Man dies in custody after alleged police brutality
Serhat Kahyaoğlu, a man who on the night of Sunday’s local elections was detained in İstanbul for celebrating by firing a gun into the...
78-year-old ailing Kurdish villager dies after brief imprisonment
Emin Soyal, a 78-year-old Kurdish man who was briefly imprisoned on terrorism-related charges in late 2023, has died while receiving treatment at a hospital,...
Turkey detained 24 journalists in 2025, RSF barometer on abuses shows
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) logged 24 cases of journalists detained in Turkey in 2025, including YouTube hosts, television anchors and staff of a leading...
Exiled journalist faces 10-year prison sentence for insulting Erdoğan
A Turkish prosecutor has demanded up to 10 and a half years in prison for Hayko Bağdat, a Turkish-Armenian journalist based in Germany, on...
Mayor of CHP stronghold İzmir quits party over court-ordered leadership change
The mayor of the western Turkish province of İzmir, long seen as the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) strongest electoral stronghold, resigned from...
Turkish gov’t officials’ removal of Santa Claus statue in Antalya stirs debate
The removal of a statue of Santa Claus by Turkish government authorities during a construction work at Demre’s central square in the Mediterranean province of...
Girl’s letter after mother’s arrest highlights toll of Turkey’s post-coup detentions on children
A 10-year-old girl’s letter describing the impact of losing both parents to prison over alleged links to the Gülen movement has shone a spotlight...
German politicians slam Turkish FM Çavuşoğlu’s Solingen plan
German politicians have warned that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's plan to join a ceremony to commemorate a racist attack that occurred 25 years...
Turkey’s top torture documentation expert, Şebnem Korur Fincancı, receives Hessian Peace Prize
Şebnem Korur Fincancı, a Turkish human rights defender and forensic doctor, was on Friday awarded the Hessian Peace Prize, given each year to an individual...
Turkey’s RTÜK threatens to punish TV stations if they cover ongoing wildfires
Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), has issued written and verbal warnings to TV stations in the country, threatening them...
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...