Murat Şahin

Turkish singer Sezen Aksu performing in Amsterdam December 2005. Photo: EPA/RICK NEDERSTIGT

"Sezen Aksu will never walk alone," the intellectuals said in an open letter and added that they were watching President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's targeting of Sezen Aksu, which violated freedom of expression.

An Italian archaeologist, who spent 35 years searching for Noah's Ark in the eastern province of Ağrı, has been laid to rest in a cemetery viewing Mount Ağrı (Mount Ararat) as per his will.

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Angelo Palego, who had a heart attack in Ağrı at the beginning of August, was taken to the state hospital in Erzurum, a neighboring province.

An Istanbul court on Oct. 21 ordered the release of assailant Murat Şahin, who was arrested after staging an armed attack targeting former daily Cumhuriyet editor-in-chief Can Dündar outside a courthouse in May, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Murat Şahin, who was arrested for attacking Turkish journalist Can Dündar with a gun, was released pending trial on Oct. 21, state-run Anadolu Agency has reported.

A court of serious crimes in Istanbul has transferred a case which will try the suspects in a May 6 assassination attempt against Turkish journalist Can Dündar to a lower court while summoning the famous writer to attend the next hearing on Oct. 21.