Turkey Rights Monitor - Issue 262

ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST

Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 270 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.

27 June: Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 361 people had been detained in nationwide operations over the past two weeks as part of an intensified crackdown on the 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 ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION

23 June: Hundreds of lawyers protested at İstanbul Courthouse against the arrest of Mehmet Pehlivan, lawyer for jailed mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, but were blocked by police from marching to the İstanbul Bar Association.

29 June: Police in İstanbul intervened in the 23rd İstanbul Pride March held in Ortaköy, detaining at least 55 people before they could reach the area.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA

23 June: A Turkish court ordered the arrest of political commentator Fatih Altaylı for allegedly threatening President Erdoğan after referencing the historical fates of Ottoman sultans during a broadcast.

Fatih Altaylı

24 June: Social media platform X blocked access to the verified account of LGBTQ+ news outlet KaosGL.org in Turkey on June 23, following a government request shortly after police detained 46 people at İstanbul’s Trans Pride March.

Yıldız Tar

26 June: Turkey’s media regulator RTÜK imposed broadcasting bans and fines on opposition-aligned Halk TV, Tele 1, and SZC TV for allegedly inciting hatred, following the arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.

27 June: A Turkish court ordered the arrest of freelance journalist Metin Yoksu as part of a terrorism-related investigation led by Artvin prosecutors, bringing the total to five journalists jailed in the case.

Metin Yoksu

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW

25 June: Turkish prosecutors have filed a new indictment against jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu for allegedly insulting two prosecutors, seeking up to four years in prison and a public office ban.

Ekrem İmamoğlu

25 June: Following a June fact-finding visit, PACE co-rapporteurs warned that Turkey is at a “tipping point” for democratic backsliding, citing judicial politicization, repression of opposition figures, and failure to implement ECtHR rulings, while calling for urgent reforms and the release of political prisoners.

KURDISH MINORITY

26 June: Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court sentenced former Pro-kurdish HDP Diyarbakır Co-Mayor Cabbar Leygara to 1 year and 3 months in prison for “making terrorist propaganda” based on his speeches.

Cabbar Leygara

26 June: the Diyarbakır 4th High Criminal Court sentenced Yeni Yaşam newspaper employee Zilan Gül to 2 years and 1 month in prison for “making terrorist propaganda” by distributing issues of the newspaper that was under a publication and distribution ban.

TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT

23 June: Besra Erol, a 66-year-old chronically ill inmate at Elazığ Women’s Prison, has twice been arbitrarily denied parole despite eligibility since December 2024, due to alleged lack of remorse and association with terrorism convicts, following her imprisonment over a speech at her son’s grave—one of 33 victims of the 2015 Suruç ISIS bombing.

24 June: Özlem Düzenli, imprisoned with her 7-month-old baby despite a lack of evidence and a court ruling overturning her conviction, faces dire prison conditions including poor hygiene, food shortages, and violations of legal protections for mothers with infants.

Özlem Düzenli

27 June: A Turkish court in Hatay sentenced four border guards to life in prison for torturing two Syrian migrants to death in 2023, after they were beaten with iron bars and forced to swallow gasoline.