ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 90 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.
January 11: A former member of Turkey’s highest administrative court (identified as Ramazan E.), the Council of State, has been sent to prison to serve a sentence due to his links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
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 EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
January 8: The Directorate of Religious Affairs filed a criminal complaint against artist Volkan Konak, who criticized the Presidency's share of the high taxes on alcoholic beverages and posted 'I drink for you in a glass'.
January 8: With the additional decision of the Istanbul 7th Criminal Judgeship of Peace, it was ruled that at least 3 news articles and posts mentioning Murat Çetiner's name be blocked from access, deleted and not associated with the name of the petitioner in search engines on the grounds of violation of personal rights.
January 8: A content on the Engelliweb website dated December 5, 2023 was ordered to be blocked from access, deleted and not to be associated with the name of the requester in search engines on the grounds of violation of personal rights by an additional decision of the Istanbul 7th Criminal Judgeship of Peace.
January 9: At least 2 news articles and posts about the blocking of access to news on the allegation that three members of the Prophet Lovers Platform (PSP), known to be close to Hezbollah, were employed as teachers in schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education, were blocked from access by the Diyarbakır 4th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on the grounds of violation of personal rights.
January 9: Journalists in Turkey made 563 court appearances in 2023, with the courts arresting 27 out of 72 journalists who were detained by law enforcement.
January 9: Turkish authorities imposed a travel ban as part of judicial supervision measures on journalist Seyhan Avşar after she reported on allegations that implicate Deputy Justice Minister Akın Gürlek.
January 10: The news article about judges and prosecutors whose posts were changed within the scope of the decree of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSK) was blocked from access by the decision of Istanbul Anatolia 10th Criminal Judgeship of Peace on the grounds of violation of personal rights.
January 10: At least 3 news articles about a woman who was subjected to violence by her husband while she was broadcasting live on TikTok were blocked on January 10, 2024.
January 10: The X social media platform announced on Wednesday that it has taken action against 12 accounts in Turkey “to prevent the X service being blocked,” once again censoring content critical of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, just as it did prior to the May general election, this time ahead of local elections in March.
January 10: A 76-year-old Turkish actor, Orhan Aydın, is facing charges of insulting the president for referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a “thief” in a tweet he posted in 2016.
January 11: The news report on the allegation that Boğaziçi University Rector Naci İnci had databases containing the personal data of students and faculty members at the university opened to the scrutiny of consulting companies was blocked from access by the Istanbul 1st Criminal Judgeship of Peace on the grounds of violation of personal rights.
January 11: Berkay Kahvecioğlu was sentenced to 1 year and 2 months in prison for his work in which he used President Erdoğan's expression "slut" against Gezi protesters with a portrait of the president.
January 11: Journalist Mehmet Kamış, the former deputy editor-in-chief of the now-closed Zaman newspaper in Turkey who was arrested in November, has said his journalistic activities are the reason for his imprisonment.
January 12: At least 3 news articles mentioning Azerbaijani businessman Mübariz Mansimov Gurbanoğlu were blocked from access by the Bakırköy 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace on the grounds of violation of personal rights.
January 12: Turkey’s Constitutional Court has found rights violations in the banning of access to the accounts of 62 X users between 2015 and 2023.
January 12: Turkey’s Constitutional Court has found a violation of freedom of expression in an access ban on popular social media platform Ekşi Sözlük imposed in the aftermath of major earthquakes last year.
January 13: The domain name of website creation platform Wix (wixsite.com) was blocked by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
January 12: The lawyers for a jailed opposition lawmaker have petitioned Turkey’s Constitutional Court for a third time claiming rights violations in the continued incarceration of their client, who remains in prison despite two rulings from the top court in his favor.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
January 9: Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Hüda Kaya has been kept in solitary cell in Istanbul Marmara (Silivri) Prison since November 1, 2023.
January 10: 4 people (İdris Kurt, Sıtar Kurt, Canan Kurt, Sabiha Kurt) were subjected to torture and ill-treatment in a house raid in Yüksekova district of Hakkari.
January 12: Mehmet Çoban, a prisoner kept in solitary confinement in Kırşehir High Security Prison, was not hospitalized although he should have been hospitalized for mental and physical health problems.
January 12: Prisoners in Tekirdağ F Type Prison No 2 are monitored by cameras 24 hours a day, prison administration initiated disciplinary proceedings against prisoners who protested this practice and prisoners were penalized with deprivation of communication rights.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
January 11: Dr. Ahmet T. Kuru, a prominent Turkish-American academic and critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he was harassed by policemen in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and would have been arrested and deported to Turkey had he not reached out to his friends in the Malaysian government.
