Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Turkey: Protection from Afar

How to Support People in Turkey and Visitors to Turkey in Cases of Persecution and Arbitrary Arrest

(02.09.2020) This booklet provides insights and advice about how to respond to cases of persecution and/or threats to the safety and security of human rights defenders. It also speaks to those issues as they apply to other nonviolent activists in Turkey and to people who are not politically organized.

Protective accompaniment from afar means providing protection without being physically present in the country. It looks at what local people can do – particularly activists or friends of the persecuted. And it looks at what international supporters can do to help them.

Available: order the printed version, download pdf-file or eBook

Amnesty International Greece: One idea, different messages from Eastern Mediterranean

Video on YouTube channel Refuse to Kill

(17.05.2020) Gina, Costas, Dimitrakakis, Murat, Hüseyin, Merve, Hillel and Yuval are speaking about their conscientious objection in both part of Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Palestine and Greece.

Mertcan Güler and his boss, Turkey/Germany: We both reject to go to army

Video on YouTube channel Refuse to Kill

(15.05.2020) Hello comrades. I’m here with my boss. He has a Kiosk. I’m his worker actually. And we both reject to go to army. And we both have different reasons for that.

Merve Arkun, Turkey: Conscientious objection: anti-war action and rejection of male-dominated codes

Video on YouTube channel Refuse to Kill

(15.05.2020) Hello. I’m Merve. I am one of the female conscientious objectors in Turkey. My justification for clarifying conscientious objection is also directly related to the denial of gender roles and the rejection of male dominance in social life. Unfortunately, the women here feel the full burden of the war in economic, political and social terms, as a result of the fact that the geography we live in is a geography of war. So an act of conscientious objection is both an anti-war action for women and a highly valuable one for the rejection of male-dominated codes within society. (...)