340 detained across Turkey for protesting overturning of Kurdish mayor’s election victory
Turkish police have detained 340 people over protests that erupted across Turkey in response to a local electoral authority’s decision to annul the victory...
Turkey’s top judicial body launches inquiry into court that reinstated Kurdish mayor’s political rights
One day after Turkey’s election authority decided to reinstall a Kurdish politician who had been initially denied the mandate to serve as mayor of the eastern province of...
Purge victim suffering from celiac disease denied parole despite eligibility
Muharrem Gelen, a healthcare worker removed from public service and incarcerated in Ankara as part of Turkey’s widespread purges after a failed military coup...
Top election authority overturns annulment of pro-Kurdish party candidate’s election victory
Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK) on Wednesday approved an appeal made by the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) against a decision...
Turkey’s top court annuls interior minister’s broad powers over civil society organizations
Turkey’s Constitutional Court has cancelled certain provisions of a 2020 law that granted the authority to the interior minister to suspend board members and...
Selective and weak: Critics slam outgoing CoE commissioner’s poor record on Turkey
As Dunja Mijatović’s mandate as the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights came to a close on April 1, rights groups criticized the...
Video reveals torture of young Syrian Kurd who disappeared in Turkey
The family of Ali Veli, a 19-year-old Kurdish migrant from Syria who went missing after being released from a Turkish prison in March, received...
Kurdish mayor denied mandate despite winning landslide victory in eastern Turkey
A Kurdish politician who won the local election in Turkey’s eastern province of Van with a landslide victory on Sunday has been denied the...
Teacher’s retrial after landmark ECtHR judgment starts under tight security measures
The retrial of Yüksel Yalçınkaya, a teacher whose conviction on terrorism charges was found by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to have violated his...
CoE election observers urge Turkey to do more to protect freedom of expression
The Council of Europe’s election observation mission to Turkey on Monday released a statement calling on Turkish authorities to do more to ensure freedom...
Latest Reports
Women’s rights in Turkey: 2025 in Review
The state of women’s rights in Turkey showed no meaningful improvement in 2025, as longstanding problems persisted and new challenges emerged. Femicides, institutional failures...
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...