ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 52 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.
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
September 26: Eskişehir prosecutors launched an investigation into several people for their participation in a demonstration in support of ongoing women’s rights protests in Iran.
September 27: The Mersin Governor’s Office banned a concert by Kurdish musician Mem Ararat.
September 30: The police in İstanbul intervened in a protest vigil held to support a hunger striking prisoner, briefly detaining two people.
October 1: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration about sick prisoners, briefly detaining nine people.
October 2: The police in Ankara intervened in a demonstration to support the women’s rights protests in Iran, briefly detaining nine people.
October 2: The police in Şırnak briefly detained two people for participating in a protest held against a local electricity supplier.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
September 26: An İstanbul court sentenced journalist Sabahattin Önkibar to 11 months, 20 days in prison on charges of insulting the president on social media.
September 26: A court ruled to arrest Ramazan Dışarı, a media employee who was detained for selling a magazine at an opposition event. He faces charges of disseminating terrorist propaganda and terrorism financing.
September 26: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to seven news reports, two opinion pieces and three tweets about several allegations involving a resort hotel.
September 26: Serkan Özcan, a spokesperson for an opposition party, was summoned by prosecutors for questioning over his remarks on television, upon a complaint filed by the Central Bank.
September 27: The police in Mersin detained 22 people over their social media commentary.
September 28: An İstanbul court ordered the state to pay damages to journalist Barış Terkoğlu, who was imprisoned and tried for covering the death of a Turkish intelligence officer in Libya.
September 29: The police in İstanbul detained five members of Grup Yorum, a leftist folk music group.
September 29: The police in Şırnak detained three people due to their social media posts.
September 30: Media reports indicated that Turkey’s justice ministry was seeking the extradition of exiled journalist Cevheri Güven who lives in Germany.
September 30: The police in Mersin detained nine people on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda on social media.
September 30: Customs police prevented the entry of Italian journalist Giuseppe Acconcia, citing an entry ban imposed on him.
October 1: The police in İstanbul physically assaulted journalists Hayri Tunç, Meral Danyıldız, Zeynep Kuray and Rukiye Güzel who were covering a demonstration.
October 2: The police in Van physically assaulted reporter Hakan Yalçın while he was covering a press conference.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
September 29: The İstanbul Governor’s Office refused to authorize an investigation into police chief Hanifi Zengin against whom human rights activists filed a complaint for battering demonstrators during an LGBT parade.
KURDISH MINORITY
September 27: A mob in a university campus in Ankara assaulted a group of protesters for chanting slogans in Kurdish.
September 30: Ankara prosecutors indicted Kurdish politician Semra Güzel, seeking up to 15 years in prison on terrorism-related charges.
PRISON CONDITIONS
September 26: Reports revealed that an Adana prison has been denying medication to inmate Fatih Özgür Aydın for the last three months.
September 29: Mustafa Murat Ayhan, an inmate held in a one-person cell in a Diyarbakır prison, committed suicide.
September 29: Reports indicated that Bahar Çulha, an eight-month-old baby who last week was incarcerated along with her mother, has become ill and has fever.
September 30: Reports indicated that a Çorum prison was not allowing inmates to attend their classes at a university.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
September 27: Some Syrian refugees who are returning to Syria as part of the Turkish government’s “voluntary return program” told the media in interviews that their return was motivated by increasing hate crimes against migrants and anti-migrant sentiment fueled by politicians.
September 27: Eurostat statistics showed that the number of Turkish citizens filing asylum applications in the EU increased by 31 percent in June compared to the previous month.
October 1: President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that more than half a million Syrians have voluntarily returned to the safety zones established in northern Syria by the Turkish military since 2016.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
September 26: Revealed statements of Lokman Kırcılı, a former police chief who in the aftermath of a failed coup in 2016 was detained, indicated that he was heavily tortured during his detention and coerced into signing a false confession.
September 29: The İstanbul Governor’s Office refused to authorize an investigation into police chief Hanifi Zengin against whom human rights activists filed a complaint for battering demonstrators during an LGBT parade.
September 30: Political prisoners held in a Kahramanmaraş prison were rear-handcuffed and mistreated by people who introduced themselves as counterterrorism officials.
October 1: The police in İstanbul physically assaulted journalists Hayri Tunç, Meral Danyıldız, Zeynep Kuray and Rukiye Güzel who were covering a demonstration.
October 2: The guards in an Erzurum prison mistreated several inmates during visitation.
October 2: The police in Van physically assaulted reporter Hakan Yalçın while he was covering a press conference.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
September 30: Media reports indicated that Turkey’s justice ministry was seeking the extradition of exiled journalist Cevheri Güven who lives in Germany.