8-14 June 2026
Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 85 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.
8 June: The European Court of Human Rights has asked Turkey to respond to allegations that 154 people accused of Gülen movement links after the 2016 coup attempt were held in lengthy pretrial detention without reasonable suspicion, sufficient judicial grounds or effective remedies.
12 June: A Turkish court has jailed 33 female university students pending trial over alleged links to the Gülen movement, after prosecutors treated shared housing, travel, financial support and social contacts as evidence in an İzmir-based investigation spanning 12 provinces.
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
10 June: Journalist Elvan Yılmaz filed a criminal complaint against Erdoğan’s ruling party (AKP) Çorum Central District Chair Mustafa Alagöz, alleging that Alagöz threatened to kill him over reports about possible party leadership changes, in what Yılmaz described as an attack on his journalistic work.
11 June: Turkey’s broadcast regulator RTÜK fined Sözcü TV for airing opposition leader Özgür Özel’s remarks about Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, a sanction criticized by an opposition regulator member as political interference.
Human Rights Defenders
10 June: Turkish authorities have authorized an investigation into İzmir Bar Association President Sefa Yılmaz and board members over human rights reports on alleged prison abuse and their support for protests after İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s arrest, raising renewed concerns over pressure on bar associations and legal independence.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
12 June: Turkish police detained CHP-run Silivri Mayor Bora Balcıoğlu and 16 others in a corruption investigation, amid a widening wave of judicial operations targeting opposition municipalities.
8 June: Turkish ministries failed to answer nearly one-third of written parliamentary questions submitted during the current legislative term, with only 14 percent answered on time.
10 June: Turkish prosecutors are seeking up to 402 years in prison for jailed CHP Bursa Mayor Mustafa Bozbey on corruption and organized crime charges, in a case opposition figures describe as part of a wider judicial crackdown on opposition-run municipalities.
11 June: The assets of private companies managed by Turkey’s state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund have surged more than fourfold in one year, reaching 880 billion lira as court-appointed trusteeship expands amid criminal investigations and continuing concerns over property rights and due process.
Kurdish Minority
10 June: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey violated the rights of Kurdish politicians Gültan Kışanak and Sebahat Tuncel by detaining them in 2016 without reasonable suspicion, also finding that Tuncel’s detention aimed to silence opposition and restrict political debate.
10 June: A Turkish court has given Kurdish journalist Erdoğan Alayumat a suspended 15-month sentence on terrorism propaganda charges while acquitting him and two other journalists of terrorist organization membership, in a case rights advocates view as part of Turkey’s broader use of terrorism laws against media workers covering the Kurdish issue.
11 June: Kurdish students at Ankara University’s Cebeci Campus said they were subjected to a second racist attack by a group identifying itself with the Grey Wolves movement and were assaulted again while being escorted out by police, warning that their lives were not safe on campus.
Other Minorities
12 June: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I has urged Turkey and Greece not to treat their minority communities as hostages to political disputes, while expressing hope that İstanbul’s long-closed Halki Seminary may be allowed to reopen after restoration work is completed in September.
Refugees and Migrants
11 June: Thirty Iranian seasonal workers, including women, were allegedly beaten in Turkey’s Rize province after demanding unpaid tea-harvest wages, highlighting ongoing concerns over migrant labor exploitation, wage theft and access to justice.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
12 June: Turkey’s Interior Ministry has opened an inquiry into jailed İstanbul municipal executive Fatoş Pınar Türker’s allegations that she was subjected to a strip-search and threatened through her children while in custody, after police denied the claims.
