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ISTANBUL: The Association of Protestant Churches in Turkey has released their annual report, highlighting the challenges and violations of religious freedom they faced over the past year. Chief among these violations are allegations that members of the community have been offered work as spies and informants.
The group claimed that the trend was especially common in the east and southeast region to provide information about congregation members and churches themselves. The association described the allegations as “alarming” and that it shows the extent of state intrusion and suspicion of their activities.
Dr. Mine Yildirim, head of the Freedom of Belief Initiative and Eurasia Civil Society Program at Norwegian Helsinki Committee, said reports of requests for spying from persons who introduce themselves as civilian police or intelligence services are alarming but not necessarily new.
(1) APPLICABLE LAWS
1. The Industrial Property Code No. 6769 (the
IP Code), which was prepared by the Turkish Patent and Trademark
Office (the Office), is the main legislation in Turkey codifying
all kinds of IP rights in Turkey. The IP Code which has abolished
previous IP related Decree-Laws entered into force on 10 January
2017 upon publication in the Official Gazette.
2. The IP Code regulates all IP rights in a
single code. It is divided into five chapters, and the first four
chapters of the law relate to trademarks, geographical indications,
designs and patent rights, respectively. The principles, rules and
conditions regarding the protection of patents are stated in Book 4