19-25 January 2026
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.
24 January: A Turkish court sentenced a man to seven-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly transferring money to families of people jailed over purported links to the Gülen movement, a verdict critics say exemplifies Turkey’s post-2016 practice of criminalizing humanitarian assistance to relatives of detainees accused of ties to the movement.
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
23 January: The Diyarbakır Governor’s Office banned all assemblies, marches, press statements and related protest activities across the province and restricted entry and exit of people and vehicles deemed to be coming for demonstrations for four days between January 23 and 26, 2026.
20 January: Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said prosecutors have launched investigations into 356 people protesting clashes in Syria involving the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, with 35 arrests, 45 releases under judicial supervision, and dozens still in custody, as protests spread across Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast.
Freedom of Expression and Media
21 January: Many journalists’ and media outlets’ social media accounts reporting on developments in Syria were blocked on grounds of national security and public order and rendered inaccessible in Turkey by X, including accounts belonging to MP Kamuran Tanhan, former MP Ferhat Encü, and Amedspor supporter groups.
21 January: French journalist Raphaël Boukandoura was released after being detained in İstanbul while covering a pro-Kurdish protest for Libération, after being taken into custody on Monday and briefly transferred to a migrant detention center while facing possible deportation.
23 January: A Turkish court ordered journalist Furkan Karabay to be placed under house arrest pending trial over accusations of disseminating misleading information linked to his reporting for Medyascope on the indictment of jailed İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
23 January: Five journalists — Heval Önkol, Pelşin Çetinkaya, Kesira Önel, Ferhat Akıncı and Muhammed Ali Yılmaz — who were detainedwhile covering a pro-Rojava protest in Nusaybin, Mardin, on January 21 were released after giving statements to prosecutors.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
23 January: A Turkish court sentenced Ahmet Özer, the CHP mayor of İstanbul’s Esenyurt district, to more than six years in prison on terrorism charges over alleged links to the PKK, in a case prosecutors tied to an alleged opposition “urban consensus” strategy ahead of local elections.
Kurdish Minority
22 January: The International Press Institute urged Turkish authorities to release Kurdish journalist Nedim Oruç, a reporter for Ajansa Welat, who was arrested on terrorism-related charges over his reporting while covering protests in Şırnak.
23 January: A Turkish court sentenced Kurdish journalist Serdar Altan to one-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly disseminating terrorist propaganda based on social media posts, reinstating a conviction previously overturned for violating freedom of expression.
Prison Conditions
21 January: The European Court of Human Rights held that Turkey’s blanket restrictions on prisoners’ weekend visits and telephone calls, which prevented regular contact with their school-age children, and the uploading of a prisoner’s private correspondence to the UYAP system without adequate safeguards were neither necessary nor proportionate, thus violating Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and warranting compensation.
Refugees and Migrants
20 January:Turkish authorities barred Uyghur man Erkin Hamut from re-entering Turkey after a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia by enforcing an undisclosed security ban at İstanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen Airport, despite his long-term residence permit, lack of criminal record, and years of lawful residence.
Women’s Rights
25 January: Police in İstanbul detained three Uzbek suspects after the mutilated body of a 37-year-old Uzbek woman was found in a trash bin in Şişli, an incident that triggered mass protests by women’s rights groups in İstanbul and Ankara over femicide, impunity, and violence against women.
