European Council on Foreign Relations member Dimitar Bechev is in Turkey to work on a report entitled “What does Turkey think?”. Bechev in this context held official talks in Diyarbakýr and visited ÝHD Diyarbakir Branch. Welcomed by the Branch Secretary Raci Bilici and Branch Administrator Lawyer Keziban Yýlmaz, Bechev drew information from ÝHD authorities about human rights violations in the region.

Speaking during the visit, ÝHD Branch Secretary Raci Bilici stated they recently disclosed the Violations of Right in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Region 2010 report, saying there is a serious increase in abuses of right in the region, as the report revealed. Bilici mentioned that the deadlock in Kurdish problem leads to violations of human rights as well, for that reason the problem needs to reach a solution on the basis of peace as immediate as possible.

Bilici expressed that the AKP (Justice and Development Party) government has adopted an intention that restricts freedoms under the name of reform, noting that the operations carried out against Kurdish politicians and human rights defenders and the proceeding against them in this process are the most obvious evidences of the situation.

Translation: Berna Ozgencil