20-26 October 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.
21 October: Turkish authorities have detained 286 people and arrested 154 in a new nationwide crackdown on the alleged Gülen movement members during last month as Interior Minister announced, accusing them of social media activity, and the ByLock app, despite European Court rulings deeming such evidence insufficient for prosecution.
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 Expression and Media
22 October: A Turkish court convicted three BirGün journalists of insulting a public official over a report about İstanbul’s chief prosecutor.
22 October: A Turkish court sentenced journalist Asuman Aranca to a suspended 10-month prison term for publishing details from an expert report on the politically charged murder of far-right leader Sinan Ateş, a case exposing alleged political interference by ultra-nationalist party MHP figures and deep flaws in Turkey’s justice system.
24 October: Turkish authorities have launched investigations into journalists reporting on the suspicious 2024 death of university student Rojin Kabaiş and blocked access to coverage of related protests, with several reporters facing charges or social media bans.
Freedom of Religion
22 October: Turkey has been listed in the “discrimination” category of the Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025 by Aid to the Church in Need, which accuses the country of systematically targeting certain religious groups amid a global rise in repression, hate crimes, and digital surveillance of believers.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
21 October: Turkey’s Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced an investigation into CHP deputy group chair Ali Mahir Başarır for allegedly insulting President Erdoğan in a speech defending jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
23 October: Turkey’s parliament is set to grant the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) authority to instantly freeze suspicious bank accounts without judicial oversight, amid a wave of politically charged corporate seizures.
25 October: Turkish authorities have seized opposition broadcaster TELE1 and placed it under the control of the state-run TMSF following the arrest of its editor-in-chief, Merdan Yanardağ, on espionage charges linked to jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, while also appointing trustees to Can Holding and its affiliated media companies as part of an expanding government-led confiscation campaign against independent and opposition media.
27 October: İstanbul Mayor and opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu was re-arrested on charges of “political espionage,” alongside journalist Merdan Yanardağ and former campaign manager Necati Özkan.
Kurdish Minority
21 October: A Turkish court sentenced pro-Kurdish JINNEWS news director Öznur Değer to one year, two months and 15 days in prison on charges of “making continuous terrorist propaganda.”
23 October: A Turkish court has acquitted veteran Kurdish politician and former Mardin co-mayor Ahmet Türk of terrorism-related charges that led to his removal from office in 2024, ruling that his 2011 speech praising the Kurdish struggle fell within freedom of expression, as peace talks with the PKK continue and questions remain over whether he will be reinstated.
Other Minorities
21 October: Alliance Defending Freedom International (ADF International) has accused Turkey of expelling over 200 foreign Christian workers and their families—around 350 people—by misusing national security codes.
Prison Conditions
22 October: İstanbul Bar Association urged the government to end arbitrary detentions and parole denials as Turkey’s prison population reached 420,904—138 percent over capacity—amid widespread use of pretrial detention, systemic rights violations, and ongoing crackdowns on opposition figures, the Gülen movement, and Kurdish activists.
23 October: A new report by the Civil Society in the Penal System (CISST) shows that 822 children under six now live with their mothers in Turkey’s overcrowded prisons.
Refugees and Migrants
24 October: Seventeen people, including 16 migrants and a smuggler, drowned when an inflatable boat sank off the Turkish resort town of Bodrum in the Aegean Sea, while two survivors were rescued, in one of the latest deadly incidents on the perilous migration route to Greece.
