ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 34 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.
October 26: The Forensic Medicine Institution issued a report that found jailed Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk unfit to remain in prison. Tuğluk was released on October 27. She suffers from dementia and rights groups have been calling for her release for a long time.
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.
October 28: The Constitutional Court rejected an application about Özgür Kaya, a former teacher who disappeared in Ankara in February 2019 and resurfaced visibly weakened and weary at Ankara police headquarters six months later, despite evidence and reports suggesting a case of enforced disappearance. The court rejected the complaint on the grounds that Kaya had retracted an application that was filed on his behalf by his family members with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
October 24: The police in İstanbul intervened in a workers’ protest, detaining one person.
October 26: The police in İstanbul intervened in a protests against the detention of prominent human rights advocate Şebnem Korur Fincancı, briefly detaining 62 people.
October 27: The Mersin Governor’s Office banned an NGO event for solidarity with relatives of prisoners.
October 27: An Antalya court ruled to acquit 48 labor union activists who stood trial for staging a demonstration.
October 28: Ankara prosecutors demanded the dismissal and replacement of the executives of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), after chairperson Şebnem Korur Fincancı was arrested for urging an investigation into the military’s alleged use of chemical weapons in northern Iraq.
October 28: The police in İstanbul intervened in a protest vigil held for sick prisoners, detaining activists Fince Akman and Cemile Çiftçi.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
October 24: The police in İstanbul detained Mika Can Raun for posting on social media a video in which he was seen throwing a Turkish banknote to the toilet. Raun faces charges of denigrating a sign of state sovereignty and he was released under judicial control after appearing before a court.
October 24: İzmir prosecutors launched an investigation into lawyer Aryen Turan over a speech she gave during a bar association meeting in which she raised allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons in northern Iraq.
October 25: The police in several provinces carried out house raids and detained 12 journalists who work for pro-Kurdish news outlets Mezopotamya and Jinnews. Nine were arrested by a court on October 29 while the others were released under judicial control or to house arrest.
October 25: An İstanbul court sentenced Murtaza Demir, an NGO executive, to one year, two months and 17 days in prison on charges of insulting the president on social media and in a column he authored.
October 26: The police in İstanbul detained Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and a prominent human rights advocate, on allegations of spreading terrorist propaganda after she called for a probe into the military’s alleged use of chemical weapons against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. Fincancı was arrested the next day.
October 26: The police in İstanbul physically assaulted journalist Eylem Nazlıer who was covering a protest.
October 26: An Aydın court ruled to acquit journalist İnci Aydın who stood trial over a news report.
October 26: An Ankara court ruled to annul a three-day broadcast ban that was imposed on the pro-opposition Tele1 channel by the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) last week. The channel was sanctioned due to the remarks of an opposition MP who criticized the government agency for religious affairs (Diyanet).
October 27: An İstanbul court handed down a suspended prison sentence of two years to reporter İsmail Arı for reporting on alleged irregularities at Turkish Red Crescent.
October 28: The police in İzmir briefly detained journalist Ümit Zileli on charges of insulting the president.
October 28: Airport police in İstanbul briefly detained Crimean Tatar journalist Gulsum Khalilova, reportedly at the request of Russia.
October 28: The police in İstanbul physically assaulted journalist Gülistan Dursun, Zeynep Kuray and Hayri Tunç who were following a demonstration about sick prisoners outside a courthouse. Kuray was detained during the intervention.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
October 26: The police in İstanbul detained Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and a prominent human rights advocate, on allegations of spreading terrorist propaganda after she called for a probe into the military’s alleged use of chemical weapons against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq. Fincancı was arrested the next day.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
October 26: Turkey was ranked 116th among 140 countries in the rule of law index published by the World Justice Project (WJP).
October 27: Rights groups revealed that a Denizli prosecutor has launched an investigation into a man for attending the funerals of two men who had been accused of links to the Gülen movement.
KURDISH MINORITY
October 25: The police in several provinces carried out house raids and detained 12 journalists who work for pro-Kurdish news outlets Mezopotamya and Jinnews. Nine were arrested by a court on October 29 while the others were released under judicial control or to house arrest.
October 25: The police in Ankara rear-handcuffed and verbally mistreated Kurdish journalist Berivan Altan while detaining her. Öznur Değer, another Kurdish journalist detained as part of the same operation, was physically mistreated at the police headquarters.
October 25: The guards in a women’s prison in Diyarbakır physically assaulted Kurdish journalist Derya Ren who resisted a strip-search.
October 26: The Forensic Medicine Institution issued a report that found jailed Kurdish politician Aysel Tuğluk unfit to remain in prison. Tuğluk was released on October 27. She suffers from dementia and rights groups have been calling for her release for a long time.
October 26: The police in Adıyaman detained local HDP executive Hüseyin Uzun on terrorism-related charges. Uzun was arrested by a court the next day.
October 27: The police in Batman detained HDP members Barış Avşar, Muhammet Sevacı and Fikret Soysal on terrorism-related charges.
PRISON CONDITIONS
October 27: An Afyon prison confiscated a letter written by inmate Hüsamettin Uğur to MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu and imposed a disciplinary sanction on Uğur.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
October 24: Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced that Turkish authorities arbitrarily arrested, detained, and deported hundreds of Syrian refugees to Syria between February and July 2022.
October 26: The authorities released Mohammed Abdullah, the owner of a Somali restaurant who was recently detained and taken to a deportation center after being the target of racial harassment by the police.
October 26: The German federal police told the media that the number of Turkish nationals seeking asylum in Germany between January and September 2022 has seen an increase of 254 percent compared to the same period of last year.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
October 24: Nagehan Yüksel, a teacher jailed for alleged links to the Gülen movement, announced in a letter to an MP that she was strip-searched by guards while being transferred to an Eskişehir prison. Yüksel was also referred to a disciplinary board for mentioning the incident in a letter to an MP.
October 24: Reports revealed that the police in İzmir mistreated a man named Cebrail Gündoğdu who was taken into custody.
October 24: The guards in a women’s prison in Antalya mistreated inmate Hatice Kaymak who was transferred from another prison.
October 24: The director of an Antalya prison verbally assaulted 15 inmates who were transferred from other prisons.
October 25: The police in Ankara rear-handcuffed and verbally mistreated Kurdish journalist Berivan Altan while detaining her. Öznur Değer, another Kurdish journalist detained as part of the same operation, was physically mistreated at the police headquarters.
October 25: The guards in a women’s prison in Diyarbakır physically assaulted Kurdish journalist Derya Ren who resisted a strip-search.
October 25: The guards in a women’s prison in İstanbul physically assaulted inmates during a ward search.
October 26: Soldiers in Hakkari physically mistreated a 16-year-old minor that they detained in a village. Reports indicated that a local hospital denied the minor a medical report documenting injuries from the incident.
October 26: The police in İstanbul physically assaulted journalist Eylem Nazlıer who was covering a protest.
October 27: The guards in a women’s prison in İstanbul physically assaulted inmates.
October 27: The police in Ankara physically assaulted a group of doctors who were visiting a courthouse to follow the court hearing of Şebnem Korur Fincancı, the head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB).
October 27: The police in Ankara physically assaulted a person outside a courthouse.
October 27: The police in Batman physically assaulted three people who were taken into custody.
October 28: The police in İstanbul physically assaulted journalist Gülistan Dursun, Zeynep Kuray and Hayri Tunç who were following a demonstration about sick prisoners outside a courthouse.
October 28: A municipal police officer in Adana physically assaulted a peddler. The municipality announced that the officer involved in the incident was removed from duty and that legal action was taken.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
October 25: A pro-government newspaper published secretly taken photos of Murat Çetiner, a former police chief living in exile in Sweden, revealing his home address. Çetiner is one of the political dissidents whose extradition Turkey is demanding from the Swedish government in exchange for dropping its objection to Stockholm’s NATO membership.