Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 124 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.
15 September: Turkish police detained 39 people, including SYKP co-chair Mertcan Titiz, in raids on 42 homes across 11 provinces as part of an investigation based on an informant’s statement targeting people with past involvement in socialist political organizations.
16 September: Turkish authorities detained 60 people, including 22 civil servants, over alleged links to the Gülen movement in an investigation into marriages that authorities claim were arranged for movement-linked public employees.
18 September: Turkish authorities detained 21 people in İzmir on allegations of links to the Gülen movement and providing humanitarian assistance to people in need, while warrants were issued for five others.
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.
19 September: DEM Party MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu reported that former soldier Bora Arslanoğlu, dismissed by emergency decree and later acquitted in his trial, had been missing since 15 September, while Ankara police said he was not in custody.
Freedom of Assembly and Association
17 September: Turkish authorities released 106 people detained while protesting raids targeting the LGBTQ community, while courts remanded dozens of LGBTQ activists and others in custody, including 20 in İstanbul, 13 in Ankara and 28 in Mersin.
Freedom of Expression and Media
14 September: A Turkish court ordered dozens of X and Instagram accounts belonging to Amnesty International Turkey, rights groups, journalists, academics and LGBTQ activists to be blocked on national security and public order grounds.
15 September: Turkish authorities detained journalist Mehmet Andaç over a report on allegations that a businessman sexually abused two 15-year-old boys in Gelibolu, accusing him of violating the confidentiality of an investigation before releasing him after questioning.
16 September: A Turkish court convicted mountaineer and AKUT founder Nasuh Mahruki of inciting hatred after he described the 2016 coup attempt as “controlled,” alleging that authorities had known about the plot in advance and allowed it to proceed, and gave him a suspended one-year sentence.
16 September: Turkish authorities blocked access to “Şeytantepe,” a documentary questioning the investigation and trial over the murder of 8-year-old Narin Güran, on national security and public order grounds, and the film was also removed from YouTube after receiving 2.9 million views.
18 September: Turkish academic Suay Karaman went on trial on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over a social media post in which he contrasted a quote attributed to Erdoğan about Islam with his own emphasis on honest people, dignity and the homeland.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
19 September: The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers reiterated its call on Turkey to use all available means to secure the immediate release of jailed Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ in line with ECtHR judgments.
16 September: Applications involving Turkey accounted for 41 percent of all cases pending before the European Court of Human Rights at the end of August, with 23,850 of the court’s 58,100 pending applications concerning Turkey.
16 September: A Turkish court arrested 29 people, including two city council members, pending trial in a bribery investigation into the CHP-run Seferihisar Municipality involving alleged irregularities in construction and zoning procedures.
16 September: Turkey ranked 149th out of 173 countries for rule of law in International IDEA’s 2026 Global State of Democracy report and was classified as a low performer in corruption control, judicial independence, personal integrity and security, and predictable enforcement of laws.
18 September: Turkish authorities jailed Üsküdar deputy mayor and CHP council member Amine Cansu Çelik pending trial over alleged irregularities in building and occupancy permits, days before a repeat council vote that returned control of the municipality to the AKP.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
17 September: Turkish authorities continued to hold 62-year-old seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Elçe despite medical reports stating that he cannot remain in prison and cannot live independently; he has had his stomach removed, suffered a brain hemorrhage and has a 93 percent disability.
17 September: Turkish prison authorities confiscated the hearing aid of businessman Erol Boydak, who has 50 percent hearing loss and is imprisoned over alleged Gülen movement links, citing the device’s Bluetooth capability.
Gender Rights
18 September: The UN human rights office urged Turkey to immediately release people it said had been arbitrarily detained in a nationwide crackdown on the LGBTQ community, citing reports of mass arrests, ill-treatment in detention and risks to civic space.
