As Turkey celebrates the centenary of the republic, in Istanbul, prominent human rights lawyer Eren Keskin argues that democracy was "not included" in the country's "modernisation process". Across from her office, Armenian writer Murad Mihci strolls through the avenue lined with Turkish flags historically known as the ‘Grande Rue de Pera’, where once the region's non -- Muslims, Armenians, Greeks, Spanish Jews -- ran successful businesses. “Minorities and religious communities suffered a great deal of victimisation in this republic,” Mihci tells AFP. Leading women’s rights activist Fidan Ataselim cars little about the festivities around her as she meets with a friend for an upcoming feminist rally. “In the centenary year of the republic, we should be asserting our more advanced rights, but unfortunately we are living in an era where the modern state of law is being trampled upon,” she tells AFP. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES ARRANGED IN SEQUENCES