The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on Friday urged Turkey to release Enes Hocaoğulları, a 23-year-old LGBTQ+ activist and its youth delegate for Turkey, saying his prosecution over a speech delivered in Strasbourg represents a direct attack on democracy, Turkish Minute reported.
A congress delegation led by President Marc Cools visited Ankara September 4–5, meeting with Deputy Justice Minister Hurşit Yıldırım, political parties, civil society representatives and Hocaoğulları himself in Sincan Prison. The fact-finding mission followed his arrest on August 5 on charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information” after he criticized the dismissal of opposition mayors in a March 29 address to the congress.
In a statement concluding the visit, the delegation said, “The link between Enes Hocaoğulları’s speech, the charges brought against him, his prosecution and his placement in detention, could not be clearer. … We must say clearly that, after all our exchanges these past two days, we have not heard anything that could justify the criminal prosecution of Enes Hocaoğulları for the words he spoke, nor his placement in pretrial detention.”
The congress stressed that Hocaoğulları’s activities as a youth delegate and human rights defender were protected under the European Convention on Human Rights. “The answer to disagreement must be dialogue — not prison,” the statement said.
Warning of the broader consequences of the case, the congress said criminalizing legitimate speech has a chilling effect on society. “Silencing Enes is silencing youth — and silencing youth is silencing democracy itself,” it declared.
The delegation expressed appreciation to the Turkish authorities for facilitating the visit but described Hocaoğulları’s detention as a “shocking reality.” It called for all charges to be dropped and for his immediate release ahead of the first hearing in his trial, scheduled for September 8.
Hocaoğulları was taken into police custody at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport on August 4 and later arrested by a court. He remains in pretrial detention.
