Enes Hocaoğulları, an LGBTQ+ activist and Turkey’s youth delegate to the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, has been arrested over a speech he gave in March in Strasbourg criticizing police violence against young people and the imprisonment of opposition mayors in Turkey, Turkish Minute reported.
Hocaoğulları, 23, was detained at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport on Tuesday upon arrival. He was questioned by a prosecutor and subsequently sent to court, where a judge ordered his arrest. He faces charges of “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “inciting hatred and enmity,” both related to his remarks before the congress in Strasbourg.
According to ÜniKuir, an LGBTQ+ rights group, separate investigations had been launched into Hocaoğulları by prosecutors in İstanbul and Ankara for the same speech, which were later merged in Ankara.
In his March 27 address, titled “Young people in Turkey say ‘Enough,’” Hocaoğulları denounced police brutality, the shrinking space for dissent and the arrest of opposition mayors and officials, including İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was detained and subsequently arrested earlier that month.
İmamoğlu is a key Republican People’s Party (CHP) figure widely seen as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s most powerful political rival. His imprisonment in a corruption case, described by critics as politically motivated, sparked nationwide protests led largely by students and young activists.
Young people organized rallies, spread messages on social media and took to the streets in İstanbul and other cities following the mayor’s arrest. Many of them were detained during the demonstrations and even put in pretrial detention on charges of insulting the president or violating a law on meetings and demonstrations. There were widespread reports about police mistreatment and strip-searches of the detainees, whose numbers reached 2,000.
Following his speech, Hocaoğulları, who was also among the protestors, and the group he works with were targeted by pro-government media outlets and social media accounts.
His arrest on Tuesday prompted swift backlash from opposition politicians, human rights groups and international officials.
Murat Emir, deputy chair of the CHP parliamentary group, said Hocaoğulları had fulfilled his role as Turkey’s youth delegate to the Council of Europe by speaking out about police violence and democratic backsliding. He described his arrest as politically motivated, noting that there was no flight risk and no ongoing investigation that required his pretrial detention.
“He came on his own. There is no evidence left to collect. Yet he was jailed to punish him in advance,” Emir said.
“They are trying to cope with fear by suppressing freedom of expression, the right to organize and democratic participation,” he added.
Sevda Karaca, a member of parliament from the Labor Party (EMEP), harshly criticized Hocaoğulları’s arrest, saying that it stemmed from his speech at the council, which challenged the government’s official narrative about the protests.
“What does Enes talk about in this speech? While the official delegation was reciting the tale of ‘the wind of democracy in Turkey,’ Enes voiced the anger of young people rising from the streets,” she said.
“Young people are not afraid of you! Release Enes and all imprisoned youth!” Karaca said.
In a joint statement 14 LGBTQ+ organizations described the arrest as a threat not only to free speech but to youth, opposition movements and LGBTQ+ rights defenders.
“Enes Hocaoğulları … was arrested because of a speech he gave at the council podium on March 27, 2025. We demand his immediate release,” the statement said.
The groups defended his speech as a truthful reflection of the struggles faced by young people in Turkey.
Marc Cools, president of the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, issued a strong condemnation on Wednesday of Hocaoğulları’s arrest, calling it a violation of the fundamental right to free expression.
Cools said the charges against him amounted to political retaliation for legitimate participation in the council’s work while calling it “scandalous.”
“This new attack on a youth delegate for having legitimately exercised the right to express their views in a pluralistic public debate, is scandalous and unacceptable,” he said.
Cools called on Turkish authorities to drop all charges against Hocaoğulları and to release him immediately.
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