Press Freedom in Turkey: 2025 in Review
Press freedom in Turkey deteriorated further in 2025 as authorities tightened control over the media through prosecutions, regulatory penalties and online censorship. Pressure escalated...
Pride march bans follow intensification of anti-LGBT discourse by Turkish officials: HRW
The banning of Pride marches in Turkey for the ninth consecutive year follow an intensification of hateful anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) discourse...
Turkish activists demonstrate in solidarity with Yüksel Street protestors on social media
Turkish activists have come together on social media to show solidarity with the Yüksel Street protestors, a group of former public servants who have...
Turkish gov’t detains 16 foreign students over alleged links to Gülen movement
The Turkish government detained 16 foreign students -- 10 from Somalia, three from Djibouti, two from Guinea and one student from Syria -- in Mersin...
Press freedom groups demand release of 3 journalists in Turkey
Ten press freedom organizations on Thursday called for the immediate and unconditional release of three journalists arrested in Turkey earlier this month as part...
Syrian students promised high school education by Turkish gov’t-linked NPO sent back home
Syrian students who were promised a high school education in Turkey by a Turkish non-profit organization have been stripped of their scholarships and sent...
Lawyer arrested based on doctored document petitions Supreme Court of Appeals to revise its...
Turan Canpolat, 52, a lawyer who was arrested based on a doctored document on January 30, 2016, petitioned the Supreme Court of Appeals to...
Former governor of Turkey’s Bursa, jailed over Gülen links, released on bail
Şahabettin Harput, a former Turkish governor of the western province of Bursa who was arrested in August 2017 due to alleged links to the...
Turkish court upholds prison sentence for cancer-stricken teacher dismissed in post-coup purge
Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals has upheld a six-year, three-month sentence for a dismissed primary school teacher who has end-stage cancer and a 65...
Turkey joins Italy-led ‘Rome Process’ to curb irregular migration
Turkey, along with 19 other countries from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, have initiated the “Rome Process,” aimed at curbing irregular migration and...
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...