17-23 November 2025
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 95 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
22 December: 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
19 November: Students protesting security failures after a 15-year-old boy was found dead on the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University campus were met with a police blockade, with at least 10 students detained as officers also intervened against those trying to film the incident.
Freedom of Expression and Media
19 November: Prominent Turkish opposition figures and journalists say X is suppressing dissent through sudden drops in followers and post visibility, fueling allegations of shadow banning as jailed opposition candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu and others report unexplained restrictions.
19 November: Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to eight years in prison for ex-AKP lawmaker Hüseyin Kocabıyık on charges of repeatedly insulting President Erdoğan after he publicly criticized the ruling party’s patronage system, with his first hearing set for December 16.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
18 November: ECtHR ruled that Turkey violated Article 5 by detaining 86 alleged Gülen movement supporters after the 2016 coup attempt without sufficient evidence, ordering €243,000 in compensation as Ankara continues its decade-long crackdown despite repeated Strasbourg judgments.
20 November: Turkish prosecutors have opened new investigations against opposition-run municipalities, including a probe accusing former Tunceli mayor Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu of causing 86.6 million lira in public losses through allegedly unauthorized hiring—a move he and critics say is part of a broader politically motivated campaign.
Other Minorities
21 November: A new global report warns that religious minorities in Turkey face rising hostility, documenting hate speech, attacks on holy sites and state policies favoring Sunni Islam while placing the country among 38 nations with systemic discrimination.
Prison Conditions
18 November: Turkey’s prison population has surged to 428,267 — 40 percent over capacity — with rising numbers of minors and children behind bars, making the country Europe’s leader in incarceration as mass detentions linked to the post-2016 crackdown continue despite rapid prison expansion.
23 November: A mass food-poisoning incident at Sakarya’s Open Prison left 266 inmates ill after a dinner reportedly involving canned fish, with 14 still hospitalized and authorities saying no serious cases have been detected as investigations continue.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
19 November: An 88-year-old educator jailed over alleged Gülen movement links, Uğur Öztaş, has been left paralyzed after neglected medical care in prison, prompting renewed outrage over Turkey’s treatment of critically ill inmates.
Transnational Repression
20 November: Sweden has rejected Turkey’s extradition request for exiled journalist Abdullah Bozkurt, ruling that Ankara’s terrorism-related accusations tied to the Gülen movement are not punishable under Swedish law, a decision taken after the Supreme Court found legal obstacles despite Turkey’s pressure during NATO negotiations.
Women’s Rights
19 November: A Turkish prosecutor has opened an Article 301 investigation into seven women’s and LGBTQ+ rights activists over slogans chanted during an İstanbul protest against a new bill criminalizing LGBTQ+ identity.
