ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
August 15: The police in Mardin detained 19 people for sending money to their imprisoned relatives.
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
August 14: The Adana police detained 39 people over the demonstrations about those who disappeared in police custody in the 1990s.
August 17: The Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargıtay) upheld a 124-year prison sentence handed down to Mazlum İçli for allegedly taking part in Kurdish protests in 2014. The sentence was handed down despite video footage presented in court showing İçli at a wedding at the time of the protests. He was 14 years old at the time.
August 18: A district governorate in Kocaeli issued a ban on all outdoor events for a period of seven days. The ban came ahead of a planned demonstration to call for the release of opposition MP Can Atalay who is being kept behind bars despite gaining parliamentary immunity.
August 18: The Adana Governor’s Office issued a ban on all outdoor events for a day.
August 18: The Van Governor’s Office issued a ban on all outdoor events for two days.
August 19: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration about those who disappeared in custody in the 1990s, detaining 21 activists.
August 19: Gendarmes in Şanlıurfa intervened in a commemoration event about a Kurdish politician who died in prison, briefly detaining three people.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
August 14: The German Association of Journalists (DJV) advised journalists and media professionals to avoid private trips to Turkey due to the “incalculable risk” of being harassed for their criticism of the Turkish government or its president.
August 14: An Erzurum court ruled to block access to at least three news reports covering allegations of corruption, misconduct, and sexual abuse in a disabled care center.
August 14: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to at least nine news reports covering corruption allegations about the government’s zoning plans in the province.
August 15: The police detained photographer Bilal Gabra Kısa and model Ezgi Cebeci after Ankara prosecutors launched an investigation into them due to their shooting of photos at Ankara mosque. The two are accused of denigrating religious values observed by a segment of society. On August 16, an Ankara court ruled to block access to at least three news reports covering the investigation and the detention.
August 15: Mardin prosecutors launched an investigation into journalist Ferhat Çelik over his reporting on a bribery allegation involving a municipality run by the ruling party. Çelik was summoned by the police for questioning as part of the investigation.
August 15: Journalist Barış Pehlivan was rearrested due to his reporting on a Turkish intelligence officer who died in Libya.
August 15: The police in Kocaeli detained five members of the HDP on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. The detainees were arrested by a court the next day.
August 16: The Higher Education Board (YÖK) reportedly urged private universities not to renew the employment contracts of academics who write for anti-government media outlets or who speak to these outlets.
August 17: Diyarbakır prosecutors indicted journalist Remzi Akkaya on terrorism charges.
August 18: The police detained rappers with the pseudonyms Heijan, BIG, and CAC on charges of fomenting hatred and enmity among the public, spreading propaganda on behalf of criminal organizations, and inciting to commit crimes in a music video. The police are also looking for the rapper Muti as part of the same investigation.
August 18: Ankara prosecutors launched an investigation into journalist Can Ataklı on charges of fomenting hatred and enmity among the public due to his reporting on religious education at a municipal kindergarten.
August 19: The police in Antalya detained a person, identified with the initials N.D., for insulting the president. The detainee was arrested by a court the same day.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
August 17: The Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargıtay) upheld a 124-year prison sentence handed down to Mazlum İçli for allegedly taking part in Kurdish protests in 2014. The sentence was handed down despite video footage presented in court showing İçli at a wedding at the time of the protests. He was 14 years old at the time.
KURDISH MINORITY
August 14: An Ankara prison rejected a defense statement given as part of a disciplinary investigation by inmate Mehdi Baştimur on the grounds that it was in Kurdish.
August 15: The police in Kocaeli detained five members of the HDP on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. The detainees were arrested by a court the next day.
August 17: The Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargıtay) upheld a 124-year prison sentence handed down to Mazlum İçli for allegedly taking part in Kurdish protests in 2014. The sentence was handed down despite video footage presented in court showing İçli at a wedding at the time of the protests. He was 14 years old at the time.
August 19: Gendarmes in Şanlıurfa intervened in a commemoration event about a Kurdish politician who died in prison, briefly detaining three people.
OTHER MINORITIES
August 14: Opposition MP Ayten Kordu alleged that the authorities were discriminating against Alevi villages in the post-earthquake reconstruction works in the province of Kahramanmaraş.
August 20: Mehmet Çolak, a Christian preacher based in Malatya, received death threats.
PRISON CONDITIONS
August 14: An Ankara prison rejected a defense statement given as part of a disciplinary investigation by inmate Mehdi Baştimur on the grounds that it was in Kurdish.
August 14: Rights groups reported overcrowding and lack of regular access to water in an Edirne prison.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
August 14: Jamal Doumane, a Moroccan national, was killed by a taxi driver in İstanbul.
August 16: Reports revealed that Turkey’s authorities mistakenly deported two Moroccan nationals to northern Syria.
August 17: A large group of local inhabitants in Şanlıurfa attacked shops owned by Syrian refugees following allegations of the sexual abuse of a minor.
August 21: Two Turkish soldiers convicted of raping an Afghan refugee during her pushback to Iran were sentenced to a total of 69 years in prison.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
August 15: The guards in an Adana prison confiscated the pens used by inmate Ahmet Erdem to draw.
August 18: The police in Aydın physically mistreated a man named Gökhan Olgun on the street.
August 18: An İstanbul prison arbitrarily restricted the number of books that the prisoners can have with them. Reports also indicated that the prison administration did not respond to any of the petitions submitted by the inmates.
August 19: The police in Ankara physically mistreated two people who were detained over an argument with plainclothes police officers. One of the victims suffered an eardrum puncture while the other victim reportedly has a broken rib.
August 20: A Kocaeli prison imposed a disciplinary sanction on inmate Resul Baltacı for attempting to send pictures to his family by way of another prisoner who was being released.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
August 17: The Sabah newspaper targeted Turkish-born Dutch politician Dilan Yeşilgöz in a video, referring to her as “an enemy of the Turks” and a supporter of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The pro-government daily is known for publishing secretly taken photos of exiled journalists based in Europe and putting their safety at risk by revealing their home addresses.
August 18: The United States Department of Treasury announced sanctions on two Turkish-backed Syrian militias and their leaders on account of their alleged involvement in human rights abuses in the Afrin region.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
August 15: Turkish women’s rights groups reported that a total of 173 women were killed by men in the country in the first seven months of the year. The reports also said that at least 137 women died under suspicious circumstances in the same period.