Tag Archive for 'turkey'

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press release group of lawyers: No Political Refugee must be extradited to Turkey

Published on April 16, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .


SOLIDARITY WITH THE TURKISH AND KURDISH POLITICAL REFUGEES AND ACTIVISTS THAT ARE
AT IMMINENT RISK OF EXTRADITION TO TURKEY

NO POLITICAL REFUGEE MUST BE EXTRADITED TO TURKEY

19 APRIL 2013 AT AREIOS PAGOS (09:30 am) – SUPREME COURT ON THE APPLICATIONS FOR THE EXTRADITION OF ZEKI GORBUZ AND COMERT BULENT AYTUNC

The deterioration in the protection of civil, political and social rights and freedoms has been continuing under the current Greek Government, partially due to the economic crisis. Against this background, and following Prime Minister Samaras’ visit to Ankara and the announcement of closer co-operation between the Greek and the Turkish Government, the Greek authorities, which in the past only reluctantly enacted international arrest warrants against Turkish refugees, have over the past two months engaged in a real witch hunt against all those wanted for their political actions in Turkey.
Pursuant to this governmental agreement, the Greek authorities have so far arrested five refugees with a view to extradite them. Their detention continues until today. At least one of them has been deprived of his liberty since 12 February, more than two months. Continue reading ‘press release group of lawyers: No Political Refugee must be extradited to Turkey’

Greece Becomes Outpost in Turkey’s “Anti-Terror” Campaign

Published on April 13, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , .

by Apostolis Fotiadis, published in IPS

ATHENS, Apr 13 2013 (IPS) – Zeki Gorbuz, a Turkish asylum seeker in Greece, who was arrested on Feb. 12, remains detained today due to an international warrant that was transmitted by Turkish authorities to Greece just one day before his asylum interview. Turkish media were quick to report the arrest, describing Gorbuz as a radical leftist and regional leader of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLCP), which has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the Turkish government.

On the same day that Gorbuz was detained, Bulent Aytunc Comert, who arrived in Greece as an asylum seeker in 2002, was also arrested. His request for asylum was approved in 2003 but was never cleared by the ministry of police.

Branded by Turkish authorities as a member of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), Comert is a fugitive. He was imprisoned in the notorious solitary confinement units known as the “White Cells” on what he says was a fabricated murder charge.

“Members of several civil society organisations and student groups [in Turkey] have been put into prison, often on flimsy evidence and based on the anti-terrorism law that can be used to charge pretty much any form of dissent as terrorism.”

Continue reading ‘Greece Becomes Outpost in Turkey’s “Anti-Terror” Campaign’

Political refugees in danger of extradition to Turkey

Published on April 11, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .

Since the last visit of Samaras in Ankara, the Greek authorities have started a witch hunt against Turkish political refugees in Greece. In the beginning of 2013 four asylum seekers living for many years in Greece were arrested following the activation of extradition signals via interpol. All of the arrested are victims of torture and some of them show health problems pointing to their longterm hunger strikes they held inside Turkish prisons. The final decision on their extradition will be taken in April. One of the four is held in prison until the decision. It is very likely that more extradition proceedings will be activated against Turkish refugees in Greece.

read: announcement of the group of lawyers for the rights of migrants and refugees, Athens (in greek)

POLITICAL REFUGEES IN GREECE: VICTIMS OF AN ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
by the movement for freedom and democratic rights

In the recent weeks, Turkish and Kurdish political refugees in Greece are faced with constant prosecutions (arrests, searches at their homes, detentions when they protest in front of the Turkish Embassy). Turkey is activating several extradiction signals, even for refugees who have been in Greece for over a decade, and whose asylum requests are still pending due to the substantially inefficient system of asylum granting. Continue reading ‘Political refugees in danger of extradition to Turkey’

Mounting tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean over migration and asylum: a European problem

Published on January 29, 2013 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Strasbourg, 24.01.2013 – Given the mounting tensions over asylum and irregular migration into Greece, Turkey and other Mediterranean countries, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has underlined the need to rethink responsibilities here and deal with what should be recognised as a European problem and not one confined to a single or a few European States.
Greece, the main entry point for irregular migrants into the EU, and Turkey, the main country of transit, which has taken in 150 000 refugees from Syria, will not be able to resolve their difficulties “without greater solidarity and assistance from the EU and other member states of the Council of Europe”, was the view taken by PACE members during a debate held under urgent procedure in Strasbourg today.
Continue reading ‘Mounting tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean over migration and asylum: a European problem’

The construction of the Evros border fence is completed

Published on December 17, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , , .

10.365 metres of fence of 4 metres height lead now on the land border between Greece and Turkey from Fylakio of Kastanies until the river Evros. The construction that began in May 5th was completed on December 15 and costed 3 million Euro.

kathimerini (in greek)

European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty in the case of Athary v Turkey

Published on December 14, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , .

Athary v. Turkey (no. 50372/09) [Article 5]

The applicant is an Iranian national who applied for asylum in Turkey in 2004. Pending a decision on his application, he was granted a temporary residence permit. In 2007 he was convicted of a drugs offence and sentenced to 18 moths imprisonment. Following his release in December 2008, he was placed in a foreigners’ removal centre from which he only was released when he was granted refugee status in The Netherlands and moved there in April 2010. He complained under Article 5 of the Convention that his detention in the removal centre had been unlawful, that he had not been informed of the reasons thereof and that he had not had an effective remedy at his disposal to challenge the lawfulness of his detention. The Court found violations of Articles 5(1), 5(2) and 5(4).

For the full text of the judgment please click here.

Syrians report push-backs in Evros

Published on December 8, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Syrian refugees ‘turned back from Greek border by police’
Asylum seekers crossing from Turkey say they have been illegally deported by Greek police or blocked from entering

by Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi in Edirne and Athens – Friday 7 December 2012

On the edge of Europe, where the river Evros meanders towards the Aegean sea, a new tragedy involving two of the world’s most troubled peoples is unfolding. On one side of the river border are gathered clusters of Syrian refugees, desperate to escape the misery of war and put the Turkish camps behind them. But beyond the perilous currents lies Greece, a nation so economically bereft it has little time or resources for them.

The Evros has always been a barrier to those seeking asylum in the European Union, but now the surging tide of migrants fleeing Syria faces something new. Refugees, non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers and lawyers have told the Guardian that border forces have been pushing asylum seekers back into their boats and escorting them back back across to the Turkish side.
Continue reading ‘Syrians report push-backs in Evros’

Tragic death of more than 61 sans-papiers in the sea between Turkey and Greece

Published on September 6, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , , , .

At least 61 sans-papiers died when their ship sank near by the coast of Izmir, Turkey. More than 100 persons were trying to reach the Greek coast on that ship but they came into distress at sea in only 50 metres distance from the turkish coast. The fishing boat they were in struck some rocks and began taking on water, sinking soon afterwards. Among the passengers there were reportedly mainly refugees from Syria, Iraq and Kurdistan while the majority were women and children. 43 of them could be saved until now and 61 were found dead (among the dead are at least 20 children).

tv xs (in greek)
hurriyet (in english)

read the press release of Multeci Der

Continue reading ‘Tragic death of more than 61 sans-papiers in the sea between Turkey and Greece’

NEWS: Greece Border Controls Toughened Over Potential Influx Of Syrian Refugees

Published on August 1, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , .

The Huffington Post, 31 march 2012

ATHENS, Greece
Greece is quadrupling the number of guards at its border with Turkey and boosting other defenses in part because of a potential
influx of Syrian refugees, a government minister said Monday.
Greece is the busiest entry point for illegal immigrants trying to reach the European Union. Turkey, meanwhile, is hosting thousands of Syrians who have been fleeing their country’s civil war. Continue reading ‘NEWS: Greece Border Controls Toughened Over Potential Influx Of Syrian Refugees’

Turkey signs deal with EU’s border agency

Published on May 30, 2012 in Uncategorized. Closed Tags: , , , , , .

Turkey has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FRONTEX, the EU’s border management agency, to cooperate against illegal immigration, amid expectations that the EU will soon give the go-ahead for visa liberalization talks with Ankara.
Continue reading ‘Turkey signs deal with EU’s border agency’