Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Turkish actress jailed for role in play supporting conscientious objector

(01.02.2019) A Turkish actress has been sent to prison for five months for “alienating the public from military service” after acting in a theatre adaptation of Russian author Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Overcoat,” Turkish news site T24 reported on Thursday.

Turkey: Investigation Against Association of Conscientious Objection

(11.01.2019) Furkan Çelik, owner of the domain of the Association of Conscientious Objection’s website, has deposed at the Prosecutor’s Office for the charge of “provocative posts intended not to fulfill the military service duty.” An investigation has been launched against the Association of Conscientious Objection (VR-DER) because of the posts shared on social media and the vicdaniret.org website.

IHD Call for the Immediate Release of today detained persons

Turgut Tarhanlı, Betül Tanbay, Çiğdem Mater and Anadolu Kültür Staff detained

(16.11.2018) In the early hours of the morning on 16 November 2018, the Dean of Bilgi University’s Law School Prof. Dr. Turgut Tarhanlı, Prof. Dr. Betül Tanbay of Boğaziçi University, producer and author Çiğdem Mater, and Anadolu Kültür Association staff were taken into custody following raids into their homes. No information could be obtained earlier other than the investigation file was dated back to 2014 but now the content of the investigation is revealed through the information note issued by the Istanbul Police Department.

Silent/Invisible Resistance to Turkish Military

(20.08.2018) At the beginning of March 2018, Ahmet Alcan declared his desertion from the Turkish army, becoming the only person to publicly announce their refusal to take part in the war in Afrin. Ahmet left the army just three days before his deployment. “Together with me two other soldiers were called up. It seems that they have to take part in the operation in Afrin. The soldiers don’t want to go but they are forced to.” Turkish authorities have announced that only professional soldiers have been deployed in Syria during the military operation, but human rights activists and other sources report that conscripts were also sent to Syria.