Thirty-one members of the European Parliament have called on the European Commission to take urgent diplomatic and political steps for the release of Enes Hocaoğulları, a 23-year-old LGBTQ+ activist and Turkey’s youth delegate to the Council of Europe, who was arrested earlier this month over a speech he delivered in Strasbourg criticizing police violence and the detention of opposition mayors, Turkish Minute reported.
In a letter dated August 19 and addressed to top EU officials including Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos and Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica, the MEPs demanded Hocaoğulları’s “immediate and unconditional release” and an end to what they described as “all forms of judicial harassment” against him.
Hocaoğulları was taken into police custody at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport on August 4 and was later arrested by a court. Prosecutors accuse him of “spreading misleading information” and “inciting hatred and enmity,” charges that rights groups say are often used by Turkish courts to punish peaceful political expression.
The charges stem from a speech he gave on March 27 during a plenary session of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, shortly after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. In his address, titled “Young people in Turkey say ‘Enough,’” Hocaoğulları denounced what he called disproportionate police brutality, shrinking space for dissent and the removal of elected opposition mayors.
The MEPs said his speech, delivered in a formal institutional setting, was protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression. They described his arrest as part of a “wider pattern of repression in Türkiye targeting journalists, students, opposition members and civil society actors.”
“The mass detention of peaceful protesters and the systematic removal of elected officials are all clear signs of a broader erosion of democratic institutions and fundamental freedoms in the country,” the letter read.
The appeal follows growing international criticism of Hocaoğulları’s arrest. Marc Cools, president of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, earlier called the case “scandalous and unacceptable,” saying the charges amounted to political retaliation against a youth delegate.
His arrest has also sparked condemnation from Turkish opposition politicians, human rights groups and LGBTQ+ organizations, which say he is being punished for voicing the concerns of young people.
