10-16 November 2025
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 50 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.
16 November: Merve Saydan was jailed in Eskişehir with her one-year-old baby on Gülen movement-related accusations based on evidence the ECtHR has already deemed unlawful, in a context where Turkey is expected to implement the court’s binding rulings.
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
13 November: Turkey blocked the X account used to promote jailed opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu’s presidential campaign on national security grounds, extending a broader wave of digital censorship targeting critics and protest-related content.
14 November: Freedom House’s 2025 assessment ranked Turkey among the world’s steepest long-term internet freedom decliners, giving it a score of 31/100 and highlighting intensified censorship, connectivity restrictions, surveillance and sweeping new cybersecurity powers used to suppress dissent.
Human Rights Defenders
14 November: Prosecutors closed an investigation into sexist and threatening social media posts targeting rights lawyer Eren Keskin, prompting DEM Party MP Ayşegül Doğan to warn in parliament that the decision reinforces impunity for attacks on women and human rights defenders.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
10 November: Independent lawmaker Mustafa Yeneroğlu accused Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç of misleading the public about Turkey’s ECtHR compliance, noting that the country has implemented only 68 percent of leading cases and still has 448 unexecuted judgments despite being the Council of Europe’s top violator.
Kurdish Minority
13 November: A Turkish prison board again rejected probation for ousted Pro-Kurdish Diyarbakır mayor Selçuk Mızraklı despite his eligibility, citing his refusal to declare “disassociation” from a terrorist organization, a practice critics say is used arbitrarily to keep political prisoners behind bars.
14 November: A Turkish court gave Kurdish journalist Rahime Karvar a suspended sentence of over two years for aiding a terrorist organization based on her work moderating a Medya Haber TV program.
Refugees and Migrants
15 November: Human Rights Watch reported that Turkey is increasingly cancelling Uyghurs’ residency, assigning arbitrary restriction codes and deporting some to third countries despite the risk of refoulement to China, leaving the country’s estimated 50,000-strong Uyghur community no longer feeling safe.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
12 November: Pro-Kurdish DEM Party lawmakers demanded a parliamentary investigation after a 17-year-old girl in pretrial detention alleged intimidation and a sexualized threat from a prison director.
12 November: Abdullah Tırpan, a 72-year-old man imprisoned over alleged links to the Gülen movement, has repeatedly collapsed in his cell due to severe chronic illness, raising fears he could die in prison as Turkish authorities continue to deny release on medical grounds.
13 November: Social media users launched a campaign to demand the release of Deniz Gündoğdu, a mother jailed with her 16-month-old daughter over alleged Gülen movement links despite a pending retrial, highlighting harsh prison conditions and the hundreds of young children currently growing up behind bars in Turkey.
14 November: Lawyers say two women in Erzincan Women’s Prison were denied medical access because gendarmes refused to remove their handcuffs, insisting on restraints due to their terrorism charges even though the doctor said he could not categorize patients by alleged crimes.
15 November: Turkey saw at least 3,254 torture or ill-treatment cases in 2024, alongside widespread protest bans, arbitrary detentions, harsh prison conditions, discriminatory attacks and expanding restrictions on expression, according to the Human Rights Association’s annual report.