The United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group discussed Turkey's status in the context of human rights on Tuesday in Geneva. The delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç representing Turkey at the meeting, answered questions and discussed suggestions coming from U.N. member countries on Turkey's developing works and efforts in human rights since 2010. Arınç, speaking at the U.N. building in Geneva, emphasized in a speech that Turkey, at the base of its principle, greatly values and progresses toward an equal relationship among individuals at democratic levels, regardless of their identities. In response to a question presented to him by the U.S. delegation, Arınç said that Turkey has never been an enemy of the Jewish people: "Anti-Semitism is a foreign concept to the Turkish population. In fact, Turkey, throughout its history, has always hosted Jews escaping from oppression. Any sort of anti-Semitic statement is deeply condemned and all necessary judicial and/or governmental action is taken. Yesterday, Jan. 27, is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day for the victims, and our minister of foreign affairs has personally attended the ceremony at Auschwitz along with representatives from our Jewish community. Additionally, the president of Turkish Parliament along with Turkey's Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva and other representatives from the Jewish community will attend the Commemoration of the Holocaust Victims ceremony in Ankara."In response to questions asked by representatives from Norway, Germany and Sweden relating to the freedom of the press in Turkey, Arınç emphasized the appearance of full pluralism of numerous media organizations in Turkey and said that there are many newspapers and television channels in which journalists can freely and independently work. Arınç also said: "The media sector in Turkey has both those in support of the government and those who criticize the government. According to the records from the Radio and Television Supreme Council [RTÜK] in Turkey, excluding channels at the national level, there are 221 private television channels of which 205 are local and 16 regional. According to the Directorate General of Press and Information, there are 4,074 newspapers available – 66 national, 68 regional and 3,960 local." Regarding the issue of imprisoned journalist in Turkey, called "detained journalists" by some, Arınç said that the detention status of those individuals has no relation to any sort of journalistic activity and that they were arrested and detained as part of the Dec. 14 Tahşiye investigation and have no relation to any journalistic profession or activity.In regard to the prevention of access to Twitter and YouTube last year in Turkey, Arınç said that the relevant companies were spoken to regarding the method of warning and removal of content illegal in Turkey at the time and added: "Despite our efforts with good faith, the relevant companies remained insensitive to court decisions while the contents remained available and the court decisions were not fulfilled. Therefore, as a measure of last resort, blocking access had to be applied. However, after the decision by the Constitutional Court, these measures were removed." In response to a question by U.K. representatives regarding the use of tear gas by police, Arınç said that there were two separate notices published in 2013, and that the rules for the use of tear gas and other gases must be repeatedly respected and followed during their usage, and the helmets of those forces have been numbered in order to detect those who are using disproportionate force during protests and demonstrations.Regarding a question from the Norwegian delegation about the Gezi Park protests, Arınç said that security officers who had allegedly used excessive force have been continuing to be meticulously investigated at the governmental and judicial levels. He also added: "A total of 149 staff had been penalized as a result of the administrative investigation that was carried out. In the scope of judicial investigations, there has been 329 investigations opened in 13 provinces in which 59 of those had decided not to prosecute and some received public action. Finally, in regard to the Ali Ismail Korkmaz case, two police officers have been sentenced to prison for 10 years by the Istanbul Penal Court decision on Jan. 21, 2015. Other investigations are still ongoing."Arınç also said that Turkey has never limited minorities from various religious backgrounds from practicing their religion. He also stressed the fact that since the review began back in May 2010 until today there have been numerous restorations completed of churches that were closed to worship by the government and are re-opened for use. Arınç continued by saying that, "Armenian textbooks prepared by the Ministry of Education of Turkey began to be distributed free of charge to students in Armenian schools. The Greek Primary School on Istanbul's Gökçeada has been re-opened and began its educational activities. In a kindergarten within the Syriac community foundation, Turkey's Ministry of Education gave the opportunity to provide Syriac courses as part of curriculum on certain days and at specific times of the week."