The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has urged the European Commission to investigate recent arrests and detentions of workers’ representatives in Turkey, raising serious concerns over human rights and fundamental rights violations.
The Commission is the primary executive arm of the European Union (EU).
The crackdown, the ETUC warns, undermines Turkey’s commitments to the EU under their association agreement.
An ETUC delegation, led by General Secretary Esther Lynch, traveled to Ankara last week to assess the evidence and charges. The group raised concerns over a lack of judicial independence and violations of international and European legal standards.
“This crackdown is a major escalation in the intimidation tactics deployed against some trade unions in Turkey,” Lynch said in a press statement. “It suggests the government is willing to go to a whole new level in its use of the courts as a weapon to silence democratic stakeholders.”
On November 26, Turkish police raided multiple trade union offices and workers’ homes, detaining eight trade union officials, including Remzi Çalışkan, vice-president of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK). Çalışkan and others now face potential prison sentences.
The raids were part of a broader operation targeting 231 individuals allegedly linked to terrorism.
Authorities have accused the detainees of conducting political and media activities on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the Democratic Union Party (PYD) or the People’s Defense Units (YPG); financing terrorism; spreading propaganda on social media and participating in illegal protests causing damage to public property. Officials also reported confiscating unlicensed firearms, including hunting rifles, blank-firing guns and digital material.
The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. It has conducted an armed insurgency since the 1980s, advocating for Kurdish rights and autonomy. The KCK is an umbrella group associated with the PKK, overseeing its political and military structures. The PYD is the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, while the YPG serves as its armed wing and has been a key player in the Syrian civil war. Turkish authorities have long targeted these groups in domestic and cross-border operations.
Lynch dismissed the charges as “trumped-up” and called for the immediate release of the detained unionists.
“The fact that they were targeted is no coincidence and this crackdown bears the hallmarks of state intimidation and a coordinated attack on the trade union movement and on democracy itself,” Lynch said.
The ETUC warned that criminal sentences in these cases would violate Turkey’s human rights commitments under its EU association agreement and could jeopardize EU investments under the Turkey Investment Platform (TIP). The TIP supports investment proposals by EU financial institutions in the areas of decarbonization, digitalization, access to finance, innovation and green investments.
Lynch noted widespread mobilization across Turkey and solidarity from trade unions across Europe following the arrests and amid continued risk. She urged the Turkish government to engage constructively with workers instead of treating them as adversaries.
Labor unions in Turkey have long faced state repression, with growing crackdowns in recent years targeting unions critical of government policies. Since a failed coup attempt in 2016, authorities have increasingly used charges such as terrorism or incitement of violence to justify raids, detentions and strike bans, often invoking national security concerns. These actions, including the recent arrests of union officials from DİSK, are seen as part of a broader effort to suppress dissent and limit the influence of independent civil society. Critics argue that such measures undermine Turkey’s commitments to international labor standards and its EU association agreements.
