Selective and weak: Critics slam outgoing CoE commissioner’s poor record on Turkey
As Dunja Mijatović’s mandate as the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights came to a close on April 1, rights groups criticized the outgoing commissioner for her inadequate and selective work on Turkey, where the human rights crisis continued to deepen during her time in office. Mijatović was accused by human rights advocates and experts of being selective in her Turkey-related statements and publications, excluding, in particular, the rights violations involving the victims of Turkey’s widespread purges after a failed coup in July 2016 and people with alleged links to the Gülen movement. More..
Kurdish mayor denied mandate despite winning landslide victory in eastern Turkey
A Kurdish politician who won the local election in Turkey’s eastern province of Van with a landslide victory on Sunday has been denied the mandate to serve as the city’s mayor due to a last-minute political ban imposed on him, while the runner-up from the ruling party has been recognized as the city’s new mayor by the election authority. More..
Video reveals torture of young Syrian Kurd who disappeared in Turkey
The family of Ali Veli, a 19-year-old Kurdish migrant from Syria who went missing after being released from a Turkish prison in March, received a video of him being physically mistreated by unidentified individuals. More.
Teacher’s retrial after landmark ECtHR judgment starts under tight security measures
The retrial of Yüksel Yalçınkaya, a teacher whose conviction on terrorism charges was found by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to have violated his fundamental rights, has begun in central Turkey under heightened security measures. More..
Belgium convicts Turkish hit team in absentia for foiled assassination attempt
A Belgian appeals court has convicted in absentia two members of a Turkish hit team who authorities say were preparing for attacks on Remzi Kartal, co-chair of the People’s Congress of Kurdistan (Kongra-Gel), and Zübeyir Aydar, a member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), in 2017. More..
Turkey detains 70 people over alleged Gülen links
Turkish police have detained 70 people across 20 provinces over their alleged links to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group accused by the government of “terrorist activities”. More..
Journalist sentenced to 11 months in prison for insulting Erdoğan
A Turkish court has sentenced journalist Uğur Koç to 11 months in prison on charges of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. More..
Journalists, diplomat recount their time in Turkish prisons in new documentary
Journalists Cevheri Güven and Yüksel Durgut and former diplomat Rumi Ünal have revealed their experiences in the Turkish prisons where they were incarcerated in the aftermath of a July 2016 coup attempt, in a new documentary released on YouTube. More..
Turkey’s hunger threshold reaches minimum wage
A labor union study put Turkey’s hunger threshold for March at TL 16,793 ($523), slightly below the minimum wage of TL 17,002. More..
Defendants in Hrant Dink assassination retrial reveal tampering with intel
Veysel Şahin, a defendant in the retrial concerning the 2007 assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, said in court that a piece of intelligence received six months before the murder was documented as arriving one day afterward. More..
Prosecutor demands imprisonment for activists taking part in women’s rights march
A Turkish prosecutor has demanded prison sentences of up to one year for 35 people who were detained in 2020 for participating in a women’s rights march. More..
A Swedish-based, non-profit advocacy organization, Stockholm Center for Freedom promotes the rule of law, democracy and human rights with a special focus on Turkey.
Committed to serving as a reference source by providing a broad perspective on rights violations in Turkey, SCF monitors daily developments, documents individual cases of the infringement of fundamental rights and publishes comprehensive reports on human rights issues.
SCF is a member of the Alliance Against Genocide, an international coalition working to exert pressure on the UN, regional organizations and national governments to act on early warning signs and take action to prevent genocide.
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