ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
August 5: Turkish police briefly detained 6 members of the leftist music band Grup Yorum while they were rehearsing for a concert in İstnabul.
ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE
August 4: İbrahim Baykara, a 46-year-old civilian, was reportedly killed by security forces in the eastern province of Van.
FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
August 4: The police in İstanbul detained two people protesting the ban on the public concerts of the leftist music band Grup Yorum.
August 4: The governor’s office in the southeastern province of Şırnak imposed a curfew in five villages until further notice.
August 5: The governor’s office in Urfa issued a 30-day ban on all outdoor gatherings.
August 5: The police in İzmir detained 21 people protesting in favor of the İstanbul Convention on violence against women from which Turkish government officials have been implying Turkey’s potential withdrawal.
August 5: The governor’s office in Van issued a 15-day ban on all outdoor gatherings as of August 6. The ban has been in effect uninterruptedly since November 2016.
August 8: Authorities in İstanbul blocked a planned commemoration by relatives of the victims of a 2015 bomb attack in Suruç.
August 8: The governor’s office in İzmir issued a ban on all outdoor gatherings until August 15.
August 8: The governor’s office in Mardin imposed a curfew in two districts until August 9.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
August 6: Activist Alev Şahin was briefly detained in Düzce while protesting her summary dismissal from public service.
August 6: Prosecutors in the province of Batman indicted journalist İdris Yayla over his reporting on a woman’s alleged rape by a military officer.
KURDISH MINORITY
August 7: Police detained 16 people in Adana, including members of the Kurdish-oriented HDP. The detainees were also put under a 24-hour ban from contacting their lawyers.
OTHER MINORITIES
August 6: An LGBTI activist in İzmir alleged that the police specifically targeted him and used violence against him during a women’s rights protest in favor of the İstanbul Convention from which government officials have been implying Turkey’s potential withdrawal.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
August 4: Jailed lawyer Aytaç Ünsal who has been hunger striking for months claimed that authorities are planning to force feed him and Ebru Timtik, another hunger striking lawyer, if they lose consciousness.
August 5: The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published the reports on its 2017 periodic visit and 2019 ad hoc visit to Turkey, which noted ongoing problems of arbitrary treatment, ill-treatment, unhealthy prison conditions, overcrowding, torture and harassment by officials.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
August 5: Reuters cited anonymous Turkish officials who said that the ruling AKP is considering whether to pull Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention, the international treaty on violence against women. A monthly report by the watchdog Bianet said that men inflicted violence on at least 80 women in July.