20-26 April 2026
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 19 people over alleged links to the Gülen movement. In October 2020, a UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) opinion said that widespread or systematic imprisonment of individuals with alleged links to the group may amount to crimes against humanity. Solidarity with OTHERS has compiled a detailed database to monitor the Gülen-linked mass detentions since a failed coup in July 2016.
23 April: Three academics from Tekirdağ Namık Kemal University and a doctor working at a private hospital in Keşan were detained over alleged links to the Gülen movement.
Enforced Disappearances
No news has emerged of Yusuf Bilge Tunç, a former public sector worker who was sacked from his job by a decree-law during the 2016-2018 state of emergency and who was reported missing as of August 6, 2019, in what appears to be one of the latest cases in a string of suspected enforced disappearance of government critics since 2016.
Freedom of Assembly and Association
21 April: One hundred ten Turkish coal miners marching from Eskişehir to Ankara over unpaid wages were detained by police after staging a protest outside the energy ministry.
23 April: The İstanbul Governor’s Office has for the fourth consecutive year banned an April 24 Armenian Genocide remembrance event in İstanbul, denying permission for a ceremony planned by the April 24 Commemoration Platform without providing justification.
Freedom of Expression and Media
20 April: A court in İstanbul sentenced journalist and teacher Bilge Aksu to 6 years and 3 months in prison on charges of membership in a terrorist organization based on his articles published in Yeni Özgür Politika and PolitikArt and the royalty payments he received for them.
21 April: A Turkish court in Şanlıurfa Province ordered the arrest of journalist Mehmet Yetim on charges of spreading misleading information over a social media post about a school knife attack, despite his later correction.
22 April: Turkey’s media regulator, Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), fined and imposed program sanctions on broadcasters including TV8, TLC and Kanal 26 over content deemed to violate broadcasting rules related to violence, insulting language and respect for human dignity. (Critics have long accused the regulator of using its powers selectively, particularly against outlets seen as critical of the government.)
23 April: A Turkish court in İstanbul again handed journalist Neşe İdil a suspended 15-month sentence on terrorism propaganda charges over social media posts, despite a prior Constitutional Court of Turkey ruling ordering a retrial for violation of her fair trial rights.
24 April: A Turkish court in Ankara has begun the trial of journalist Mahir Bağış on charges including insult and spreading disinformation over a report on expenditures by a government-appointed trustee at the Batman Municipality.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
21 April: Turkish authorities, through the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, have put the assets of opposition broadcaster TELE1 up for sale following its takeover and the detention of its editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardağ.
23 April: Twenty elected mayors from Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party remain imprisoned and 25 have been suspended, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, following the 2024 local elections.
24 April: A group of 28 lawmakers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has called for Magnitsky-style sanctions against Turkish judicial officials over non-compliance with European Court of Human Rights rulings.
Kurdish Minority
24 April: A Turkish court in Batman gave Kurdish journalist Mehmet Üçar a suspended prison sentence of over one year on terrorism propaganda charges linked to his reporting for pro-Kurdish outlets.
23 April: Three Kurdish brothers were detained and allegedly beaten by police in Başkale following a traffic dispute.
Refugees and Migrants
22 April: A Palestinian woman, Esraa Mohammad Awad Aljamal, was sentenced in İstanbul for protest-related charges after demonstrating against U.S. support for Israel following remarks by Marco Rubio, and was placed in deportation proceedings upon release.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
21 April: A dismissed civil servant, İdris Ekinci, was hospitalized after a suicide attempt in Sakarya prison, with lawmaker Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu saying he had been unable to access prescribed depression medication.
Women’s Rights
22 April: A Turkish court jailed former Tunceli governor Tuncay Sonel on charges including evidence tampering in the investigation into the 2020 disappearance of university student Gülistan Doku, in a case that has led to multiple arrests, including his son, amid renewed scrutiny of the long-running probe.
