ARBITRARY DETENTION AND ARREST
Throughout the week, prosecutors ordered the detention of at least 47 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.
25 October: Turkish police have detained 12 people in Ankara over their alleged links to the Gülen movement.
ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE
24 October: A gun attack on the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TUSAŞ) facility in Ankara's Kazan district resulted in the deaths of 5 civilians, with 22 people injured, including 12 police officers and 10 civilians.
24 October: 88-year-old Adem Cirit, who was imprisoned for the past three years in Yalvaç T-Type Prison after being convicted of 6 years and 3 months on charges of terrorist organization membership on the grounds of providing scholarships to students and having an account at Bank Asya, passed away in prison.
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
23 October: 16 people, including the President of the Araklı Karadere Valley and Highlands Nature and Wildlife Conservation Association, Şener Şengül, were detained for protesting mining activities in Erikli Plateau.
25 October: Two Turkish activists were detained after staging a protest against the presence of BAE Systems at SAHA Expo, a major defense industry exhibition in İstanbul organized with the support of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration and overseen by his in-laws, alleging that the British company provides arms to Israel’s military
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND MEDIA
22 October: A journalist in western Turkey was detained and subsequently fired from her job after she expressed condolences for Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen during a live broadcast. The Ministry of Interior announced that investigations have been initiated against 177 individuals for their statements on the same issue.
22 October: A Turkish court has sentenced journalist Ahmet Erkan Yiğitsözlü to six years, three months in prison for alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
24 October: Kazım Güleçyüz, the editor-in-chief of Turkey’s Yeni Asya newspaper, was arrested on Wednesday on accusations of disseminating terrorist propaganda for conveying condolences for the late Fethullah Gülen.
24 October: Social media platform X has blocked access to over 100 accounts belonging to Turkish journalists, activists and media organizations run by journalists living in exile, in another example of its compliance with censorship requests from the Turkish government.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE & RULE OF LAW
22 October: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Turkey violated the right to a fair trial of 10 judges and prosecutors who were dismissed in the aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt, stating that their removal was carried out without the necessary legal safeguards and due process, which breached their rights under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights and further underscored the ongoing concerns about the erosion of judicial independence in the country during the post-coup purges.
KURDISH MINORITY
25 October: An attack was carried out on the headquarters of the People's Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in Ankara's Balgat district, resulting in material damage to the building.
PRISON CONDITIONS
25 October: In Diyarbakır No. 2 High-Security Prison, inmates were not allowed to use cooling systems in their rooms during hot weather, nor were they permitted to purchase air conditioners with their own means.
TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT
24 October: The release of 15 inmates held in Istanbul Bakırköy Women's Prison, who had completed their prison sentences between August and October 2024, was postponed for one year by the decision of the Prison Administration and Observation Board (CİGK).
24 October: In Istanbul Bakırköy Women's Prison, severely ill inmate Fatma Tokmak was sentenced to 10 days in solitary confinement as a result of a disciplinary investigation initiated by the prison administration due to the notes she had kept.
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION
23 October: Four Turkish refugees under UN protection who were abducted by armed men in Kenya on October 18 were brought to Turkey and are being held at a police station in Ankara.
25 October: Turkish drone strikes killed 27 civilians in Syria in a 24-hour military escalation following a deadly attack on a defense contractor near Ankara.
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