Rights activist writer gets suspended sentence over Kobani tweet
A suspended prison sentence of 15 months has been handed down to a writer, lawyer and human rights activist in Turkey due to a...
Council of Europe denounces Turkey’s dismissal of mayors
Marc Cools, president of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, has expressed grave concern over Turkey's dismissal of...
460 inmates in Turkish prisons have doctorates, Justice Ministry says
Four hundred sixty inmates in Turkish prisons have doctorates and 2,371 have master’s degrees, according to the general directorate of prisons and houses of...
ECtHR rules Turkey violated right to fair trial of 8 judges and prosecutors
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled on Tuesday that Turkey violated the right to a fair trial of eight judges and prosecutors.
The court found...
Prison administration denies inmate release for refusing to show remorse
Remziye Polat, a 25-year-old woman who has been in prison on a terrorism-related conviction for the past nine years, was denied release despite having...
Jailed PKK leader willing to take initiative for settlement of Kurdish conflict: nephew
A lawmaker from Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party and a nephew of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has...
Demirtaş says new German gov’t should push Turkey to improve rights record
Selahattin Demirtaş, the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) who has been behind bars on terrorism-related charges for five years, on...
Turkey has removed 154 mayors since 2016 coup attempt, mainly on ‘terrorism charges’
The Turkish government has removed 154 mayors from office, most often on accusations related to terrorism in the last eight years, replacing them with...
Turkish court hands down suspended sentence to Kurdish folk singer for terrorist propaganda
The İstanbul 27th High Criminal Court sentenced Kurdish folk singer Veysi Ermiş to 18 months in prison for "terrorist propaganda" for using worlds like...
ECtHR faults Greece over 2019 pushback of Turkish national who fled Erdoğan’s crackdown
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has unanimously found Greece in violation of multiple articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, citing...
Latest Reports
Turkey’s Transnational Repression: 2025 in Review
Turkey's campaign of transnational repression against critics abroad continued throughout 2025. Since a coup attempt in July 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s long arm...
Turkey’s Crackdown on the Gülen Movement: 2025 in Review
During the year Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continued to relentlessly pursue anyone with alleged links with the faith-based Gülen movement, which he described...
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...