Taraf: “Don’t whistle, you’ll be convicted,” the daily said in the headline of its main story yesterday, reporting that a worker, Mahmut Yaşar, from the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, who accompanied slogans chanted in favor of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) by blowing a whistle, was sentenced to one year in prison. The prosecution demanded a jail term of five years during a hearing held at the Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court. The prosecution displayed an opening message on Yaşar’s mobile phone that read “Kurdistan is our homeland,” as evidence of a crime, the daily reported. In the meantime, cases were filed against Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, deputies of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) who were banned from politics after the closure of their party last December. The prosecution is seeking a 45-year jail term for Türk and 70 years for Tuğluk on the grounds that they disseminated propaganda for the PKK.Akşam: “Google cover over İmralı,” the daily said in the headline of its top article yesterday, which reported that Google’s Google Earth program, which aims to show the world street by street, censored İmralı Island in the Marmara Sea where PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan is serving a life sentence. A white cover is seen over all the facilities on the island. It is supposed that the move is aimed to prevent Öcalan from escaping from prison by air. Similarly, buildings anywhere in the world of strategic importance are also blurred by the Google Earth program, the daily said.
Star: “Shield is removed 30 years later,” the daily said in the headline of its lead story yesterday, reporting that a government-initiated reform package will abolish an article in the Constitution that bans any legal action against coup generals. The relevant article, Article 15 of the Constitution, was added by the 1980 coup generals and bans any legal action against them. It is believed to be the biggest obstacle to the trial of coup perpetrators.
