6-12 October 2025
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 22 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
9 October: The Tokat Governor’s Office announced on October 9, 2025, a three-day ban on all demonstrations, marches, press statements, protests, meetings, sit-ins, hunger strikes, commemorations, and similar public events across the province.
Freedom of Expression and Media
9 October: Turkish authorities blocked access to the X account of the critical news site Sendika.org on grounds of “national security and public order,” marking the 65th ban against the outlet since 2001 despite previous Constitutional Court rulings upholding its right to free expression.
7 October: Former AKP lawmaker Hüseyin Kocabıyık was jailed after publicly accusing President Erdoğan and the ruling party of favoritism and patronage, with prosecutors charging him under Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code for allegedly insulting the president.
8 October: YouTube has blocked the channel of exiled journalist Ahmet Nesin following a complaint reportedly filed by Turkish authorities, amid ongoing efforts by Ankara to silence critics abroad and prosecute dissent under laws such as Article 299 on insulting the president.
10 October: An Istanbul court fined journalist Melisa Gülbaş 7,080 Turkish lira ($220) for allegedly insulting a public official in her 2023 article about Boğaziçi University’s trustee administration, convicting her under Article 125/3 of the Turkish Penal Code.
10 October: Abdurrahman Gök, known for photographing the 2017 killing of Kurdish university student Kemal Kurkut by police during Newroz celebrations in Diyarbakır, faces a fourth indictment filed by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on charges of membership in the PKK, based on a 2022 secret witness statement, with the case merged into his ongoing terrorism trial and the next hearing set for November 25.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
10 October: Former Nilüfer district mayor Turgay Erdem of Turkey’s main opposition CHP was detained with 20 others in a Bursa-based bribery and money laundering probe, with prosecutors accusing him of leading a criminal organization and police conducting raids across three provinces. The CHP has been under mounting government pressure by means of judiciary since October of last year.
Refugees and Migrants
10 October: Kurdish human rights activist Soran Aram, who holds UN refugee status and has been approved for resettlement in Canada, was detained in Ankara and sent to a repatriation center, where he now faces possible deportation to Iran, where he was previously sentenced to death.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
9 October: Pregnant woman Leyla Arslan, five months along and convicted over alleged links to the Gülen movement, has been jailed in Edirne despite Turkish law mandating suspension of sentences for expectant mothers, with her husband warning that her high-risk pregnancy poses serious health dangers.
Women’s Rights
9 October: UN special rapporteurs have raised concerns over Turkey’s alleged suppression of women’s rights defenders, citing misuse of counterterrorism and penal laws against activists from groups such as the We Will Stop Femicide Platform and Rosa Women’s Association, and urging the government to align its legislation with international human rights standards.
