ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 25 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.
July 28: Media reports revealed that Mustafa Said Türk, an 86-year-old man who became bedridden after suffering a brain hemorrhage in 2018, faces prison since his 10-year sentence over links to the Gülen movement was recently upheld by the top appeals court.
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 24: Gendarmes in Muğla intervened in an environmental protest against the construction of a coal mine in a forested area, briefly detaining eight activists. Three more were detained in the same protest the next day. The protests continued on July 26 and four more protesters were detained. Gendarmes detained 24 people on July 29 and one more on July 30.
July 24: The İstanbul Governor’s Office banned a march aimed at drawing attention to the suppression of the Kurdish language and Kurds’ longstanding demand for access to education in their mother tongue.
July 27: The Sinop Governor’s Office banned a camping event scheduled to take place between August 3 to 6.
July 28: The Tunceli Governor’s Office issued a ban on all outdoor gatherings for a day.
July 29: The police in İstanbul intervened in a demonstration about those who disappeared in custody in the 1990s, detaining 50 activists.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
July 24: An İstanbul court ruled to block access to six online censorship reports.
July 24: An İstanbul court ruled to acquit Mahir Akkoyun, a man who was indicted on charges of insulting the president for designing stickers that hold him responsible for high prices in stores. Akkoyun was briefly detained in April.
July 24: The Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) released its 2022 annual report on internet censorship in Turkey which found that the Constitutional Court became an “entirely ineffective” mechanism for domestic remedy. The report found that over 137,000 URLs were censored in 2022.
July 25: The police across the country detained journalists Delal Akyüz, Fırat Can Arslan, Sibel Yükler, Evrim Kepenek, and Evrim Deniz on charges of “targeting a public official involved in the fight against terrorism,” due to their social media posts about a judge-prosecutor couple who were involved in the investigation and prosecution of Kurdish journalists. Arslan was arrested after appearing in court the same day while the other four were released on judicial probation.
July 27: İstanbul prosecutors indicted journalist Ayça Söylemez on charges of “targeting a public official involved in the fight against terrorism,” over an article she wrote about the rulings of a former judge who convicted journalists and politicians.
July 27: The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) imposed fines on streaming platforms Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Mubi, beIN Connect, and BluTV for content “contrary to societal and cultural values and the Turkish family structure.”
July 28: A Diyarbakır court ruled to block access to a news report about the replacement of a judge and her prosecutor husband that led to the detention of five journalists on July 25.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
July 24: The Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) released its 2022 annual report on internet censorship in Turkey which found that the Constitutional Court became an “entirely ineffective” mechanism for domestic remedy.
KURDISH MINORITY
July 24: The İstanbul Governor’s Office banned a march aimed at drawing attention to the suppression of the Kurdish language and Kurds’ longstanding demand for access to education in their mother tongue.
July 25: The police across the country detained journalists Delal Akyüz, Fırat Can Arslan, Sibel Yükler, Evrim Kepenek, and Evrim Deniz on charges of “targeting a public official involved in the fight against terrorism,” due to their social media posts about a judge-prosecutor couple who were involved in the investigation and prosecution of Kurdish journalists. Arslan was arrested after appearing in court the same day while the other four were released on judicial probation.
July 25: A Şanlıurfa court acquitted former district co-mayor Hatice Çevik of terrorism-related charges. Elected from the ranks of the HDP, Çevik was one of the dozens of Kurdish mayors who was summarily removed from office by the Interior Ministry.
PRISON CONDITIONS
July 25: Reports claimed that an Adana prison was supplying inmates with unhygienic water.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
July 25: Soldiers in Hakkari physically mistreated four people grazing their sheep in a rural area.
July 25: An Eskişehir prison did not deliver letters sent to an inmate named Müslüm Koyun and restricted Koyun’s visitation rights.
July 27: The guards in a Şırnak prison physically assaulted inmate Sinan Ülger.
July 28: Reports indicated that journalist Fırat Can Arslan was placed in solitary confinement in the Ankara prison where he is incarcerated. Arslan was arrested earlier in the week due to a news report alleging a conflict of interest in the case of a judge-prosecutor couple.
July 29: The guards in a Mersin prison strip-searched inmate Raziye Söner. The prison administration also placed her in a one-person cell.
July 30: Haluk Özsoy, an activist who was detained at an environmental protest in Muğla, announced that he was physically assaulted and verbally threatened by gendarmes who detained him.