ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
July 14: The Council of Forensic Medicine issued a controversial report in which it stated that Aysel Tuğluk, a jailed Kurdish politician suffering from dementia, is fit to remain in prison.
July 15: Media reports indicated that since July 2016 Turkey’s authorities arbitrarily detained or arrested at least 80 pregnant women over their suspected links to the Gülen movement.
July 15: The police in İstanbul detained four minors for disrespecting a bust sculpture of the founder of the republic.
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
July 13: The police in Hatay intervened in a demonstration organized by leftist activists, detaining 24 people.
July 13: The police in İstanbul detained four activists who were handing out flyers.
July 14: The police in İstanbul intervened in a protest vigil outside a courthouse, briefly detaining six people.
July 14: The Giresun Governor’s Office banned a concert by Pontic Greek singer Apolas Lermi after he was the target of racist attacks on the media.
July 14: The Van Governor’s Office released a statement designating the vicinity of government offices as well as a number of streets as parks as localities categorically forbidden for demonstrations while lifting restrictions to assembly imposed in other areas in the province.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
July 11: Media reports indicated that an İzmir court ruled to block access to 17 online news articles about the death of a patient in a hospital in the province.
July 14: The police in Tunceli confiscated two books at a book fair, citing a court order.
July 14: The authorities launched criminal investigations into 22 social media users over their messages about the murder of a doctor by a patient’s relative.
July 16: The police detained two people in İzmir and Balıkesir over their social media messages on the occasion of the anniversary of a coup attempt.
July 16: The police in Tunceli detained journalist Azime Bozkurt at a road checkpoint. Bozkurt was released the next day.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
July 11: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Turkey failed to comply with a binding judgment of the court in December 2019 which found that civil society leader Osman Kavala’s detention violated his fundamental rights.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
July 11: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Turkey failed to comply with a binding judgment of the court in December 2019 which found that civil society leader Osman Kavala’s detention violated his fundamental rights.
KURDISH MINORITY
July 11: Kadri Devir, a HDP executive in Şanlıurfa, was arrested and sent to prison after appeals courts upheld his prison sentence.
July 16: The Constitutional Court ruled that the conviction of Kurdish politician Figen Yüksekdağ on terrorism charges violated her rights. Yüksekdağ was sentenced to 10 months in prison for participating in a funeral in 2012.
OTHER MINORITIES
July 14: The Giresun Governor’s Office banned a concert by Pontic Greek singer Apolas Lermi after he was the target of racist attacks on the media.
July 15: Unidentified assailants vandalized a Jewish cemetery in İstanbul.
July 16: Night watchmen in İzmir physically assaulted three trans women over an argument that erupted during an ID check.
PRISON CONDITIONS
July 11: A Diyarbakır prison confiscated letters sent by jailed journalists Mehmet Ali Ertaş, Serdar Altan and Zeynel Abidin Bulut.
July 11: A Manisa prison denied hospital visits to inmates who refused to undergo mouth searches.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
July 12: Forty-four human rights organizations and advocates, including our association, released a joint letter addressing European Union officials, asking them to take action to stop summary pushbacks of migrants on the Turkish-Greek border.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
July 11: Media reports indicated that the guards in a women’s prison in İzmir mistreated inmates and damaged their personal items.
July 14: The guards in a Diyarbakır prison strip-searched the spouse of jailed journalist Serdar Altan who was visiting.
July 16: Night watchmen in İzmir physically assaulted three trans women over an argument that erupted during an ID check.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
July 18: The Supreme Court of Sweden refused Turkey’s request to extradite a former principal who used to work at a school affiliated with the Gülen movement on the grounds that his actions do not constitute any elements of a crime under Swedish law. Ankara has been requesting the extradition of a number of political exiles as a precondition for greenlighting Stockholm's NATO membership bid.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
July 13: Turkey ranked 124th out of 146 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report 2022 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).