- Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz
- Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD)
- Wiedner Hauptstraße 32, 1041 Wien
- T +43 1 589 00 583
- F +43 1 589 00 589
- info@ecoi.net
Dokument #2139289
Amnesty International (Autor)
Baseless investigations, prosecutions and convictions of human rights defenders, journalists, opposition politicians and others intensified. Executive interference with the judiciary deepened further. Binding European Court of Human Rights judgments remained unimplemented in several emblematic cases. The rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association were arbitrarily restricted. Law enforcement officials used less lethal weapons against peaceful protesters, causing numerous injuries. The country continued to host large numbers of refugees and migrants; some remained at risk of unlawful return. Victims of human rights violations, including alleged torture and other ill-treatment by state officials, continued to face a culture of impunity. Türkiye’s overall climate policies were assessed as “highly insufficient”.
Türkiye continued to face a growing cost of living crisis, with general inflation running at over 30%, food inflation over 28% and housing inflation over 49% by the end of year.
Authorities launched criminal investigations and prosecutions against scores of elected representatives and members of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) across Türkiye in a widespread clampdown on the main opposition party. Key figures were imprisoned, including Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. He faced up to 2,352 years in prison on a slew of charges including corruption and establishing and leading a criminal organization.
A peace process between the state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), including direct talks with its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan, led to arms decommissioning and the establishment of an all-party parliamentary peace process commission.
The General Directorate of Forestry announced that 16,500 hectares of forest had burnt in over 5,200 fires between January and August.
In January, Istanbul Bar Association board member Fırat Epözdemir was arbitrarily detained after returning from an advocacy visit to the Council of Europe and held in pretrial detention on allegations of “membership of an armed terrorist organization” and “making propaganda for a terrorist organization”. He was released in May under judicial control measures, pending trial.
In February, Gezi Park trial defendants Mücella Yapıcı, Hakan Altınay and Yiğit Ekmekçi were acquitted of violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations (Law No. 2911). They had been retried after their initial convictions, for allegedly aiding Osman Kavala (see below) in “attempting to overthrow the government” during mass protests in 2013, were overturned in September 2023.
In February, at least 50 people across 10 provinces, including journalists, political activists, lawyers and human rights defenders, were detained in the context of an investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor. Thirty people, including journalists Yıldız Tar, Elif Akgül and Ercüment Akdeniz, were subsequently remanded in prison by Istanbul courts for “membership of an armed terrorist organization”. They were alleged to have links to the People’s Democratic Congress, a lawful platform established in 2011 and including various opposition political parties and groups focused on gender, the environment and the rights of religious minorities. At least three of those prosecuted were convicted and one acquitted; the trials of others were continuing at year’s end.
In June, Mehmet Pehlivan, lawyer of detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arbitrarily detained for “membership of a criminal organization” amid intensifying reprisals against members of the legal profession.1
In October, a ruling by the Constitutional Court found that prisoner of conscience Tayfun Kahraman’s right to a fair trial had been violated when he was convicted in 2022 in relation to the 2013 Gezi Park protests. His appeal for release following the ruling was rejected in November.
Prisoner of conscience Osman Kavala remained in prison despite two binding European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments to release him and infringement proceedings against Türkiye initiated by the Council of Europe in 2022. Two Constitutional Court applications challenging Osman Kavala’s 2022 conviction, and the 2023 Court of Cassation decision upholding his conviction, remained pending.
Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, former leaders of the People’s Democratic Party, also remained in prison despite ECtHR rulings ordering their immediate release. In July, the court published a new judgment finding that Selahattin Demirtaş’ continued detention was “based on inadequate reasoning and had pursued an ulterior purpose”.
In February, after a government-appointed official replaced the elected mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality following the latter’s criminal conviction, a blanket ban on protests was imposed for 15 days. Law enforcement officials used unlawful force, including beatings, tear gas and plastic bullets, to disperse peaceful protesters who had gathered at the municipality building. At least 348 people were detained, including 70 children and six journalists. Also in February, police detained 18 people after using pepper spray and unlawful force to disperse a protest organized by the Free Women’s Movement in Van province.
The Beyoğlu governorate banned protests marking International Women’s Day on 8 March in Istanbul. Over 100 peaceful protesters were detained for violating Law No. 2911. One person was also accused of “insulting the President”.
Mass protests, mainly by university students, took place across the country between 19 and 26 March following the revocation of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu’s university diploma and his subsequent detention.2 At least four governors issued blanket bans on demonstrations, although in November a court overturned the ban in Istanbul governorate on the grounds that it was “disproportionate” and “unlawful”. Law enforcement officials used unlawful force, at times amounting to ill-treatment, against peaceful protesters. These included seven women who reported that they had been strip searched and beaten when detained at the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Ankara Provincial Directorate of Security. Unlawful use of less lethal weapons against peaceful protesters caused numerous injuries. The Ministry of Interior announced that 1,879 people had been detained at the protest locations or their homes during this period.
The authorities banned protests in Taksim Square, Istanbul, despite a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling that banning May Day demonstrations there constituted a violation of the right to peaceful assembly. Authorities closed several metro and other public transportation lines as well as dozens of roads across Istanbul on 1 May. On 29 and 30 April, at least 111 people were preventively detained in house raids. Over 430 people, including 11 lawyers, who tried to gather on 1 May faced unlawful force and were detained. In contrast, thousands were instead allowed to gather in the Kadıköy and Kartal districts of Istanbul for official rallies.
In June, blanket bans were issued against the LGBTI and Trans pride marches in Istanbul and peaceful protesters were subjected to unlawful use of force by police. Over 90 people were arbitrarily detained. On 29 June, three activists were remanded in prison for violating Law No. 2911, then subsequently released on 8 August pending trial. Prosecutions involving 92 people for participating in pride marches continued at year’s end.
In September, an Istanbul court ruled to remove the CHP’s elected leadership in the province, leading to protests where police used unlawful force.3
In January, 11 members of the executive board of the Istanbul Bar Association were indicted for “propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “publicly disseminating misleading information”. They had publicly called for an effective investigation into the deaths of two journalists, citizens of Türkiye, in Syria in December 2024.4 The prosecution was continuing at year’s end.
In March, British journalist Mark Lowen was detained and deported, owing to his coverage of protests related to the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Swedish journalist Joakim Medin was detained upon his arrival in Türkiye in March on charges of “insulting the President” and “membership of an armed terrorist organization”. He was sentenced to 11 months’ imprisonment on the former charge and released in May pending trial on the latter charge.
In June, following the publication of a cartoon in the satirical magazine LeMan, cartoonist Doğan Pehlevan, accountant Ali Yavuz, editor-in-chief Zafer Aknar, graphic designer Cebrail Okçu and editor-in-chief Aslan Özdemir were remanded in pretrial detention for “inciting the public to hatred or hostility”.5
Human rights defender Enes Hocaoğulları was remanded in pretrial detention in August on his return to Türkiye from a Council of Europe conference and released in September pending trial.6 He was charged with “publicly disseminating misleading information” and “inciting the public to hatred and enmity” for speaking about human rights violations committed during the protests following the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu.
Singer Mabel Matiz faced criminal charges for the lyrics in his song “Perperişan” which were deemed to have violated public morality under Article 226/1-b, 2 of the penal code. He faced up to three years’ imprisonment.
In October, Tele 1, an independent TV channel, was taken over by the state and its editor-in-chief Merdan Yanardağ was remanded in pretrial detention on charges of espionage.
In March, an administrative court order terminated the mandate of the Istanbul Bar Association board. This followed a civil lawsuit seeking the dismissal of its members on the grounds that they had acted outside the scope of their legal duties.
In March, an administrative court issued its full judgment regarding the 2024 decision to close the Migration Monitoring Association for allegedly “operating in line with the goals and objectives of an armed terrorist group”. The organization’s appeal against the decision was pending at year’s end.
In December, an İzmir court ordered the dissolution of the Young LGBTI+ Association, ruling that it had engaged in activities outside its stated purpose and shared “obscene” images on social media that were incompatible with “society’s moral values” and could “encourage or promote” LGBTI identities.
The lawsuit filed in 2022 to shut down the Tarlabaşı Community Center in Istanbul – on the grounds that it had engaged in “activities contrary to its purpose, law, and morality” – was ongoing at year’s end. The organization was accused of “attempting to influence children’s sexual orientation” by “normalizing the sexuality of individuals known as LGBTI people in society”.
In February, refugee rights lawyer and former Chair of Amnesty International Türkiye, Taner Kılıç, was acquitted almost eight years after his arrest in June 2017. He had been detained for over 14 months. In 2020, he was convicted of “membership of a terrorist organization” despite the absence of any credible evidence and sentenced to more than six years in prison. The Court of Cassation overturned the conviction in 2022, citing an incomplete investigation. The trial court upheld this ruling in June 2023. The acquittal became final in 2025 when the Court of Cassation dismissed the prosecutor’s appeal.
In February, Professor Şebnem Korur Fincancı was acquitted of “insulting the Turkish nation” for her broadcast comments as a forensic medicine expert about allegations of torture. The appeal against her 2023 conviction for “propaganda for a terrorist organization” was pending at year’s end.
After over four months in prison, Nimet Tanrıkulu was released in March after an interim decision by Istanbul Heavy Penal Court No. 24 at the opening hearing of her prosecution for “membership of a terrorist organization”.
In March, 45 members of Saturday Mothers/People – relatives of victims of enforced disappearances in the 1980s and 1990s – were acquitted in a criminal case brought against them for their 700th peaceful vigil in 2018.7 Restrictions on the group’s weekly vigils in Istanbul continued, including a police blockade in Galatasaray Square.
High-level public officials continued to use discriminatory speech that entrenched harmful gender stereotypes and institutional homophobia and transphobia.
In June, the Turkish Medicines and Medical Devices Agency, part of the Ministry of Health, banned the prescription and supply of specific hormones for gender affirmative procedures for people under 21. The move, purportedly aimed at preventing the use of these hormones “for purposes other than their intended use”, violated the existing law which permitted access for those over 18.
Three draft law packages targeting LGBTI people were made public during the year, marking an unprecedented assault on the human rights of LGBTI people and their allies. The proposals, which would criminalize any expression of LGBTI identities and consensual same-sex relations and make legal gender recognition nearly impossible to obtain, were ultimately not submitted to parliament.8
According to the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, in 2025 men killed 294 women and 297 women were found dead in suspicious circumstances.
In April, Turkmenistani bloggers and activists Alisher Sakhatov and Abdulla Orusov were detained and held in a deportation centre. They disappeared from the centre in July, and concerns persisted that they may have been deported to Turkmenistan. Neither Türkiye nor Turkmenistan had disclosed their fate or whereabouts as of the end of the year.
In February, the Bursa Migration Management Directorate rejected Afghan asylum seeker Tabriz Saifi’s application for international protection, abruptly ending his access to essential medical treatment.9 His asylum seeker status was reinstated in May, as was his full access to medical care. Tabriz Saifi died in September of health complications.
In September, the trial began of 13 law enforcement officers charged with the death in custody of Ahmet Güreşçi and the torture of his brother Sabri Güreşçi, both of whom had been arrested for alleged looting following the 2023 earthquakes. All the officers remained at liberty.
The Climate Action Tracker rated Türkiye’s overall climate policies and actions as “highly insufficient”, criticizing the country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
© Amnesty International
Amnesty Report 2025/26: Zur Lage der Menschenrechte weltweit; Türkei 2025 (Periodischer Bericht, Deutsch)
ecoi.net wird vom Österreichischen Roten Kreuz (Abteilung ACCORD) in Kooperation mit dem Informationsverbund Asyl & Migration betrieben. ecoi.net wird durch den Asyl-, Migrations- und Integrationsfonds, das Bundesministerium für Inneres und die Caritas Österreich kofinanziert. ecoi.net wird von ECRE und UNHCR ideell unterstützt.
