Private Şener in Şırnak and sergeant Aktaş in Hakkari in south-eastern Turkey died of explosives on May 8.According to an announcement of the General Staff, the explosives were placed by the militant PKK. Another 2 soldiers died in an armed conflict on 7 May.

Lawyer of Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper journalist Kurşun, Serhat Eren, demanded to recuse a judge from a Diyarbakır court; the request will be decided on 13 May. Azadiya Welat correspondent Sayan from Van was released.

According to the BİA Media Monitoring report, 216 journalists, writers, publishers, caricaturists, politicians and citizens were tried for their thoughts; journalists Kurşun and Güler are in prison. 5 journalists were attacked, fines imposed by the ECHR increased by 100 percent...

Journalists Aktan and Erol face imprisonment under charges of "spreading PKK propaganda" by reason of the article "Weather Conditions in the Region and in Qandil" published in the Express magazine. The journalists refer to the "public's right to be informed".

Amendments of the articles related to penalties for civil servants, military jurisdiction and the reorganization of the supervision of judges and prosecutors and the Constitutional Court have passed through the Turkish Grand National Assembly on 5 May.

After incidents of multiple child abuse recently emerged in the south-eastern city of Siirt, criticism rose regarding the Regional Primary Boarding Schools. Zübeyde Kılıç from the teachers union talked to bianet about the problematic situations at the schools.

The lawyers of the murder case of Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink sue Istanbul Deputy Governor Güran because he did not let the lawyers have a copy of the inspectors' preliminary investigation report. The coming hearing of the Dink murder case is on 10 May.

19 of the 20 defendants face aggravated prison sentences of at least 15 years each under charges of "aggravated sexual abuse" in the case of sexual abuse and harassment of 9 girls over the duration of 2 years in the south-eastern province of Siirt.

The Erzurum 2nd High Criminal Court rejected the application for lack of jurisdiction regarding Ergenekon defendant Chief Prosecutor Cihaner. The court decided that permission from the Ministry of Justice is not needed for the prosecution of 3 MIT officials.

According to the Media Association, 'unfortunately, many journalists are on trial in Turkey, and the suits result in monetary fines or prison sentences. The improved economic performance is not reflected in the development of press freedom'.

The article that should make it more difficult to shut down a political party was dropped from the constitutional reform package. With 327 votes it did not pass the threshold of 330 votes, though the ruling AK Party held a total of 335 votes.

Members of the G-9 Journalists Organizations Platform applied to the Ankara Public Chief Prosecution on World Press Day to find out whether their phones are being wiretapped. According to journalist Tılıç, eavesdropping has increased and journalism is seen as a "dangerous work".

Chief of General Staff Gen. Başbuğ said that 'even the press during the armistice was not as treacherous' as a certain part of today's press in Turkey. Tarf newspaper responded, "The real traitor is the one who leaves children to die".

According to the annual report of the Turkish rights organizations İHD and TİHV for 2009, 36 people died in prison, 6 in detention, 61 were shot by village guards, 36 died for ignoring the police's "stop warning". 50 soldiers and 91 armed militants died in conflicts.

The "Purple Roof" Women's Shelter Foundation pointed out that one out of four children is exposed to sexual abuse: "In order to prevent child abuse we have to accept the fact that it mostly happens within the family; silent witnesses should be mobilized".

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Helsinki Citizens Assembly and other national and international NGOs appreciate the work bianet has accomplished throughout the past ten years, particularly bianet's contribution to the struggle for human rights and freedom of expression.

For the first time in 32 years, Taksim Square was open to the public for a celebration of the labour movement and a call for more rights.

An Istanbul High Criminal Court has accepted the indictment on the "Action Plan against Reactionary Forces". The first hearing is on 28 June.

Filiz Karakuş, Necla Akgökçe, Yıldız Ay and Nilgün Yurdalan call for the acknowledgement of male hegemony on Labour Day.

The Chamber of Architects warns that a third Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul would also affect Thrace and the Southern Marmara region negatively.