Arbitrary Detention and Arrest
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 10 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 Gülen-linked mass detentions since the failed coup in July 2016.
30 October: Turkish police detained 10 people across three provinces over alleged links to the Gülen movement, as part of continuing investigations in which authorities have treated alleged organizational associations and activities as grounds for criminal prosecution.
Enforced Disappearances
No news has emerged of Yusuf Bilge Tunç, a former public sector worker dismissed during the 2016–2018 state of emergency and reported missing in August 2019, in a string of suspected enforced disappearances of government critics since 2016.
Freedom of Assembly and Association
26 October: An İstanbul court jailed, (and released after 3 days) university students Nehir Dizdar and Nevin Tekin pending trial on allegations of threatening Education Minister Yusuf Tekin after they displayed a protest banner demanding his resignation.
27 October: A Turkish appeals court upheld prison sentences against 10 trade unionists and civil society activists for participating in a 2015 demonstration promoting a peace rally in Ankara, despite their lawyer’s argument that the gathering was peaceful and constituted an exercise of the right to assembly.
28 October: İstanbul police detained four university students who protested the imprisonment of two fellow students arrested over a banner calling for the education minister’s resignation, with a court subsequently releasing them under judicial supervision, including reporting requirements and travel restrictions.
Freedom of Expression and Media
27 October: Turkish police detained Sözcü editors Ercüment İşleyen and Tuğba Nur Çelik for questioning after their newspaper mistakenly identified two imprisoned university students as high-school students, opening an investigation into alleged dissemination of misleading information before releasing both journalists.
28 October: Türkiye’s broadcasting regulator fined Sözcü TV and Koza TV 1 and 2 percent of their previous month’s advertising revenues, respectively, over broadcasts discussing the imprisonment of journalist Murat Ağırel and allegations concerning an investment-fund scandal involving government figures.
30 October: Turkish prosecutors sought more than five years in prison for journalist İsmail Arı over social-media statements concerning a former broadcasting regulator chief, extending the criminal proceedings against the BirGün reporter, who was already being held in pretrial detention.
31 October: An İstanbul court blocked access to the latest website domain of the Kurdish newspaper Yeni Yaşam on national security and public order grounds, adding to a series of previous restrictions that had forced the publication to continue its online reporting through alternative addresses.
Judicial Independence & Rule of Law
27 October: Türkiye’s main opposition New Party announced plans to challenge a domestic court decision removing CHP’s former chairman Özgür Özel from the party leadership before the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that judicial intervention in its internal leadership process violated political participation and party autonomy.
29 October: A Turkish court released suspended Üsküdar mayor Sinem Dedetaş from prison after approximately 90 days in pretrial detention and placed her under house arrest, while the corruption investigation against her and the restrictions preventing her return to elected office remained in effect.
31 October: A Turkish court jailed Denizli’s Merkezefendi municipality mayor Şeniz Doğan (New Party), her husband and three other suspects pending trial in a municipal corruption investigation involving allegations of bribery, abuse of office and bid rigging, while several other suspects were released under judicial supervision.
1 November: Human rights defender Osman Kavala completed nine years in prison despite European Court of Human Rights judgments finding violations of his rights and requiring his release, as Turkish authorities continued to keep him incarcerated following his 2017 detention.
Kurdish Minority
29 October: A Turkish court sentenced 11 people, including performers and technical personnel, to 10 months in prison each on terrorism-propaganda charges stemming from their participation in a March 2025 Kurdish Newroz celebration, with the defendants denying that their activities promoted terrorism.
30 October: Turkish police detained Kurdish poet and playwright Tekin Ağacık at İstanbul Airport after Estonia rejected his asylum applications and returned him to Türkiye, where he faced questioning over terrorism-related allegations and social-media activity that he denied constituted involvement in terrorism.
Prison Conditions
28 October: A Turkish court upheld prison authorities’ refusal to permit weekend family visits for imprisoned preacher Alparslan Kuytul, reversing an earlier arrangement that allowed his children to visit without missing school because of the long journey to the prison.
29 October: Human rights and legal organizations reported that 38 prisoners, including seven with serious illnesses, were held in two Adana prisons, describing alleged obstacles to timely hospital transfers, diagnosis and medical treatment, as well as disputes over searches during transfers to healthcare facilities.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
26 October: Prison authorities reportedly confiscated medically necessary protective gloves belonging to prisoner Hayati Deniz Kaytan in Bolu Prison despite documented serious tissue damage to his hands, prompting his lawyer to allege psychological ill-treatment and interference with his medical needs.
Transnational Repression
27 October: Newly disclosed Turkish police documents reportedly revealed surveillance of government critics participating in demonstrations in Norway, Finland and Denmark, with information identifying alleged Gülen movement supporters allegedly forwarded to Turkish authorities for use in domestic criminal investigations.
Women’s Rights
30 October: Women’s rights platform EŞİK announced that proposed restrictions on poverty alimony had been removed from Türkiye’s 13th Judicial Reform Package following objections from women’s organizations, while warning that other proposed measures concerning divorce procedures and family mediation continued to raise concerns about women’s legal protections.
