27 July – 2 August 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.
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
30 July: Turkish gendarmes detained around 20 people, including five 14-year-olds and a 90-year-old woman, after residents blocked heavy machinery from entering a disputed mining exploration site in Ordu’s Turnalık highlands.
30 July: Police detained 54 miners and trade unionists who chained themselves outside Yıldızlar SSS Holding’s headquarters in Ankara while demanding unpaid wages, overtime compensation and severance payments from Doruk Mining.
Freedom of Expression and Media
27 July: Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation into BirGün reporter Ebru Çelik and other journalists over a report alleging that people were paid to pose as supporters at an event held by the court-reinstated CHP leadership under Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
30 July: An Ankara court blocked access to YouTuber Halil İbrahim Balsak’s website and a video explaining presidential security arrangements, citing national security and public order without publicly identifying the allegedly threatening content.
31 July: An İstanbul court blocked access to the İstanbul Yargılıyor platform, which reports allegations, defenses and live developments from the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality trial, citing national security and public order.
1 August: Pro-government journalist Cem Küçük was jailed pending trial in İstanbul for allegedly spreading misleading information during television broadcasts, while separate allegations that he received financial benefits from businesspeople remain under investigation.
Freedom of Religion
29 July: An unidentified assailant or assailants damaged the Hacı Kureyş Shrine, a sacred Alevi site in Gaziantep visited by thousands annually, prompting an investigation and concerns from Alevi groups about systematic attacks on their places of worship.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
30 July: Turkey’s Constitutional Court ruled that a conviction based primarily on alleged ByLock messaging app use in Gülen Movement cases did not violate the principle of no punishment without law, despite the ECtHR’s landmark finding that Turkey’s treatment of such evidence created an unlawful presumption of guilt (Yalçınkaya v Türkiye).
30 July: Turkish police detained Etimesgut Mayor Erdal Beşikçioğlu and dozens of municipal officials and contractors in a corruption investigation, the latest operation targeting opposition-run CHP municipalities.
1 August: An İstanbul court jailed Üsküdar Mayor Sinem Dedetaş and three others pending trial on corruption and organized-crime charges, in the latest investigation targeting municipalities governed by the opposition CHP.
Kurdish Minority
28 July: Two Kurdish shopkeepers were hospitalized after allegedly being beaten for more than 30 minutes by a large group shouting anti-Kurdish insults in İstanbul, while their family says they continue to face threats to withdraw their complaints and leave the neighborhood.
28 July: Kurdish journalist Fermandar Kardeş was detained on terrorism-related accusations over a report about the alleged abduction and coercion of a pro-Kurdish party member, then released under judicial supervision with a travel ban.
28 July: The family of a 17-year-old Kurdish girl who suffered two leg fractures after being struck by an armored police vehicle in Yüksekova accused police of pressuring them through tribal elders to withdraw their complaint.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
28 July: Jailed İstanbul municipal executive Fatoş Pınar Türker, who suffers from a serious heart condition, reportedly lost consciousness and struck her head in prison but was not taken to a hospital, prompting her lawyer to request urgent medical examination and cancellation of a planned transfer.
