ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 191 people over alleged links to the Gülen movement. In October 2020, a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) opinion said that widespread or systematic imprisonment of individuals with alleged links to the group may amount to crimes against humanity. Solidarity with OTHERS has compiled a detailed database to monitor the Gülen-linked mass detentions since a failed coup in July 2016.
June 17: Bekir Güven, a significantly disabled man who in 2021 was arrested over his social media posts, lost his life following his release from prison.
June 18: The police in Edirne detained Emine Coşkun, a five-months-pregnant woman.
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES
No news has emerged of Yusuf Bilge Tunç, a former public sector worker who was sacked from his job by a decree-law during the 2016-2018 state of emergency and who was reported missing as of August 6, 2019 in what appears to be one of the latest cases in a string of suspected enforced disappearance of government critics since 2016.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
June 13: The police in Konya detained 22 members of the Furkan Foundation, an anti-government religious group, who organized a protest march.
June 13: The police in İstanbul briefly detained two people who tried to obstruct a park’s demolition.
June 14: A Diyarbakır court sentenced NGO activist Mehmet Hafız Şık to six years, three months in prison on terrorism charges.
June 14: The police in İstanbul detained six people who staged a protest against an energy company.
June 16: The police in İstanbul briefly detained nine people who staged a protest about sick prisoners.
June 18: A picnic scheduled to take place in a university campus in İstanbul as part of LGBT pride week activities was canceled after it was targeted by radical religious groups who threatened to lynch attendees. The police who arrive at the scene briefly detained 26 attendees of the picnic.
June 18: The Governor of Gaziantep announced that no pride event will be authorized in the province.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
June 14: The police in İstanbul detained three people as part of an investigation into the hanging of a banner commemorating a leftist militant.
June 14: A university administration in İstanbul temporarily expelled a student who protested the rector’s luxury automobile with a cardboard mockup.
June 14: The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court of Appeals revoked the party membership of opposition politician Canan Kaftancıoğlu in line with a political ban imposed on her after she was convicted of insulting the president.
June 14: A Diyarbakır court ruled to block access to a website used by the pro-Kurdish Etkin news agency (ETHA).
June 15: An İstanbul court sentenced a street artist to one year, two months and 27 days in prison on charges of insulting the president in a painting.
June 15: The police in Van detained two people, one of whom a minor, for wearing t-shirts with a picture of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş. The police later detained six others who objected to the detentions.
June 15: An İstanbul court imposed a monetary fine on journalist İsmail Saymaz over his remarks on a TV program.
June 16: A parliamentary commission approved a draft social media law introducing jail sentences for spreading “fake news” on the internet.
June 16: A court arrested 16 Kurdish journalists out of the 22 who were detained a week earlier on terrorism charges.
June 16: An Erzurum court sentenced journalist Mehmet Arslan to one year, six months on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. The court suspended the execution of the sentence.
June 16: The police in İzmir briefly detained journalist İnci Hekimoğlu for allegedly spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.
June 16: A Diyarbakır court handed down a suspended prison sentence of one year, two months and 17 days to Mehmet Yıldırım on charges of insulting the president on social media.
June 16: An Ankara court ordered opposition MP Veli Ağbaba to pay damages to the president for insulting him in a speech.
June 17: İstanbul prosecutors indicted journalist Metin Yoksu on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.
June 19: Opposition MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu reported that 697 people were detained during demonstrations in May.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
June 15: The police in Ankara detained Adile Erkan, a provincial executive of the Human Rights Association (İHD).
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
June 20: Nimet Demir, a judge who cast a dissenting vote against the transfer of the murder trial of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Riyadh, decided to quit the legal profession after he was replaced by the Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) under a decree.
KURDISH MINORITY
June 14: The police in Batman detained local Kurdish politician Seyhan Başak.
June 14: A prison administration in Kayseri refused to deliver a bookmark to an inmate on the grounds that it contained jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş’s name on it.
June 15: The police in İstanbul detained 10 people during a wedding for wearing scarves in traditional Kurdish colors. The detainees were later arrested by a court.
June 15: The police in Van detained two people, one of whom a minor, for wearing t-shirts with a picture of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş. The police later detained six others who objected to the detentions.
June 16: A court arrested 16 Kurdish journalists out of the 22 who were detained a week earlier on terrorism charges.
June 16: An Erzurum court sentenced journalist Mehmet Arslan to one year, six months on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. The court suspended the execution of the sentences. Arslan stood trial over his work for the pro-Kurdish Dicle news agency (DİHA).
June 16: The police in İstanbul carried out house raids to detain 10 members and executives of the HDP.
June 17: The police in İzmir detained HDP youth member Serhat İrlan.
OTHER MINORITIES
June 14: The police in Ankara briefly detained Turgut Öker, the head of a Europe-based Alevi organization.
June 18: A picnic scheduled to take place in a university campus in İstanbul as part of LGBT pride week activities was canceled after it was targeted by radical religious groups who threatened to lynch attendees.
PRISON CONDITIONS
June 14: A prison administration in Kayseri refused to deliver a bookmark to an inmate on the grounds that it contained jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş’s name on it.
June 17: The fiancée of inmate İzzeddin Yenigün told the media that she fears he is a victim of neglect as he has lost an enormous amount of weight over the past three months, but still has not been taken to a hospital.
June 17: A prison administration in Hatay imposed a three-month visitation ban on Mustafa Demirbaş, the brother of an inmate for asking questions to guards about an allegation of mistreatment.
June 18: A prison administration in Muğla denied hospital visit to inmate Mehmet Salih Filiz.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
June 14: Sultan Jabeen, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee, was stabbed to death in İstanbul.
June 15: Local inhabitants in İstanbul attacked a group of migrant workers.
June 18: The police in Ankara whitewashed the sign of a Somali-owned restaurant for displaying colors used by Kurdish militants.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
June 14: The police in Konya strip searched four women who were detained while holding a protest march.
June 16: The guards in an İzmir prison physically and verbally assaulted inmates who reportedly refused to become informants for the authorities.
June 18: The police in Ankara tortured a person in custody.
June 18: The guards in a Muğla prison physically assaulted inmate Mehmet Salih Filiz who resisted a strip-search during a transfer.
June 19: The guards in an Elazığ prison physically assaulted inmate Abdo Şeyh for resisting a strip-search.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
June 20: A Muğla court handed down a reduced sentence of 23 years to a man who brutally murdered his ex-lover on the grounds that the victim had “provoked” him.