of expression and to make the opposition shut
up. They made it clear in the statement that they wouldn’t sell this technology in Iran anymore as
it was used to hinder human rights. It was a victory of Iranians. Unfortunately this technology is
provided from China now. That’s why we should fight against this technology that is used to
listen the cell phones and read the e-mails of the citizens. We must display the companies that
are selling these technologies. Human rights cannot be broken for commercial benefits.
The “Bulb Tayyip” slogan got another prosecution
In Bursa, students from the ‘Liseli Genç Umut/Young Hope High School Students” group
rejecting the matriculation system, protested on March 25th for a university without
matriculation. Students chanted “Bulb Tayyip” slogans during their march towards the province
centre of AKP (Justice and Development Party). After the protest, the investigations have started
for 16 high school student, one university student, and another university student only watching
the protest, reporter of the sendika.org alongside another two people who were not involved in
the protest. As a result of the investigation, 17 people, out of whom 15 of them being high school
students have been sued with “insult against a public officer due to the performance of his public
duty” allegation.
After the prosecution, Liseli Genç Umut/Young Hope High School Students group made a
public statement saying “AKP has been trying to suppress the uprising of the youth with various
different means of restraints and intimidation methods. These prosecutions and investigations are
some of these.” The aforementioned slogan has been the reason of other prosecutions before.
Lastly, 7 students from the Liseli Genç Umut/Young Hope high school students group have been
prosecuted for the usage of this slogan.

3. Tear gas bomb for protestors in Gezi Park
Police intervened with teargas bombs 2 days in a row at 5am in the morning in an attempt to
disperse the protestors who were staying overnight in Gezi Park. The protests began on a small
scale over redevelopment plans for the park to make way for the rebuilding of an Ottoman-era
barracks, reportedly to house a shopping centre. The first day, teargas bombs pushed the group
off the park and alleged city hall employees burned down their tents. The firemen extinguished
the fire over tents. The press members were affected by teargas, too. The second day, again
police used teargas bombs and water cannon towards hundreds of people including deputies and
artists. Dr; Hüseyin Demirdizen from Istanbul Medical Chamber stated that 6 persons in under
intensive care due to head trauma. The journalist Ahmet Şık is hit by teargas bomb and is taken
to the Taksim First Aid Hospital.
After the pushing the protestors off the Park, the construction machines started to work. Some
protestors came in to stop it. The clashes between them and the police continued. And finally the
demolition has been stopped by BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Istanbul deputy Sıtkı
Süreyya Önder as he placed himself in front of the dozers at 7.50 am. Again, the police put the
protestors out of the park on 31st of May.
The incidents have been going on. The police intervened again in crowds as they had gathered
together to do a press release.

4. Police violence against female reporter
Dicle News Agency (DIHA) reporter Mütha Çetin has been taken into custody trying to capture
the images of a traffic police officer engaging in violence against a woman. After her statement
has been taken, she was released in late night. She took an assault report and filed a complaint
against the police. Cetin, cited that a traffic police officer was arguing with a driver on Şişli
Elmadağ direction, after the driver ran off to the alleys, the police officer engaged in violence
against the woman from a foreign nationality in the middle of the street. Cetin said, she wanted
to shoot the violence with her mobile phone but got assaulted by the police and obstructed from
retrieving any images.
Censorship claim to stockings advertisement in
University
In Davutpaşa campus of Yıldız Technical University, security personnel have covered the
billboards with ads of stockings using paper. Students, who photographed the incident, have
published the related photos in the student forum. Dean İsmail Yüksek has a statement following
the reactions to the incident and has denied the censorship allegations with the following
explanation:
“I don’t understand why all these people turned the billboard incident into a national issue in
between the finals. When this university and the country have many problems and when we are
trying to resolve these problems, the interest in this billboard seems only like a provocation. If
we wanted to censor the commercial, we wouldn’t have covered it with paper; we would have
opened the billboard with its key and remove the ad.”

5. BDP’s didn’t get supported with their “Public
Iniative” proposal
During the meeting of TBMM Committee on constitution (AYK), BDP (Peace and Democracy
party)’s proposal of ‘public law proposal’ and ‘changes in the constitution’ to open the way of
proposals on behalf of 300 thousand of electorate has been discussed. The general criticism “It’s
always Kurdish people who are making proposals of law” became the main topic of the
discussions. AKP, CHP (Republican People's Party) and MHP (Nationalist Movement Party)
didn’t support the proposal of “People Initiative” of BDP. The proposal mentioned is as below:
“With the signature of 300 thousand registered electorate people are allowed to submit public
law proposal or change in the Constitution. This public law proposal and the change in the
Constitution cannot be in disaccord with the general international law, cannot have clauses
against the human rights acquisitions, cannot embrace clauses regressing the fundamental rights
and freedoms and must carry the basic conditions of legal rule making. The law proposals,
which are not respecting these conditions, will be ignored. The acceptance of the law proposal
of People Initiative requires the simple majority of The Grand National Assembly of Turkey
(TBMM). The acceptance of proposal of change in the Constitution requires the votes 2/3 of
majority of the deputies of The Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Those who support the
proposal of law should be present as representatives during the meetings in TBMM. In the case
of rejection of law proposal by TBMM, TBMM is obligated to hold a plebiscite. If accepted, the
proposal becomes legal.”

6. Yara Abbas
Journalists killed in Syria and Pakistan
The woman journalist Yara Abbas has been killed by a sniper in Syria. A reporter, Ahmed Ali
Joiya has been shot dead in a street in Pakistan. According to local newspapers, Joiya had
received threats from Maqbool (Kooli Sassi), a known criminal and he had been coordinating
with the local police on a crime story.
According to Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) 51 journalists has been killed so far in 2013.
Prime Minister Erdogan: If you wanna drink go home
and drink at home
Erdoğan was addressing his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputies at a weekly
meeting about the criticisms on the law which introduced strict restrictions on the consumption
and the sale of alcoholic beverages that was approved by Parliament on Friday 24th
of May.
Even if the consumption of alcoholic beverages is 1,5 liter (3 beers) per person a year, Erdoğan
claimed that the alcoholic beverages are the cause of lot of problems as domestic violence and
traffic accidents. He added that for 200 years an imitated life style and thus alcoholic beverages
are imposed on younger generations.

7. “No one should make alcohol a matter of identity. The regulation does not interfere with
anyone’s lifestyle. If you are going to drink [alcohol], then drink your alcohol in your house. We
are not against this. But we are not allowing this in certain places and at certain hours and within
100 meters of mosques and schools. There are some countries that are not allowing sales of
alcoholic beverages within 180 meters of churches. I want to repeat it; it is a regulation not a
ban. It is not an interference with lifestyles” he said.
CHP filed a criminal complaint for Reyhanlı
‘The Prime Minister targetted Alevi citizens’
Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Deputy Chair Sezgin Tanrıkulu, Malatya Deputy Veli
Ağbaba and Istanbul Deputy Melda Onur have filed a criminal complaint to Ankara Courthouse
against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Internal Affairs’ Minister Muammer Güler
for the citizens who were killed after the explosions that took in place in Reyhanlı. Their
criminal complaint states as following;
“The suspect Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continuously provokes and encourages in
an evident way the people to hatred and hostility by associating our Alevi citizens to what is
going on in Syria. However, our Alevi citizens do not have any connection or interest in what is
going on in Syria. During the weekly meeting with the deputies of his Justice and Development
Party (AKP) on 14th
May 2013, he was alleging our party CHP -that we are proud to be a
member of - to support the Prime Minister of Syria Beşar Esad and he was blaming us to
provoke our Alevi citizens against what was going on in Reyhanlı. With his statement the suspect
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been trying to make out of Alevi citizens who are always sincerely
supporting our party and thus our party a target for the rest of the society.”
After the explosions, The Prime Minister Erdoğan said, “ The chief Deputy of CHP called the
legal demands of people in Syria a “terror”, started provocations against the refugees and
supported the tyrannical Esad. CHP’s attitude is not impartial. CHP took side of a tyrannical
dictator…They were delegated to meet Esad and unfortunately they planned the incidents in
Reyhanlı, we have evidences.”