6-12 April 2026
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 140 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.
9 April: 24 people, mostly women, were arrested for providing Ramadan aid (food) to families of people allegedly affiliated to the Gülen 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
12 April: Police intervened against protesters attempting to march to the Justice Ministry following the arrest of Ümit Erkol, the Ankara provincial chair of the Republican People’s Party, dispersing the demonstration.
Freedom of Expression and Media
9 April: In Istanbul, comedian Tuba Ulu was detained over a stand-up joke about Suleiman the Magnificent, while authorities blocked access to all her X and YouTube accounts under national security grounds, a measure critics describe as disproportionate to the content in question.
10 April: In Turkey, 207 minors were convicted in 2025 under laws criminalizing insults against the president and state institutions, amid growing criticism that such provisions are used to restrict freedom of expression.
10 April: A court in Turkey has ordered the pretrial detention of union official Başaran Aksu on charges of inciting public hostility and spreading misleading information over social media posts criticizing the arrest of an environmental activist.
10 April: Prosecutors in Istanbul have opened an investigation into journalist Bahadır Özgür following a complaint by Financial Crimes Investigation Board over alleged disclosure of confidential state information in a 2022 article.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
9 April: Authorities have blocked access to the X accounts of several left-wing opposition groups, including the People’s Liberation Party, the Socialist Republican Party, the Communist Youth of Turkey and party leader Nurullah Efe Ankut, without providing an official explanation.
11 April: Courts in Turkey have jailed 11 of 59 people detained in operations targeting CHP (Republican People’s Party) municipalities in Üsküdar, Yenişehir, Bolu and Bornova, including Deputy Mayor Filiz Deveci, municipal executive Nazım Akkoyunlu, Deputy Mayor Leyla Beykoz and council member Aydan Özdemir, over alleged corruption and permit irregularities.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
8 April: Council of Forensic Medicine has ruled that Şefika Kandar, a 66-year-old Kurdish prisoner with chronic heart disease, high blood pressure and two recent heart attacks, remains fit for detention in Turkey despite her deteriorating health and limited mobility.
8 April: Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu has alleged serious rights violations at İzmir Şakran Women’s Prison, including denial of medical care, prolonged delays in treatment, strip-searches, and arbitrary restrictions on release, based on testimonies from inmates he met.
Women’s Rights
9 April: UN rapporteurs Reem Alsalem and Morris Tidball-Binz have raised concerns over flaws in the investigation into the death of student Rojin Kabaiş in Turkey and criticized legal provisions allowing early release for perpetrators of violence against women.
Gender Rights
9 April: Eleven leaders of the Genç LGBTI+ association are on trial in İzmir, facing up to three years in prison for allegedly violating “family values” and “obscenity” laws in Turkey.
