The situation of human rights defenders in Turkey has significantly deteriorated since a coup attempt in July 2016, with the HRDs subjected to judicial harassment over the last seven years.
Since 2016 international organizations and rights groups have repeatedly asked Turkey to guarantee that the rights and freedoms of human rights defenders are fully respected.
In 2023 human rights defenders continued to face baseless investigations, prosecutions and convictions. They were accused of “membership in an armed terrorist organization,” “disseminating terrorist propaganda” and “insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.” Turkish police have raided the offices of human rights organizations and detained rights advocates.
Prominent businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala remained behind bars during the year despite a 2019 European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruling that found his detention was in pursuance of an “ulterior motive,” that of silencing him as a human rights defender. The non-implementation of the ECtHR ruling prompted the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to launch an infringement procedure against Turkey in February.
In October the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution and urged Turkey to comply with the judgments of the ECtHR and called for the immediate release of Kavala.
In January a Turkish court convicted Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Turkish Medical Association and a renowned human rights activist, of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” in a trial seen by government critics as an attempt to silence dissent.
In September the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the convictions in the Gezi Park trial of five defendants including Kavala as well as human rights lawyer and Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) lawmaker Can Atalay, journalist and film producer Çiğdem Mater, city planner Tayfun Kahraman and filmmaker Mine Özerden.
The government’s oppression of human rights defenders extended to activists who fled to Turkey from other countries. An Egyptian activist was detained in İstanbul and sent to a repatriation center in eastern Turkey, while authorities decided on the deportation of an Iranian refugee who was detained at a Pride march in İstanbul despite the fact that he could face a death sentence in Iran due to his sexual orientation.
Here is some of the most important news from 2023 in the crackdown on human rights defenders:
Turkey’s top doctor and human rights activist Fincancı was convicted in chemical weapons trial
A Turkish court convicted Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Turkish Medical Association and a renowned human rights activist, of disseminating “terrorist propaganda” in a trial seen by government critics as an attempt to silence dissent. The court sentenced Fincancı, also an expert in forensic medicine, to two years, eight months and 15 days in prison and ordered her immediate release from pretrial detention pending appeal. More…
Retrial of rights activists began in Istanbul after high court overturned their convictions
A Turkish court began to hear the retrial of four rights activists after Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals overturned their July 2020 convictions on terrorism-related charges. Eleven human rights defenders, including refugee rights lawyer and honorary chair of Amnesty International’s Turkey section Taner Kılıç, were accused of terrorism for attending a meeting on İstanbul’s Büyükada Island in 2017. They were targeted by President Erdoğan, who alleged that the meeting’s agenda was to plan the continuation of a coup attempt against his government on July 15, 2016. More…
Int’l rights groups called for release of detained Kurdish journalists, political activists in TurkeyInternational media freedom and human rights organizations called on Turkish authorities to stop their “systematic harassment and intimidation of Kurdish journalists, media workers, and political party officials,” urging the release of people detained in coordinated raids. More…
Police broke up protest, detained 30 commemorating slain Gezi activist
Turkish police dispersed a demonstration by a group commemorating an activist who was killed during the nationwide anti-government Gezi Park protests in 2013, detaining 30 protesters. The group gathered near a park in central Ankara where 26-year-old Ethem Sarısülük was injured by a gunshot to the head on June 1, 2013. He died in a hospital 14 days later. More…
Turkey moved to deport LBGTI+ activist facing possible execution in Iran
Turkish authorities decided on the deportation of an Iranian refugee who was detained at a Pride march in İstanbul despite the fact that he could face a death sentence in Iran due to his sexual orientation. More…
Turkey’s top appeals court upheld convictions of Kavala, 4 others in Gezi Park trial
The Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the convictions of five defendants including prominent businessman and civil society leader Osman Kavala in the Gezi Park trial, while it overturned the convictions of three others. The four other defendants whose convictions were upheld were human rights lawyer and Workers Party of Turkey (TİP) lawmaker Can Atalay, journalist and film producer Çiğdem Mater, city planner Tayfun Kahraman and filmmaker Mine Özerden. More…
Activists were kept in prison due to ‘lack of good conduct’
A prison administration in İstanbul rejected a petition from well-known activist, writer and journalist Celaletttin Can concerning his right to be released on probation, arguing a “lack of good conduct” and “the continuing risk of causing harm to society.” More…
Kurdish political activist in Turkey faced deportation to Iran
Kurdish political activist Amir Kahrizi faced deportation to Iran despite being entitled to protection as a refugee, according to international obligations. Kahrizi was arrested in Greece on May 7 for entering Europe as a refugee and handed over to authorities in Turkey, where he is at risk of being deported to Iran. More…
PACE urged Turkey to uphold Strasbourg court rulings, release Osman Kavala
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution urging Turkey to comply with the judgments of the ECtHR and calling for the immediate release of philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala. More…
Turkey condemned ‘unacceptable’ European award to Osman Kavala
Turkey slammed PACE for awarding its top rights prize to jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala, who has come under repeated attack from President Erdoğan. More…
Court in Western Turkey sentenced 4 activists over Boğaziçi protests
A court in İzmir handed down varying prison sentences to four people due to their attendance at a gathering in support of Boğaziçi University protests. The court convicted the four defendants on charges of attending an unsanctioned gathering and resisting the police, while acquitting two others who stood trial on the same charges. More…
Anti-Sisi activist facing deportation from Turkey went on a hunger strike
An Egyptian activist who was detained in İstanbul and sent to a repatriation center in eastern Turkey went on a hunger strike for six days in protest of her detention. Ghada Naguib, 51 years old and a mother of four, was detained at her home in İstanbul’s Başakşehir district on October 1. More…
72-year-old Gezi Park trial defendant recounted harsh conditions in Istanbul prison
Mücella Yapıcı, a prominent architect and a defendant in the Gezi Park trial who was released from an İstanbul prison in September, recounted the poor prison conditions she faced as an older woman. More…
Women’s rights activist was acquitted of charges of insulting former minister
A member of a women’s rights group who stood trial on charges of insulting a former interior minister was acquitted. Didar Gül, a member of the Mor Dayanışma women’s rights group, was tried due to remarks she made in a press statement regarding the prison sentence handed down to a man who was convicted of killing an employee of a pro-Kurdish party in İzmir. More…
Syrian human rights activist went missing in Istanbul
A Syrian human rights activist who has been living in Turkey since 2013 went missing on November 27. Ahmed Katie, 45, also a non-practicing lawyer, went missing after leaving his workplace in İstanbul’s Yusufpaşa neighborhood after he was reportedly summoned by the police. More…
Family of missing Syrian human rights activist said they felt unsafe in Turkey
The wife of Ahmed Katie, a Syrian human rights activist who went missing in İstanbul in late November, announced that she and her children were living in fear since Katie’s disappearance. Speaking at a press conference organized by human rights group Mazlumder, Katie’s wife said he had been receiving threats due to his activism, sometimes from migration authorities. More…
