ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 57 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.
June 5: A prison administration in Ankara has reportedly been denying parole to several political prisoners on arbitrary grounds such as “reading too many books,” “consuming too much water,” “meeting with the prison imam,” “not expressing regret for alleged crimes,” or “attending the open university while in prison.” The practice concerned inmates convicted due to their involvement in the Gülen movement or Kurdish political organizations.
June 5: The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) concluded in an opinion that the arrest and detention of a man named Muhammet Şentürk due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement was arbitrary and said such cases may constitute crimes against humanity. The opinion corroborated another opinion released in 2020.
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
June 6: District governorates in İstanbul banned two separate events organized to display films and documentaries on the occasion of LGBT pride month. One of the events, which was scheduled to take place at a foundation, met with obstruction by the police who briefly detained eight people.
June 6: A Batman court ruled to acquit jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş of charges related to his attendance in a Newroz event in 2016.
June 7: An Ankara court ruled to acquit eight people who stood trial for protesting Turkey’s withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention on combating violence against women.
June 9: The police in Ankara intervened in an LGBT pride march staged in a university campus, briefly detaining 15 people.
June 9: The police in Eskişehir intervened in a demonstration to protest religious interference in public schools, detaining eight people. The detainees were physically and verbally mistreated.
June 10: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration about those who disappeared in police custody in the 1990s, detaining 20 people.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
June 6: The police in Mersin detained a 16-year-old minor on insult charges for drawing shapes on a poster containing the president’s picture. The minor was later arrested by a court.
June 7: The police in Ankara detained Kurdish journalist Fırat Can Arslan on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. Arslan was released on June 10.
June 7: The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), the broadcasting regulator, imposed monetary fines on Fox TV, TELE1, Halk TV and Flash Haber channels for violating broadcasting guidelines during their coverage of elections.
June 7: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to OnlyFans, a subscription-based online platform, on the grounds that it featured obscenity.
June 7: An İzmir court ruled to acquit lawyer Aryen Turan who stood trial on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda in public remarks calling for an investigation into allegations that the Turkish military used chemical weapons in northern Iraq. Turan was briefly detained in November 2022 due to the investigation.
June 8: A Şanlıurfa court sentenced activist Emine Şenyaşar to pay a monetary fine on charges of insulting ruling party member İbrahim Halil Yıldız. Şenyaşar is known for her protests to seek justice for family members who were killed by Yıldız and his bodyguards.
June 8: An Ankara court ruled to acquit human rights defender Öztürk Türkdoğan who stood trial on charges of denigrating the nation due to a written statement calling for the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
June 8: An İzmir court ruled to acquit journalist Derya Saadet who stood trial on charges of insulting a public official on social media.
June 9: An İzmir court ruled to block access to a news report as well as two tweets about events that reportedly took place during a curfew in Mardin.
June 9: An İstanbul court ruled to acquit journalist Mehmet Baransu of charges of insulting the president as well as a number of public officials in a column. Baransu remains behind bars on other charges and convictions over his journalistic work.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
June 6: Airport customs police in İstanbul prevented the entry of Indian academic Mohan Ravichandran on the grounds that he constituted a “security threat.” Reports indicated that Ravichandran’s residence permit was revoked after he supported the protests against the government-appointed rector of Boğaziçi University.
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
June 6: An İstanbul court ruled to acquit human rights defenders Taner Kılıç, Özlem Dalkıran, İdil Eser and Günal Kurşun in a retrial after the Supreme Court of Appeals (Yargıtay) overturned their July 2020 convictions on terrorism-related charges due to alleged links to the Gülen movement.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
June 6: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Turkey violated the rights of imprisoned Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ by failing to respect the confidentiality of their meetings with their lawyers.
June 8: The Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Ministers decided to consider “further measures” in the event that Turkish authorities fail to release jailed civil society leader Osman Kavala by September. Kavala has been behind bars since 2017 on shifting charges, despite a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgment that found his detention was in pursuance of an “ulterior motive.” Turkey’s failure to implement the ECtHR order led to the CoE launching infringement proceedings against Turkey in February 2022.
June 8: Abu Hatem Shaqra, the commander of an active armed rebel group in Syria who is accused by the United Nations of committing possible war crimes, has reportedly graduated from a university in Turkey.
June 9: İstanbul prosecutors ordered the detention of four lawyers as part of an investigation into the Law Firm of the Oppressed (EHB).
KURDISH MINORITY
June 5: A Şanlıurfa court ruled to acquit local Kurdish politician Vahit Akgün who stood trial due to his involvement in pro-Kurdish political networks.
June 6: The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Turkey violated the rights of imprisoned Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ by failing to respect the confidentiality of their meetings with their lawyers.
June 7: The police in Ankara detained Kurdish journalist Fırat Can Arslan on charges of spreading terrorist propaganda. Arslan was released on June 10.
June 7: A real estate agency in Antalya annulled the tenancy agreement of two Kurdish university students after the police called their bureau and threatened.
June 8: A military vehicle in Hakkari fatally struck Erdem Aşkan, a five-year-old child. Such armored vehicle collisions are a frequent problem in the predominantly Kurdish provinces with more than 20 children losing their lives over the past 10 years.
June 8: The police in İzmir detained Dilan Karakoç, a member of the HDP’s youth network.
June 10: The police in Ağrı detained Müşerref Geçer and Emrah Kılıç, the co-mayors of a district in the province, as well as a municipal employee.
OTHER MINORITIES
June 6: District governorates in İstanbul banned two separate events organized to display films and documentaries on the occasion of LGBT pride month. One of the events, which was scheduled to take place at a foundation, met with obstruction by the police who briefly detained eight people.
PRISON CONDITIONS
June 9: A Kocaeli prison denied medical treatment to sick inmate Besiye Özel.
June 9: A Diyarbakır prison denied hospitalization to Fırat Nebioğlu, an inmate suffering from kidney failure, despite the availability of a donor.
June 11: Rights groups reported that Mücella Yapıcı, a human rights activist who is incarcerated in İstanbul, has decided to no longer go to the hospital due to the severe handcuffing during the transfers which cause bruises in her arms.
REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
June 8: A Moroccan migrant attempting to cross into Greece from Turkey was injured by gunfire.
June 9: Media reports indicated that Turkey halted medical visits from northern Syria, cutting life-saving care for seriously ill Syrians living in the region.
June 9: The National Security Council (MGK) in its first meeting after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s re-election reportedly discussed the “dignified” return of Syrian refugees. In recent years, the Turkish government has been accused by human rights groups of coercing migrants to sign voluntary repatriation documents.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
June 6: The police in Diyarbakır physically assaulted a 16-year-old minor who was in custody.
June 8: A prison doctor in Erzurum reportedly refused to refer sick inmate Serhat Karsu to the hospital and verbally assaulted him with the words “I am not sending you anywhere. If you will die, you will die here.”
June 9: The police in Şırnak mistreated a person during a house raid.
June 9: The police in Eskişehir physically and verbally mistreated eight people who were detained at a protest.
June 11: The police in Diyarbakır physically mistreated a man named Ali Çetinkaya who was taken into custody.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
June 6: A number of human rights defenders and NGOs across the world released a joint letter urging Interpol to do more to prevent the Turkish government’s misuse of its databases to target political dissidents abroad. The signatories included several MEPs, well-known human rights lawyers and jurists, and NGOs such as Statewatch, the Arrested Lawyers Initiative and the Norwegian Helsinki Committee.
June 8: The residents of Manbij in northern Syria staged a demonstration to protest the increasing number of Turkish airstrikes in the region, calling for an international no-fly zone.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
June 5: Men killed 38 women and inflicted violence on at least 61 others in May, according to a monthly gender-based violence report.