• Human Rights in Turkey

    As the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government focused on promoting Turkey’s regional interests in response to the pro-democracy Arab Spring movements, human rights suffered setbacks at home. The government has not prioritized human rights reforms since 2005, and freedom of expression and association have both been damaged by the ongoing prosecution and incarceration of journalists, writers, and hundreds of Kurdish political activists, particularly through the misuse of overly broad terrorism laws. Violence against women in Turkey remains endemic. Police continue to use excessive force, particularly against demonstrators, and are rarely held accountable for such violence. 

  • Turkey: No Justice for Airstrike Victims
    Dec 27, 2012
    The Turkish government has yet to open an effective and transparent inquiry into a Turkish air force aerial bombardment a year ago that killed 34 Kurdish men and boys.
  • Turkey: End Overly Broad Website Blocking
    Dec 21, 2012
    The Turkish government should promptly stop unlawfully blocking websites. On December 18, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in the case of Ahmet Yıldırım v. Turkey, that blocking Google Sites in Turkey violated the right to freedom of expression. A Turkish court had ordered the complete blocking of Google Sites because of one person’s post. But the European Court found that Turkey’s legal framework was inadequate and did not prevent abuses and arbitrary application of blocking measures.
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Turkey

  • Turkey: No Justice for Airstrike Victims
    Dec 27, 2012
    The Turkish government has yet to open an effective and transparent inquiry into a Turkish air force aerial bombardment a year ago that killed 34 Kurdish men and boys.
  • Turkey: End Overly Broad Website Blocking
    Dec 21, 2012
    The Turkish government should promptly stop unlawfully blocking websites. On December 18, 2012, the European Court of Human Rights ruled, in the case of Ahmet Yıldırım v. Turkey, that blocking Google Sites in Turkey violated the right to freedom of expression. A Turkish court had ordered the complete blocking of Google Sites because of one person’s post. But the European Court found that Turkey’s legal framework was inadequate and did not prevent abuses and arbitrary application of blocking measures.
  • Turkey: Reconsider Appointment to Key Rights Body
    Dec 9, 2012
    The judge recently appointed as the chief ombudsman of Turkey’s newly created ombudsman institution has a history of failing to respect human rights standards, and his appointment risks the effectiveness of the new institution.
  • Iraq/Turkey: Open Borders to All Syrian Refugees
    Oct 14, 2012
    The Iraqi and Turkish authorities should immediately re-open border crossings where more than 10,000 Syrians have been stranded for weeks and allow all those wishing to seek asylum to cross without delay.
  • Europe failing to tackle boat tragedies in Mediterranean
    Sep 12, 2012
    The EU and its member states must do more to prevent migrant deaths at sea if they are to deliver on their humanitarian ethos – writes Judith Sunderland.
  • EU: Step Up Sea Rescues to Save Lives
    Sep 7, 2012
    The deaths of scores of migrants and asylum seekers in the Mediterranean over the past 48 hours should prompt concerted European Union action to limit further deaths in the Mediterranean.
  • Turkey: End Impunity for State Killings, Disappearances
    Sep 3, 2012
    The Turkish government should take action to address statutory time limits, witness intimidation, and other obstacles to the prosecution of members of security forces and public officials for killings, disappearances, and torture.
  • Syria Neighbors: Keep Borders Open for Refugees
    Aug 29, 2012
    Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon have mostly opened their borders to more than 200,000 refugees from neighboring Syria, but in the past week some officials in these countries have said they are reaching their limit and may soon close their borders.
  • Turkey: Human Rights Watch Condemns Deadly Bombing in Gaziantep
    Aug 21, 2012
  • Jordan: Bias at the Syrian Border
    Jul 4, 2012
    The Jordanian authorities have forcibly returned some newly arriving Palestinians from Syria and threatened others with deportation, Human Rights Watch said today. Since April 2012, the authorities have also arbitrarily detained Palestinians fleeing Syria in a refugee holding center without any options for release other than return to Syria.
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