3-9 November 2025
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 209 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.
7 November: Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 67 people were arrested out of 178 detained in nationwide raids across 45 provinces as part of an intensified crackdown on the Gülen movement, facing charges deemed arbitrary and lacking evidence as previously ruled by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Arbitrary Depriviation of Life
3 November: A 14-year-old Syrian boy named Mustafa died after falling from a construction site in Şanlıurfa, highlighting Turkey’s persistent child labor problem, as rights groups report at least 72 child worker deaths in the past year.
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
7 November: Police detained 11 people during a protest held in front of Istanbul Technical University’s Gümüşsuyu Campus on November 6, 2025, marking the anniversary of Turkey’s Council of Higher Education (YÖK).
Freedom of Expression and Media
4 November: Turkish authorities have blocked access to journalist Serdar Akinan’s X account after he shared posts alleging misconduct and weapons possession by a youth foundation led by President Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan.
5 November: Two Turkish journalists, Sedef Kabaş and Hakan Dirik, each received 10-month suspended sentences in separate cases — Kabaş on accusations of spreading misleading information over a social media post quoting a fabricated remark attributed to the Central Bank governor, and Dirik for allegedly defaming a former justice minister in a 2015 report on opposition claims that Turkey sent chemicals to Syria.
6 November: Turkish prosecutors summoned six journalists, including prominent media figures Ruşen Çakır and Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, to give statements as suspects in an investigation linked to jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, accusing them of spreading false information and aiding a criminal organization.
8 November: An İstanbul court has ordered the arrest of Emrah Peküs, the social media user behind the “Piyasa Turkiye” account, for sharing a photo of Akın Gürlek, a pro-government İstanbul chief public prosecutor known for detaining opposition figures, and his wife, on charges of targeting counterterrorism officials and violating privacy.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
5 November: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) once again confirmed that Turkey violated the rights of individuals convicted over alleged links to the Gülen movement by recently rejecting Ankara’s request to refer to the Grand Chamber its July ruling that found 239 such convictions unlawful and upheld their right to retrial.
6 November: An İstanbul court has defied a Constitutional Court order to retry former city planner Tayfun Kahraman, convicted over the 2013 Gezi Park protests, drawing sharp criticism from legal experts who say the decision reflects Turkey’s deepening judicial crisis and disregard for constitutional authority.
6 November: Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation into opposition leader Özgür Özel for allegedly insulting President Erdoğan and pro-government prosecutor Akın Gürlek after Özel revealed that Gürlek, known for targeting opposition figures including Ekrem İmamoğlu, received salaries as a board member of a Turkish state company’s Luxembourg branch while serving as a public official.
6 November: Turkish police detained the CHP’s IT coordinator, O.G.E., as prosecutors expanded an investigation accusing İstanbul Municipality officials of unlawfully accessing and sharing voter data from millions of citizens amid an ongoing crackdown on opposition-run municipalities.
7 November: European Parliament rapporteur on Turkey Nacho Sanchez Amor said after the release of the European Commission’s 2025 Turkey report that the country is experiencing unprecedented democratic backsliding, citing the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, trials of minor girls on terrorism charges, and growing judicial subordination as evidence that Turkey’s EU accession process is “completely frozen.”
Kurdish Minority
5 November: An Ankara appeals court has upheld more than six-year prison sentences for seven Kurdish journalists from Mezopotamya Agency and JINNEWS on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization,” in a case widely seen as part of Turkey’s ongoing criminalization of Kurdish media and journalism.
Prison Conditions
7 November: A report by the Istanbul branch of the Progressive Lawyers Association (ÇHD) revealed systematic rights violations in Turkish high-security prisons, including prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, censorship, and arbitrary obstruction of parole, urging authorities to close “pit-type” facilities and ensure humane conditions.
Refugees and Migrants
4 November: The İzmir Bar Association held a press conference demanding justice for Micheal Adufu, a Ghanaian man who died after being denied medical care and brought unconscious to court in a garbage bag while in police custody, calling his death “a murder committed between the hospital, police, and courthouse.”
Women’s Rights
5 November: Nineteen women were murdered and 22 others died under suspicious circumstances in Turkey in October, according to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, which reported that most victims were killed by current or former partners amid ongoing criticism of lenient court rulings and the government’s 2021 withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.
