AKP’s new ‘etiquette courses’ spark concern over political content
Following the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) move to add “etiquette and good conduct courses” to the national curriculum, teachers unions have raised concern...
Erdoğan targets spouse of imprisoned philanthropist Kavala, calls her a provocateur
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday targeted Professor Ayşe Buğra, the wife of imprisoned philanthropist and businessman Osman Kavala, accusing her of provoking...
Name of torturer removed from school after public outrage
The name of a military officer who was accused of torturing Kurdish political prisoners following a 1980 military coup in Turkey was removed from...
PEN Turkey bestows women’s rights award on academic attacked by Erdoğan
The PEN Turkey Writers’ Association has granted its annual Duygu Asena Women’s Rights Award to Professor Ayşe Buğra, who was recently targeted by Turkish...
Journalists arrested over anti-refugee messages released pending trial
An Ankara court has released 10 people pending trial, including four journalists, who were arrested last year due to social media posts allegedly targeting...
Press Release: Stockholm Center for Freedom releases report on Turkey’s Judicial Council
The Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) today released its latest report, “Turkey’s Judicial Council: Guarantor or Annihilator of Judicial Independence,” a study that focuses...
Human Rights Watch says Turkey’s authoritarian order consolidated in 2023
The May 2023 re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the victory of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliamentary elections consolidated an authoritarian...
Academic couple fleeing post-coup crackdown in Turkey caught hidden in truck
An academic couple who had been sentenced to prison over links to the faith-based Gülen movement have been caught by Turkish authorities in the...
Turkey’s top court received over 200K petitions claiming rights violations in past 2 years
The Constitutional Court of Turkey received nearly 220,000 individual applications over the past two years from people who claim that they were subjected to...
Homophobic attack sparks outrage among Turkish social media users amid controversy over the country’s...
Photos of a man identified as Fırat Kaya displaying a person whose face is covered in blood with a caption including the name of...
Latest Reports
Human Rights in Turkey: 2025 in Review
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This report highlights the most important developments in the area of human rights in Turkey in 2025, a year marked by continued democratic...
Weaponized Diplomacy: How Erdoğan Uses Turkish Missions for Transnational Repression
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This report reveals how the Turkish government has transformed its embassies and consulates into instruments of repression over the past decade. Once seen...
The Forgotten Victims: Children of Turkey’s Post-Coup Purge
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This report examines how children from families targeted in Turkey’s unprecedented post-coup purge have endured the devastating consequences of persecution, social exclusion and...
Human Rights in Turkey: 2024 in Review
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This report highlights the most important developments in the area of human rights in Turkey during the year 2024.
Throughout the year Turkey continued...
Dehumanizing a Legacy: How Fethullah Gülen’s Death Triggered a Campaign of Hate Speech in...
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This report examines the surge of hate speech following the death of Fethullah Gülen, a US-based cleric whose followers have been systematically persecuted...
Family Punishment in Turkey: How Erdoğan Uses the Nazi Practice of Sippenhaft
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This report focuses on how the Turkish government, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has used family punishment against his opponents.
Sippenhaft, also known as...
Human Rights in Turkey: 2023 in Review
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This report highlights the most important developments in the area of human rights in Turkey during the year 2023.
The May 2023 re-election of...
Hate speech and hate crimes against Syrian refugees in Turkey
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This report focuses on the inflammatory rhetoric and illegal acts motivated by prejudice faced by refugees who fled the civil war in Syria...