The Deputies

1. noted with satisfaction the decision given on 4 June 2012 by the Eskişehir Military Court to lift the arrest warrant against the applicant for desertion;

2. invited the Turkish authorities to provide a copy of the decision in question, together with an assessment of its impact on the applicant’s current situation, in particular as to whether the applicant is still subject to further prosecution or conviction and whether he can exercise his civic rights without hindrance;

This time we have a couple of brief updates to Noam Gur, Armo Naffa and that IDF is searching for refusers.

War Resisters’ International is concerned about the recent arrest of Juma Nazarov, a Jehovah’s Witness, for his conscientious objection to military service. Juma Nazarov, 19, is facing prosecution after refusing military service on grounds of religious faith.

Conscientious objection, which started 200 years ago in other parts of the world, has only now become visible in Turkey. But the history of the Ottoman empire, with its myth of "the prophets army", and the history of the Republic of Turkey, with it’s myth that "every Turk is born a soldier", is actually full of stories of individual and collective evasion of military service, as if making fun of these very myths. My family history is also full of these stories. My grandfather Ali lived 7 years escaping the draft. He escaped from the military many times. In my grandfathers time there was no conscientious objector movement but he knew to act according to his conscience. I took a different path. Like other conscientious objectors, I declared my refusal to kill and be killed openly as a conscientious objector.

On Sunday the 29th of April, Noam Gur, was sentenced for additional 10 days in prison for her refusal to enlist. This is her second consecutive prison term. She is held in military prison no. 6, and is due to be released from prison on May 7th. However, she is likely to be imprisoned again soon afterwards.