US: Turkey regularly invoked terrorism law to criminalize exercise of human rights in 2019
In its “Country Reports on Terrorism 2019” released yesterday, the US State Department said Turkey has a broad definition of terrorism and that the...
8 detained for hate speech targeting African students at northern Turkey university
Turkish police have detained eight suspects for allegedly using hate speech in social media posts against African students at a university in northwestern Turkey...
HDP deputy to Turkish government: How can ISIS bring Yazidi slaves to Ankara?
In a parliamentary question to Vice President Fuat Oktay, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Feleknas Uca questioned how the Islamic State in Iraq...
University student jailed on Gülen links sent back to prison with unhealed surgery incisions
Ersel Furkan Güven, a university student who was jailed due to his alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, was sent back to prison...
Police chief nicknamed ‘Angel of Death’ who ran torture sites in Turkey unmasked in...
A Turkish police chief with the self-proclaimed nickname of Azrael, or the Angel of Death, oversaw two unofficial torture sites with nearly 2,000 people...
Authorities reinstate former doctor summarily dismissed following nurse’s complaint 6 years ago
A former doctor who was fired from his job in a wide-ranging purge in the aftermath of a July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey...
Columnist’s hate campaign against inmate with cancer ends in his death
Radical Islamist Turkish daily Yeni Akit columnist Mehtap Yılmaz’s hate campaign targeting cancer patient Ümit Gökhasan and his release from prison delayed the medical...
Turkey’s media watchdog fines 2 TV stations due to critical reporting
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), Turkey’s broadcasting and streaming regulator, has fined two TV stations due to their content critical of ruling...
The Year in Review: Press Freedom
The Turkish government continued to muzzle the press in 2020 in a variety of ways, including imprisoning journalists, eliminating media outlets, overseeing the purchase...
Proposed legislation in Turkey to criminalize research for ‘foreign interests’
Draft legislation in Turkey proposes to jail journalists and researchers working for foreign “interests,” following similar measures in Russia and Georgia that rights groups...
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
Download PDF
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
Download PDF
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
Download PDF
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...
Download PDF
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
Download PDF
This report focuses on how the Turkish government, under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has used family punishment against his opponents.
Sippenhaft, also known as...