Nasuh Mahruki

Turkish Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) head Nasuh Mahruki resigned from his duty on Nov. 30, Doğan News Agency has reported.

"I no longer have signing authority. I will perform my duty as an honorary head. AKUT was under pressure due to my oppositional discourse so I have chosen to do [resign]. From now on, Saygun Gökşin will perform this duty," he said.

Turkish Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) head Nasuh Mahruki will reportedly quit at the next general meeting, which will be held on Nov. 22.

AKUT will hold an extraordinary congress at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 in a cafe in the Şişli district of Istanbul.

Nasuh Mahruki, the head of the non-profit Search and Rescue Association (AKUT), has been released on probation, shortly after being referred to court with an arrest demand on Oct. 24 for allegedly "insulting" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The Istanbul Governor's Office has ordered the non-profit Search and Rescue Association (AKUT) to move out of the building it rented for 49 years on the grounds of problems with the right of passage, but the organization's head has claimed the decision is politically motivated rather than a legal dispute. 

An Istanbul court has accepted an indictment by a prosecutor who demanded up to four years in jail for former MP and retired international footballer Hakan ?ükür for "insulting" President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and his son. 

An art exhibition about last year’s Gezi protests, which started with a small group against the cutting of trees in Istanbul’s heart of Taksim and spread across the country due to police violence, will be displayed in two venues on the first anniversary of the protests.