21-27 July 2025
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 8 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.
22 July: Turkish MP Mustafa Yeneroğlu has drawn attention to the plight of three female former air force cadets serving life sentences since 2016 despite no proven coup involvement, calling their imprisonment a deep injustice.
26 July: Turkish authorities arrested 24 people and placed 26 under judicial supervision for allegedly rebuilding the Gülen movement, amid a broader crackdown that has seen over 126,000 convictions since 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
23 July: A Turkish court ordered the continued pretrial detention of 13 young protesters arrested during a mass rally supporting jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, as prosecutors indicted 35 people, including a journalist, for defying police orders and allegedly insulting the president.
23 July: At least 16 protesters were detained in İstanbul for allegedly insulting President Erdoğan during a pro-Palestinian demonstration against the IDEF 2025 arms fair, which activists criticized for hosting companies supplying weapons to Israel.
26 July: 10 members of the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TİP), including party council member Arzum Yalçın, were briefly detained on charges of “insulting the president” over slogans chanted during a CHP rally in İstanbul.
Freedom of Expression and Media
22 July: Journalists Gençağa Karafazlı and Şenol Öksüz were briefly detained over a report alleging that Rize’s education director renovated his office with a private toilet and lounge using public funds.
24 July: Turkey’s media watchdog RTÜK imposed a five-day broadcasting ban and hefty fines on opposition-linked TELE1 over coup-related remarks.
Freedom of Religion
22 July: Turkish authorities sealed the Ankara headquarters and three offices of the anti-government Furkan Foundation over alleged unlicensed activities, prompting clashes and protests as leader Alparslan Kuytul condemned the move as politically motivated repression of dissenting religious voices.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
22 July: The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey violated the rights of 239 individuals by convicting them for acts that did not constitute crimes (violation of the principle of ‘no punishment without law’), in unfair trials based on flawed evidence—issuing the judgment as a follow-up to the landmark Yalçınkaya decision.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
23 July: Human rights groups in Turkey have demanded the immediate release of seriously ill inmate Fatma Tokmak, warning that denying her critical medical care despite court rulings and a European Court of Human Rights judgment amounts to institutionalized cruelty and endangers her life, as she suffers from advanced cardiac disease, hypertension, asthma, and has yet to receive surgery despite undergoing five angiographies.
26 July: Nine-months pregnant Merve Zayım, sentenced to 6 years and 3 months over alleged Gülen links, was arrested in Edirne on July 3 despite being due to give birth within days, sparking outrage over the risk of her giving birth in prison.
