>> hello, and welcome to focus on europe. some of the best human stories behind the headlines. we have a really great program lined up for you today. free speech in the spotlight in turkey. russia inching forward into georgia. and feathered friends fight loneliness in british nursing homes. when it comes to the refugee

crisis, all eyes are suddenly on turkey. the country says it is crucial to help stem the flow of migrants to europe. the eu is trying to persuade turkey to police its borders better and improve conditions for millions of refugees already there. the hope is that this stops more migrants making their way to europe. in turn, brussels is offering sweeteners like financial aid and starting up stalled negotiation processes to get turkey to the eu. a win-win situation? not quite. politicians are desperate to resolve the refugee crisis and accused of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in turkey. in particular, and alleged government clampdown on dissent. >> the ensemble is performing an historical comedy tonight. it is about a sultan that tries to censor a theater group's

performances. the similarities are intentional. the audience knows the actors are walking a thin line. for the city authorities, he's a public enemy. he lost the job that he held for 25 years because he made a public speech and wrote on the internet criticizing the government. he is pessimistic about freedom of expression in his cultural sector. >> the people in charge of the state-sponsored theater are slaves to authority. they decide on the repertoire even though they know nothing about theater. i've always expressed my opinion freely. i am a well-known actor. everyone knows i won't keep my mouth shut. reporter: now he can perform only with private theater groups. he knows he is relatively fortunate. other people that criticize the government and up in jail or are

subjected to violence. >> the play shows what it's like in today's turkey. theaters have no freedom anymore. cabaret artists and sit terrorists are being stripped of their creative freedom. -- satirists are being stripped of their creative freedom. reporter: a general election is scheduled for november but there is little evidence of any campaigning. the zero tolerance policy towards critics and recent terror attacks have deepened the rift between the president's opponents and his supporters. they refuse to listen to criticism of their leader. >> whatever the akp does, it's right. it has regain the absolute majority. everyone makes mistakes. including the government.

they should take a look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are always right. a government should be treated with respect. reporter: we had to a city on the bulgarian border. a traditional secular stronghold. a student and his family talk about what happened at the rally for peace and democracy on october 10. he was just a few meters away from where two bombs exploded, killing over 100 people. >> there were body parts everywhere. we had to climb over them. we were in shock. we did not understand what happened. the people responsible for this bloodbath are the same people that instigate fear and say the country would plunge into chaos

if it weren't for them. reporter: the 22-year-old has to be careful what he says. he was giving in all it -- he was given the 11 month suspended sentence for insulting the president. his case made headlines and he appeared in handcuffs. he called the president a thief and a murderer. >> i wanted to defend myself before the judge. i had spoken only two sentences when he cut me off. he said it was enough. he had already decided how to sentence me. i had no idea the legal system in this country had gone down the hill this badly. reporter: they run a left-wing cultural center. they can't even speak openly at the university anymo. >> all the professors are under pressure by the government. they pass on that pressure to

us. we are increasingly restricted with what we can say. reporter: spiraling byron's -- violence and growing repression. they are swimming against the tide even though they could end up paying a high price. back in the istanbul theater, the istanbul -- the sultan has been outwitted. he has appealed against his dismissal and is willing to take his case to the supreme court. he's more determined to fight for the future of his country. >> once again, they blame the people who criticize the government and the state is not to blame. it can't go on like this. the government sits back and says it did what it could protect the demonstrators. but it didn't.

>> democratic thinkers are preparing for the long haul. the curtain will not be falling on the akp anytime soon. host: ireland is a dangerous place to be pregnant according to one pro-choice campaigner that once ireland to legalize abortion. abortion is, in most cases, illegal ireland. controversial statements that many people would not agree with. pro-life campaigners say it is morally wrong and should not be allowed. the fact remains that every day, one dozen irish women do have abortions but have to go abroad to make it possible. making an already traumatic operation even worse. pressure is growing to change the law, particularly from the women that suffered because of this. reporter: this woman does not want to reveal her identity.

she wants to be known as lily. she got an abortion, a crime that could get her 14 years in prison. the fetus was severely impaired. the decision was not easy for lily and her husband. >> there were two options available to us. we could carry the baby to term. the baby would die after delivery. or we could travel after the jurisdiction and have a turn -- a termination. we went for a long walk on the beach and quickly decided we did not have any other option but to travel to the u.k.. reporter: she sought help in liverpool, sneaking across in secret. she and her husband are very

careful about who they confide in. 2 only a small number -- >> only a small number of our family know. other people we told we had a miscarriage because it is more socially acceptable. it is against the law here. there is that conflict. but i had to do what is right for me and my family. it's hard not to be able to explain what really happened. reporter: amnesty international says irish women are forced to go abroad for abortions. ireland has no jurisdiction over abortions carried out elsewhere but the society stigmatizes women and their doctors. >> regardless of if there are prosecutions, to criminalize

women and health professions when it comes to information or access -- it is a human rights violation. it is contrary to best practice and medical ethics as well. reporter: prenatal counseling centers are especially hard hit. activists have been known to report anyone involved in aiding the abortion process, sometimes resorting to extreme methods like secretly videotaping counselors. >> clients came in pretending to have an unfound pregnancy. their intention is that we would be seen to be breaking the law by making phone calls or providing money. i was taped. we were all investigation -- investigated. it went to the courts. it was not brought to court. there was no case proven. reporter: supporters are often

socially ostracized as potential murderers. >> even if they are sick and the doctor says they're going to die hours after they're born, it's still a life. i think even a short life or a sick life is life. >> members of parliament agree with this view. 80% of the population is catholic. polls show a large majority of irish citizens would favorite. >> it should be legal because it's a woman's body and it's her right to choose. >> it is the old-fashioned voters that always show up to the referendums. >> we are not seeing very significant levels of public support and increasingly we are seeing political support. but we have a long way to go.

political leaders are very far behind public opinion on this issue. reporter: 4000 irish women are known to travel abroad for an abortion every year but the true figure may be much higher. most western countries describe their laws as an expression of a woman's right to decide over her own body. lily and her husband felt like they had little choice. they knew the baby had virtually no chance of survival. >> the following afternoon, he was born. he was dead. it was late that night by the time i was returned to my room. my husband was there. he brought the baby in so he spent the night in the room with the baby. reporter: the catholic church

effectively blocks the liberalization of the abortion laws. she is catholic but feels the church has failed her. >> if we had been able to have the termination here, we could of got him home and had a we ake or proper ceremony. he arrived by courier, a very undignified way to come home. reporter: she hopes she can bury her child in irish soil. host: such a painful and difficult issue which i'm sure many of you will have views on. do let me know what you think about that or any of the stories on today's show. thanks for all those that got in touch last week. chris wrote to say that he found

the story about norwegian prisoners moved to the netherlands very interesting. we don't answer any e-mails or tweets judged to be racist or prejudicial. the current refugee crisis has sparked some of those comments. but we do respond to everything else. do drop me a line. when i lived in the former soviet state of georgia, the country had just fought a war with russia and the effects are still being felt. thousands of georgians were forced to leave the territory and abandoned their homes. friends say the situation is getting worse. russian troops are gradually taking over north georgian land by slowly shifting the border. it's ordinary people being affected. one man went to bed in georgia and woke up to realize he was

living against his will, in russia. reporter: a journey to a country that doesn't even exist. on the way to the border pastor refugee village -- past a refugee village. we can only approach the barb wire fence with police protection. russian troops set up this border after the war in 2008. the georgian border guards tell us the russians keep moving it by a few centimeters. over the years, they have built a large military base there. they have been reporting on the conflict for years. once during life coverage, she and her camera team were threatened by russian soldiers.

>> the russian occupation forces cameras are up in the trees. they saw that we had arrived without police protection. they came and told my cameraman that if he turned his lens in this direction, they would open fire. reporter: we can only approach the border fence escorted by border patrol. the journalist calls over to the farmer on the other side. she won't be intimidated. she regularly visits a georgian farmer who refuses to leave his home. but his border fence cuts him off from his fields on the georgian side. >> two women came to visit us a while back. my wife and i had dinner with them. i don't know how the russians found out, but suddenly, they showed up at midnight.

one of them sat on my bed while another looked under the bed. reporter: not even his own grandchildren are allowed to visit. his wife's health is suffering and she is feeling more and more isolated. they had been hoping things would have eventually returned to normal. that hope is fading fast. >> my daughter lives in georgia. the other side. somehow, she managed to visit us. on the second day, people friend to arrest her if she came again. i asked if they were crazy. she's my daughter. >> these people here are citizens of georgia. they can't even collect their pensions. if you consider this, you would say that area over there is occupied.

reporter: he says he will never give up hope. he looks at his fields to the barb wire, hoping that one day, he will be allowed to work them again. many georgians driven from their homes now live in the refugee camp down in the valley. among them is georgie who used to be a well-to-do farmer. he thought he could make a new start, but he keeps one cow on land that he doesn't own. he says the people here experience long ago what ukrainians are suffering now. >> the russians destroyed my house right down to the foundation. you can't even see the house

ever stood there. i saw it on the internet. only russians live there now. reporter: he says if he could, he would fight for his land but he knows full well this conflict cannot be resolved by force of arms. he realizes it is unlikely he will ever get his land back. there's no going back to his old life. but his wife still clings to hope. >> god willing, someday we will return to our own land. i probably won't live to see it. but she might. reporter: they give their

grandchildren a sense of where they came from. the family tries to live as well as they can in this settlement where all of the houses look alike. but not many of their neighbors come from their home village that no longer really exists. they were scattered up and down this heavily fortified border. host: terrible that so many people are still living like refugees in their own country so many years after the war. my hometown on the windy northwest coast of england is where people go to retire. it's not exactly nice weather there. but a lot of the old victorian houses are nursing homes for the elderly. when i was a teenager, i worked at a home where they had a cat where the residents loved. research has since showed that animals are good for their physical and mental health. they fight loneliness and help

keep elderly people alert. british nursing homes are going a step further. >> they'll. betsy. honey. they are very popular at this old people's home in new eng noh england. she says she usually associates hands with breakfast bigs or chicken filet. she is wondering why people are cuddling up to the birds. every morning at 7:00, they let the hens out of there to. -- of their coop. he does a headcount and he knows every chicken by name. looking after his feathered friends as a pastime, but also a distraction.

life hasn't been easy since his wife was diagnosed with dementia. being around the hens does are good. they make great pets. they are soft and don't bite. >> [indiscernible] reporter: the project is the brainchild of joss forest. she wants her to man repeatedly call out women's names. but he wasn't calling his wife or daughters. he was calling his hens. it gave her the idea of giving them to residents for something to care for. >> particularly for difficult to reach older men, it has reduced

isolation, loneliness, it has generally improve the well-being. they've reported that it reduced antipsychotic medication which is a brilliant thing for us. reporter: she is relaxed and used to being in the limelight. meanwhile, the men gather at the chicken to where 25 hens need feeding. the animals give the seniors something to talk about and help lonely residents find trends. -- find friends. >> it is a good project. there have been some very good people. people have come out of their bungalows. even in the winter, coming over to make sure the hens are all right.

reporter: that is something else they do. it take the birds on tour to help others. visiting a home for people with alzheimer's. they just hatched and are soft and warm to touch. often bringing back lost memories. and that does the seniors good. the project has attracted a lot of attention. organizers have received inquiries from germany. they are using and power to help people overcome their loneliness. >> people should know the whole project. reporter: that is why residents

at the retirement home like to give a hen a cuddle. because it makes them happy. host: birds bringing a bit of social life to the elderly. all new meeting -- whole new meaning to the phrase "hen party or cope to get i." do get in touch with your thoughts. i can be reached the e-mail, twitter, or the station website. we will see you next week, same time, same place.

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