(Istanbul) – The Turkish government is failing victims of domestic violence even though the police and courts have issued a rising number of restraining orders designed to protect women and break cycles of abuse, Human Rights Watch said in a report…

(Istanbul) – The conviction on April 25, 2022 of the human rights defender Osman Kavala and his seven co-defendants is a shocking miscarriage of justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The Istanbul 13th Assize Court sentenced Kavala to life in…

(Istanbul) – The Turkish government should reverse a plan approved by the justice minister and due to be rubber-stamped by a court decision to transfer the case regarding the Saudi state-sponsored murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi…

(Istanbul) – The prosecution of a human rights defender demonstrates the Erdoğan government’s policy of bringing baseless criminal charges against people involved in legitimate and peaceful civil society activities, Human Rights Watch said today.…

(Istanbul) – The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ vote on February 2, 2022 to begin infringement proceedings against Turkey is an important step to support human rights protection in Turkey and uphold the international human rights framework…

(Berlin) – Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities abducted, forcibly disappeared, and extrajudicially transferred a dual Turkish-Kyrgyz national living in Bishkek to Turkey, Human Rights Watch said today. The actions included egregious violations of…

(Istanbul) – The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers should direct Turkey to release the Kurdish opposition politician Selahattin Demirtaş in compliance with a European Court of Human Rights judgment, five human rights groups said today…

(Istanbul) – YouTube announced on December 16, 2020, that it will appoint a local representative in Turkey to comply with the country’s recently amended internet law, making it much more susceptible to content removal and take-down requests by the…

Update (October 15, 2020): On October 12, Dorsultan Taganova was released from the Kirklareli Pehlivankoy women’s deportation center. The undersigned groups will continue to monitor her case. (Berlin) – The Turkish government should halt plans to…

(Istanbul) – An Ankara court has ordered the detention of 17 current and former politicians and officials from the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)and imposed judicial control conditions on three others released from custody, Human Rights…

(Istanbul) – The conviction of four human rights defenders on July 3, 2020, without evidence of any criminal wrongdoing, is politically motivated and an effort to stifle the legitimate work of Turkey’s human rights movement, Human Rights Watch said…

(Istanbul) – Turkish authorities should immediately halt investigations into doctors running three professional medical associations in Turkey’s southeast and eastern regions, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should respect both freedom…

(Strasbourg) – The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers should issue a decision at its June 4, 2020 meeting directing Turkey to release human rights defender Osman Kavala and drop all charges against him, Human Rights Watch, the International…

(Istanbul) – A review of the situation in Turkey before the United Nations offers a chance to acknowledge and address the country’s human rights crisis and the dramatic erosion of its rule of law framework, Human Rights Watch said today…

(London) – The Turkish authorities’ decision to deny lawyers access to four men, who were forcibly disappeared in February 2019, but are now confirmed to be in police custody in Ankara raises concerns that the men may be being put under…

  (Berlin) – The trial of 16 people accused of organizing and financing peaceful protests which began in Istanbul’s Gezi Park in 2013 is scheduled to begin on June 24, 2019, Human Rights Watch said today, releasing a…

(Geneva) – Turkey’s president and government should stop making baseless accusations, and the Istanbul prosecutor should drop the new charges against 16 people, including Osman Kavala, that view the Gezi protests as a coup attempt, Human…

(Berlin) –Ending the state of emergency in Turkey has not ended repressive rule under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2019. Prolonged and arbitrary jailing of critics on bogus terrorism charges has…

  (New York) – Turkey should formally submit a request to the UN secretary-general to establish an international, independent investigation into Saudi Arabia’s murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Human Rights Watch said…

Update: Of the 13 people detained on November 16, 12 were released but are banned from overseas travel. An Istanbul court ruled that Yiğit Aksakoğlu, who has worked for many years in the field of human rights, including at…