★ According to Associated Press, masked US Department of Homeland Security agents detained Rumeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student at Tufts University.

  Hundreds of people gathered in Somerville, Massachusetts to protest the detention and asking for Öztürk's release.

  Congressman Ayanna Presley, a Democrat, called the arrest a horrifying violation of the student' s constitutional rights to due process and free speech. Andrea Joy Campbell, Massachusetts Attorney General, called the video disturbing. She set the agents targeted at law-abiding individual for her political views.

  According to the daily The Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the detention of Öztürk on Tuesday.

  "We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campus. We've given you a visa, and you decide to do that we're going to take it away," Rubio said. So far there is no evidence surfaced that Ms. Öztürk participated in any violent activity.

  Her lawyer filed a petition in the Boston federal court for her release, and the US District Judge issued an order given the government until Friday to answer why district was being detained and not to remove Öztürk from the state, but news came out saying that she was flown to Louisiana. Department of Homeland Security said that the US government canceled her visa.

  Read the details >> here <<

★ According to the British daily The Guardian, Turkish TV avoids any coverage of mass street protests. Analysts say the government side shows the unrest as disinformation.

  Outside well-funded pro-government networks, only a few independent newspapers and channels gave the news of the protests.

  Also, in midweek, RTÜK, Turkey's government media watchdog, banned the live broadcasts of the protests. Later in the week, it doled out hefty financial penalties and closures to some of the independent TVs.

★ With the arrival of a religious holiday, the opposition called off the protests. However, they said they would continue.

  Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the "show" will end.

  On March 25, Australian Broadcast Corporation wrote, "Turkish protesters have vowed to continue marching until Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu is released, as demonstrations entered their seventh night across the country. The authorities currently hold the Turkish president's rival in custody on charges of corruption and fraud. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned protesters were on a path toward a 'dead end.'"

  On March 27, Deutsche Welle reported that following six straight nights of protests in cities across Turkey, authorities have detained 1,879 people since the demonstrations began last Wednesday, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.

  Minister Yerlikaya added that 150 police officers were injured during the unrest and claimed that some of the detainees had past criminal records or alleged links to banned groups.

  In Ankara, the Turkish capital, police dispersed a student demonstration at Middle East Technical University early Thursday using water cannons, tear gas, and plastic bullets.

  Students had gathered to read a statement but were blocked by police and eventually surrounded. Some used dumpsters as makeshift shields until police moved in to detain them.

  Video footage showed opposition lawmaker Melih Meriç from the Republican People's Party soaked in water and affected by tear gas.

  "My student friends only wanted to make a press statement, but the police strictly did not allow it. This is the result," Meriç said in a post on social media.

  On Saturday, protests resumed again. In Istanbul's Maltepe, millions gathered to protest President Erdoğan's administration.

★ Erdoğan's administration targeted journalists, also.

  "We deplore the arrests of journalists and shutdown of social media accounts," said European Commission spokesman Guillaume Mercier on Thursday after Turkish authorities allegedly asked social media platform X to block over 100 user accounts.

  On March 27, after police detained him and labeled him a threat to public order, Turkey deported Mark Lowen, a British correspondent for BBC covering the anti-government protests. Rights groups condemned the detention and deportation of the reporter.

  Mark Lowen said he liked Istanbul very much and lived there in the past for five years, and it was extremely distressing for him to be detained and deported. Read the details >> here <<

  Dagens ETC, a Swedish newspaper, announced that Turkish authorities arrested Joakim Medin, their foreign news reporter. The publication reported that Turkish officials had not yet brought charges against him.

  Turkey ranks 158th out of 180 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

  Read the details >> here <<

★ On March 28, the New York Times published an article by Ekrem İmamoğlu, which he wrote from his jail cell.

  In the article titled "I am the Turkish president's main challenger. I was arrested," Mr. İmamoğlu said that President Erdoğan realized he could not defeat him at the ballot box and resorted to other means to eliminate him as an opponent.

  He added: "This is more than the slow erosion of democracy. It is the deliberate dismantling of our republic's institutional foundations. "

  He concluded, "The survival of democracy in Turkey is crucial not just for its people but also for the future of democracy worldwide."

  The full article is >> here <<

★ On March 27, the Deutsche Welle wrote that the Turkish economy took a battering after İmamoğlu's arrest.

  The news of the arrest last week triggered heavy losses in Turkey's capital markets, as many investors appear to be losing confidence in the presidency of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

  Observers agree that this development could become a significant problem for Erdoğan. In recent years, Turkish investors have turned to the stock market to protect their wealth from high inflation, which is hovering around 39 percent this month, but independent scholars put it at 79.5 percent.

  On the positive side, Deutsche Welle added that there is no serious concern for Turkey's booming tourism.

  Data from BloombergHT shows money market funds suffered the most significant losses, with $17 billion flowing out in local currency. The impact was stark: a 40% reduction in fund size, plummeting from $37.9 billion on March 18 in just ten days.

★ According to the New York Times, after the Istanbul mayor's arrest, the opposition wants Turks to boycott companies that back Mr. Erdoğan.

  There was a website to coordinate the boycott until the government shut it down. It listed the names and logos of 20 companies. Among them are TV channels, a coffee chain whose owners are close to Mr. Erdoğan's Justice and Development Party, and a tour company owned by the tourism minister.

  Mr. Erdoğan criticized the boycott and said the opposition is trying to damage the economy.

★ After the Protest rallies started following the arrest of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Istanbul governor banned all meetings, demonstrations, and press releases. the Istanbul governor banned all meetings, demonstrations, and press releases.

  The ban affected the art world also.

  The press conferences for the 44th Istanbul Film Festival, "Samih Rifat: Much Work to Do" and "Marcel Dzama: Dancing with the Moonlight" exhibitions at the Pera Museum were canceled.

  Istanbul Modern executives said, "The opening ceremony of our exhibition 'Ömer Uluç: Beyond the Horizon,' planned for Thursday, March 20, 2025, has been postponed to a later date. The exhibition will open to visitors as of March 21, 2025".

★ According to the magazine ArtDog Istanbul, the wave of arrests that targeted the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality included the arrest of two prominent figures that promoted art: Mahir Polat, Deputy Secretary General of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and Murat Abbas from Culture Inc. are both under arrest.

  When he was the head of the Cultural Heritage Department in 2019, Mahir Polat led the Miras/Heritage project dedicated to preserving Istanbul's rich historical and cultural legacy.

  The project restored 66 monumental and architectural structures, established 21 new museums and cultural spaces, preserved 34 public artworks, protected 197 registered fountains and 588 historical graves, and renovated 19 historic shrines.

  Murat Abbas made culture and art accessible to everyone in Istanbul through various initiatives. Under his leadership, Culture Inc. worked to blend contemporary museology with technology, ensuring that historic sites are both preserved and reimagined for future generations.

  It restored and modernized museums, started Taksim Sanat, a public cultural and art space in the heart of Istanbul, hosted various exhibitions, and brought art to the public in one of the city's most iconic locations.

  The Istanbul Bookstore expanded its reach by adding new branches in the city's most central locations, making books more accessible to Istanbul residents and visitors.

  It established Festival Park Kadıköy as a multidisciplinary outdoor event space that reflects the dynamism and excitement of the city.

  It launched Radar, a mobile app, to provide a platform for all cultural and artistic events in Istanbul.

  Read the details at the ArtDog Istanbul site >> here <<

★ The exhibition "Reaching for the World," which opened at Kasa Gallery in Istanbul, focuses on the human effort to transcend boundaries and connect with the environment while exploring the concept of "home," reports the ArtDog Istanbul magazine.

  The exhibition features artists Özge Enginöz and Gözde Mulla.

★ On August 23, The Second Commagene Land and River Art Biennial will open in Kâhta, a district in Turkey's Eastern province of Adıyaman.

  As Turkey's only biennial focused on river and land art, this year's edition, "Fragile Alliance," is a significant platform for questioning the relationship between nature and humans.

Read more >> here <<

★ Headlines in the art world:

  - Turkish artist Zeyno Pekünlü's first solo exhibition, "Perfect Loop," opened at DIANA NEW YORK. The show features the video Perfect Loop alongside a sound installation and works on paper, exploring themes of repetition, stagnation, and collective memory. Read more >> here <<

  - Filiz Akın, a Turkish movie star icon, died at 82. She starred in more than 200 movies between 1962 and 1975.

  - The mixed exhibition titled "My Fairy Tale," which merges storytelling and visual art, has opened at Ruzy Gallery.

• Abrahamm Creative Studio
• Gülin Karabacak
• Kemal Özen
• Nina Murashkina
• Pamir Yıldıran
• Sinan Çınar
• Simay Bahçıvan
• Vildan Hoşbak
• Xavier Escala

  - Tomur Atagök, a painter, academic, and founder of academic museology education in Turkey, passed away at age 86.

★ Restoration experts from Turkey repaired an early 20th-century Turkish Hereke carpet in the Peace Palace in the Hague in the Netherlands.

  The Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid the Second gifted the carpet to the palace.

  It weighs nearly 1400 pounds and has over 13 million Turkish carpet knots. It is the largest Hereke carpet outside of Turkey.

  The restoration took one year.

★ Archaeological excavations at Tadım Fortress and Tadım Mound (Tadım Höyük), located within the borders of Tadım Village in Turkey's Eastern province of Elazığ, continue to uncover significant findings that illuminate the region's history.

  The excavations conducted by the Elazığ Archaeology and Ethnography Museum revealed numerous artifacts dating back to the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages.

  Among the discoveries are twelve Karaz pottery pieces dating to 4000-3000 BCE, a painted pot adorned with mountain goat motifs from 3200 BCE, and two unique sacred hearths featuring bull decorations dating back to 4000-3000 BCE.

  The sacred hearths, estimated to be 6,000 years old, provide crucial insights into the region's religious beliefs and social life. Archaeologists believe that during ancient times, when fire was considered sacred, people used these hearths in religious rituals.

Ankara, in central Turkey        : 66/45 Thunderstorms
Antalya, on the Mediterranean    : 61/55 Thunderstorms
Erzurum, in Eastern Turkey       : 59/37 Thunderstorms
Istanbul, in northwestern Turkey : 66/50 Thunderstorms
Izmir, on the Aegean             : 70/54 Thunderstorms
Trabzon, on the Black Sea        : 63/54 Thunderstorms

Erciyes in Kayseri, Central Turkey      : 12 inches
Ilgaz in Kastamonu, North Central Turkey: No snow report
Kartalkaya in Bolu, Western Turkey      : 16 inches
Palandöken in Erzurum, Eastern Turkey   : 47 inches
Saklıkent in Antalya, Southern Turkey   : No snow report
Uludağ in Bursa, Western Turkey         : 10 inches
Sarıkamış in Kars, Eastern Turkey       : 30 inches

★ Turkey's national soccer team beat its Hungarian rival 3 to 0 in the Hungarian capital Budapest and rose to the UEFA National A League.

Konya           -      G. Antep       1 - 0
Kayseri         -      Hatay          5 - 0
Bodrum          -      Fenerbahçe     2 - 4
Antalya         -      Alanya         2 - 1
Samsun          -      Kasımpaşa      0 - 2
Sivas           -      Adana          5 - 1
Beşiktaş        -      G. Saray       2 - 1
Trabzon         -      Göztepe        1 - 1
Eyüp            -      Başakşehir     -