Turkey: Court Rules in Favour of Armenian Foundations’ Property Rights

Hurriyet, 9 January 2023: Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that two Armenian foundations had their property rights violated by the refusal of the request to return their properties, which the Treasury had taken over.

The properties of Samandağ Vakıflı Village Orthodox Church and Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital had been confiscated and transferred to the Treasury.

The Constitutional Court ruled that the confiscation of the foundations’ property violated the right of property guaranteed in the constitution and ordered a retrial.

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Turkey: New Regulations Announced for Outdoor Music Activities

Hurriyet, 4 January 2023: Turkey’s Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Ministry has announced new regulations stipulating that music events in stadiums, parks, squares and other concert and festival areas can be organised for a maximum of five consecutive days with the hours of activity limited between 10 AM and 1 AM.

Public concerts and music festivals lasting longer than five days can be held by obtaining permission from the provincial directorate of the ministry.

Under the regulations, workplaces and marine vehicles which organise music activities must obtain a license valid for three years.

Workplaces that are fined three times for violating sound level limits will not be able to obtain the license for two years.

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Turkey: New Law Means Up to Three Years in Prison for Spreading Disinformation

Hurriyet, 14 October 2022: The Turkish parliament has adopted a new law containing wide-ranging provisions to issue criminal penalties for those accused of spreading disinformation. The provisions cover domestic journalism as well as social media. 

The crime of “publicly disseminating misleading information to the public” has been defined and added as a new article to the Turkish Penal Code. 

Anyone accused of publicly disseminating “false information about the internal and external security, public order and general health of the country, in a way that is disturbing the public peace, with the sole motive of creating anxiety, fear or panic among the public” faces one to three years in prison. 

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Turkey: New Rules for Taxi Drivers Announced

Hurriyet Daily News, 20 October 2021: Turkey’s Interior Ministry has announced it has issued a booklet to taxi drivers in 81 provinces in the country.

It has been issued following increases in complaints about taxi drivers in cities.

The bilingual booklet contains 12 rules taxi drivers should comply with.

It will be placed on taxi stands and in the back of vehicles so passengers can easily access it.

Divers must only work in regions permitted by the municipality.

They should not smoke or listen to music loudly in their vehicles.

They should wear a face mask and comply with social distancing rules.

They should open the taximeter at the start of the trip and no extra fees will be imposed on passengers other than the taximeter or toll fee.

Drivers cannot refuse to drive passengers short distances.

They should also not favour tourists over locals.

In addition, they should take the shortest route unless a passenger asks for another way, propose the shortest option if a passenger does not know the route and not interfere in dialogue for other routes.

Finally, drivers should obey the traffic rules and act to protect public peace.

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Turkey: Paris Climate Agreement Ratified

Hurriyet Daily News, 7 October 2021: Turkey’s Parliament has ratified the Paris Climate Agreement.

It was referred to the Parliament last month.

It was unanimously approved yesterday.

The relevant legislation has been published in the Official Gazette and it came into force on its published date.

They become the last G20 country to ratify it.

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Turkey: Paris Climate Agreement to be Submitted to Parliament Next Month

Hurriyet Daily News, 22 September 2021: Turkey’s President has announced the Government will submit the Paris Climate Agreement to Parliament next month.

The Government want to ratify the Agreement before the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in November.

Turkey signed the Agreement in April 2016.  However, they have been lobbying to be classed as a developing rather than developed country.

This would mean they wouldn’t have to cut their emissions as dramatically.

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Turkey: Prosecutor Launches Probe Into Help Turkey Social Media Posts

Hurriyet, 5 August 2021: The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a probe into social media posts that asked for foreign help with the hashtag Help Turkey following wildfires in the country.

In a statement on 5 August 2021, the prosecutor’s office argued that the posts were trying to show the country as ‘incapable’ and had ‘attempted to create panic, fear and concern among the public.

It was stated as a result of an examination, it had been determined that some individuals and groups were trying to create anxiety, fear and panic among the people and humiliate the Turkish state and government through real or bot accounts.

It was stated the accounts had disseminated what was described as ‘unreal content’ on the fires and tried to create an environment of ‘chaos by provoking social media users who were sensitive about the subject’.

It was added by the Prosecution that the same accounts had been previously been used by terrorist organisations.

It was said that it had been decided that there was visual and written content that had negatively affected the morale and motivation of public officials and volunteers fighting the fires by putting allegations and news (which were said to be without a basis) into circulation, causing the people in the region to despair, and were intended to show the state was incapable of fighting the fire which constituted a crime.

The prosecutor has drawn up charges of ‘insulting a public employee’, ‘insulting the president’, insulting the government, ‘causing concern, fear and panic among the public’; and ‘inciting hatred and enmity’.

Instructions have been given to carry out the necessary technical analysis in order to identify the real individuals who have participated in the crime; by coordinating fake accounts and circulating the posts which contained the ‘criminal elements’. News investigations will begin if a crime is detected.

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