Amendments to Articles 10 and 42 of the constitution were passed in the first round of debates and votes yesterday. The second round of votes is on Saturday.

RSF joins the International Press Institute and the Cartoonists’ Rights Network International in their condemnation of the planned prosecution of two cartoonists.

The demonstrators who had set out from Diyarbakir to Sirnak in order to protest against cross-border operations spent the night at Cudi Mountain.

After an explosion in an illegal fireworks factory killed 23 workers and injured over a hundred people, trade unions and professional associations reminded the Minister of Employment of his duties.

The BIA² 2007 Media Monitoring Report reveals that there are still countless violations of press freedom across the country. There were also more attacks on journalists in 2007 than in the previous year, with the shocking murder of Hrant Dink still fresh in everyone's mind.

After a fire in a building in Germany killed nine Turks, five of them children, there have been suspicions that the building was set fire to deliberately.

With the support of the Council of Europe and the EU Commission, Turkey is launching a two-year anti-corruption programme.

An Istanbul court dropped the case against Hrant Dink’s lawyer Erdal Dogan for writing that nationalist lawyer Fuat Turgut should be tried for threatening Hrant Dink.

A march against cross-border operations in Northern Iraq, organised by the pro-Kurdish DTP, was sent off by some 20 thousand people in Diyarbakir. Convoy joining from Istanbul was held up after constant searches.

An Internet campaign of academics supporting the freedom to wear a headscarf at university has been signed by 2,252 university lecturers so far.

After questioning the expenditure of a district governor in the Devrek district of Zonguldak, journalist Ibrahim Tig faced a five-year trial. He was acquitted on 30 January.

I am not scared of girls with headscarves. The bigots and sect members should be scared of their girls going to free universities.

Yesterday, the European Commission's Turkey Delegation organised a panel on democracy and human rights, where academics and the chair of the Prime Ministerial Human Rights Presidency discussed the current state of Turkey.

Trade Unionist Celik says that 600 inspectors work for the Ministry of Employment to inspect 750,000 workplaces and accuses the government of turning a blind eye.

In reaction to the prospect of the headscarf being allowed at university, tens of thousands of people gathered at Atatürk’s mausoleum in Ankara on Saturday.

Both the International Press Institute and the Cartoonists' Rights Network have protested against preliminary proceedings against cartoonists Kart and Temocin who stand accused of insulting the President.

At the first hearing of the eight soldiers taken hostage and then released by the PKK, the court decided to release them all pending trial. After more than two months, the soldiers are reunited with their families.

The annual Human Rights Watch Report on Turkey is pessimistic about developments. The report condemns freedom of speech violations, harassment of the DTP, violence against minorities and civilians.

After courts in Ankara and Sivas blocked access to the international video-sharing website in mid-January, a court in Izmir blocked access to the site again yesterday. The ban has now been lifted.

An explosion in an illegal firework production complex has killed twenty people and injured 117. The factory owners have disappeared. Trade unions have accused employers and the government of "work murders."