11-17 May 2026
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 82 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.
12 May: A 76-year-old former Turkish governor, Şehabettin Harput, was sent to prison after Turkey’s Court of Cassation upheld his eight-year, nine-month sentence based on his links with the Gülen movement through activities such as Bank Asya deposits, a university trusteeship and association-organized trips, despite recent ECtHR rulings criticizing the use of lawful past activities as evidence of terrorism.
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
12 May: A Turkish court acquitted BİRTEK-SEN president Mehmet Türkmen of spreading misleading information and ordered his release after 57 days in pretrial detention over remarks he made while defending workers’ rights during a factory protest in Gaziantep.
Freedom of Expression and Media
13 May: Journalist Sezer Küçükkurt was questioned and released in Afyonkarahisar on an “insulting the president” allegation after publishing a cartoon criticizing Mayor Burcu Köksal’s move from the CHP to the AKP, despite the cartoon not directly referring to President Erdoğan.
13 May: Turkish prosecutors have indicted detained journalist İsmail Arı and seek more than eight years in prison over his commentary and social media posts on Erdoğan family-linked foundations, alleged public fund transfers, judicial appointments and corruption claims in state institutions.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
12 May: A UN special rapporteur warned that Turkey’s opaque recruitment, interview, appointment, promotion and transfer practices for judges and prosecutors lack transparency, objective criteria and independent oversight, raising concerns over political influence and the right to a fair trial.
13 May: An İstanbul court rejected release requests for jailed mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and three co-defendants in a political espionage trial, keeping them in pretrial detention as they face up to 20 years in prison over allegations involving municipal data, campaign analytics and foreign intelligence links.
15 May: The ECtHR ruled that Turkey violated former Kurdish lawmaker Ayla Akat Ata’s rights to liberty and freedom of expression by detaining her in 2016 on terrorism-related charges without reasonable suspicion, largely over protected political activities, speeches and social media posts.
Kurdish Minority
14 May: A Van court sentenced Kurdish journalist Reyhan Hacıoğlu to four years and two months in prison for allegedly aiding a terrorist organization in a case rights advocates say relied on her broadcasts, interviews and journalistic contacts as evidence.
15 May: Turkish prosecutors have opened a terrorism propaganda investigation into pro-Kurdish JINNEWS editor Öznur Değer over social media posts containing her reporting, protest photographs and shared news articles.
15 May: Turkey’s parliament rejected a pro-Kurdish DEM Party proposal to investigate barriers to the public use of Kurdish, with the ruling AKP, the nationalist MHP and the İYİ Party voting against the motion.
Refugees and Migrants
13 May: The widow of Afghan migrant worker Vezir Mohammed Nourtani, whose burned body was found in Zonguldak in 2023 after a fatal incident at an unlicensed coal mine, says her family has been left without valid documents, healthcare, legal protection or state assistance despite the hardship faced by her children, two of whom have disabilities.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
14 May: Turkish police allegedly raided the wrong home in Bingöl, broke a minor’s arm and assaulted members of a Kurdish family, prompting an apology from police.
Women’s Rights
11 May: The We Will Stop Femicide Platform has brought Turkey’s 2021 withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention before the ECtHR, arguing that the presidential-decree withdrawal and the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of its challenge unlawfully weakened protections for women’s rights.
