reports in RIGHTS category

Suspect detained for hate speech against Kurdish Amedspor fans

Suspect detained for hate speech against Kurdish Amedspor fans

The AKP and HÜDA PAR made statements calling for an investigation. The individual was ultimately detained.

3 September 2026

"Drinking alcohol in public spaces is not prohibited, but the police are acting as if it is prohibited"

"Drinking alcohol in public spaces is not prohibited, but the police are acting as if it is prohibited"

This week İstanbul police drones made announcements in Fatih and Üsküdar that "alcohol is prohibited” in those areas. Lawyer Mehmet Ümit Erdem said there is no public drinking ban.

3 September 2026 Hikmet Adal

September 1: Peace is the right to mourn and bury as much as it is the right to life

September 1: Peace is the right to mourn and bury as much as it is the right to life

Allowing those who lost loved ones during the conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state does not mean endorsing one of the parties in the conflict.

2 September 2026 Evrim Kepenek

Turkish police deploy loudspeaker-equipped drones to disperse public drinkers

Turkish police deploy loudspeaker-equipped drones to disperse public drinkers

Social media users are calling it a scene that rivals that of science fiction movies, raising concerns over police surveillance.

Osman Kavala: Compliance with ECtHR rulings is an obligation under the rule of law

Osman Kavala: Compliance with ECtHR rulings is an obligation under the rule of law

The Gezi Park protester urged Turkey to hold its obligation to the ECtHR. This is ECtHR’s third ruling on the subject, all of which have been in favor of Kavala’s release.

14-year-old Syrian boy shot dead at scrap yard in Adana

14-year-old Syrian boy shot dead at scrap yard in Adana

14-year-old Ali Şihap was shot and killed in Adana just 40 days after arriving in Turkey for work. He had lost his father, stepmother and two siblings in the conflict in Syria.

27 August 2026 Ferhat Yaşar

MP submits parliamentary question after Kurdish prisoner heart attack

MP submits parliamentary question after Kurdish prisoner heart attack

DEM Party MP Serhat Eren submitted a question to the Grand National Assembly on the condition of prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım, who suffered from a heart attack this week.

Activist jailed in Turkey over anti-NATO summit in Barcelona

Activist jailed in Turkey over anti-NATO summit in Barcelona

Activist Emir Karakum was detained prior to the July NATO summit held in Ankara. He is currently being held in Silivri Prison and sent the following letter to Bianet detailing the conditions of his fellow captives.

27 August 2026 Hikmet Adal

International human rights organizations call for Osman Kavala’s release

International human rights organizations call for Osman Kavala’s release

International human rights organizations have called on Turkey to release Gezi Park protestor Osman Kavala following yesterday’s ECtHR ruling.

Seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım suffers heart attack

Seriously ill prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım suffers heart attack

The Kurdish prisoner has been imprisoned for 33 years after being convicted of PKK membership. His release has been delayed four times now.

Kurdish seasonal workers face mob attacks in northern Turkey

Kurdish seasonal workers face mob attacks in northern Turkey

Kurdish seasonal agricultural workers in hazelnut fields in Zonguldak and Düzce were attacked, leading to one arrest in Düzce and an investigation in Zonguldak.

'Children have never been recognized as actors in discussions on peace'

'Children have never been recognized as actors in discussions on peace'

The Children First Association works to support children’s access to mother tongue, arts and cultural activities while seeking to create spaces where children can participate in discussions on peace and make their own voices heard in the media.

23 August 2026 Evrim Gündüz

İHD Conscientious Objection Commission: ‘We need to rethink security, the budget and militarism together’

İHD Conscientious Objection Commission: ‘We need to rethink security, the budget and militarism together’

The Human Rights Association İstanbul Branch Conscientious Objection Commission views the struggle for conscientious objection as part of a broader struggle that goes beyond rights violations to encompass antimilitarism, opposition to war and military spending.

21 August 2026 Evrim Gündüz

Protest singer Metin Turan released after 25 years in prison

Protest singer Metin Turan released after 25 years in prison

Turan was released after the Forensic Medicine Institute concluded that he was unfit to remain in prison because of serious health problems.

Nurse dismissed from civil service over ‘hair braiding’ protest despite acquittal

Nurse dismissed from civil service over ‘hair braiding’ protest despite acquittal

"I braided my hair to protest the killing of women, violence and femicides. The price I paid was my profession. I will never forgive this injustice," said İkra Avcı.

4-year-old Êzidî child with epilepsy held in İzmir removal center

4-year-old Êzidî child with epilepsy held in İzmir removal center

A mother with two young children is kept at a removal center while the father is in pretrial detention.

19 August 2026 Nalin Öztekin

Top court finds rights violation over prison ban on yellow, red and green bracelet

Top court finds rights violation over prison ban on yellow, red and green bracelet

A prisoner in Tekirdağ was prevented from gifting a bracelet he made to a visitor.

Education Ministry audits Armenian schools over enrollment of non-Turkish citizens

Education Ministry audits Armenian schools over enrollment of non-Turkish citizens

Schools serving Turkey’s Armenian community have admitted students from Armenia as “guest students” for the past 14 years. The ministry is now reportedly considering ending this practice.

Sudenaz Güleryüz

Disabled people stripped of retirement rights trapped between poverty and forced labor

Disabled people stripped of retirement rights trapped between poverty and forced labor

“I’m trying to keep my life going by working. Because if I don’t work today, I go hungry tomorrow."

13 August 2026 Sudenaz Güleryüz

Justice Ministry introduces AI ‘terror group predictor’ for judges, prosecutors

Justice Ministry introduces AI ‘terror group predictor’ for judges, prosecutors

The system reportedly analyzes information contained in case files and automatically compares it with data registered in the ministry’s system.

Parliament passes law increasing prison terms for minors

Parliament passes law increasing prison terms for minors

The new law introduces new sentencing regimes for children aged between 12-14 and 15-17 separately.

Top court finds violation in university's refusal to reissue trans man's diploma

Top court finds violation in university's refusal to reissue trans man's diploma

The university and lower courts had required the man to use a diploma bearing his deadname.

8 August 2026 Hikmet Adal

Activists step up legal battle against privatization of beaches in Turkish Riviera

Activists step up legal battle against privatization of beaches in Turkish Riviera

“We feel and experience our shared living spaces shrinking by the day. Nearly all the coastal areas that we used freely for years, and whose status as public spaces was supposedly protected by the Constitution and the Coastal Law, have now been privatized," sasy a local activist.

3 August 2026 Ferhat Yaşar

İstanbul municipality adds Kurdish language support to hotline

İstanbul municipality adds Kurdish language support to hotline

The call center has been available in Turkish, English and Arabic.

Court denies retrial to Kurdish prisoner whose age was changed to try him as an adult

Court denies retrial to Kurdish prisoner whose age was changed to try him as an adult

The court rejected the application on procedural grounds. State hospitals previously issued contradicting reports on Emrah Bayram's bone age.

Sacred Alevi shrine vandalized in Antep

Sacred Alevi shrine vandalized in Antep

Alevi groups called for an effective investigation into the incident.

MP seeks release of seriously ill Kurdish prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım after two delays

MP seeks release of seriously ill Kurdish prisoner Mehmet Sait Yıldırım after two delays

Yıldırım has been in prison for 33 years. His conditional release is scheduled for Aug 25 after the latest delay.

Gezi prisoners Mater and Özerden transferred back to İstanbul after five days in İzmir

Gezi prisoners Mater and Özerden transferred back to İstanbul after five days in İzmir

Mater’s lawyer noted after the initial transfer that the prisoners' families and lawyers were based in İstanbul and that the transfer would make visits more difficult.

Why can’t prisoners take purchased belongings with them when transferred?

Why can’t prisoners take purchased belongings with them when transferred?

Being imprisoned doesn't strip people of their properpty rights, notes Melisa Gebeş from CİSST.

27 July 2026 Ferhat Yaşar

Prosecutors drop torture investigation involving two Iranian Kurdish migrants

Prosecutors drop torture investigation involving two Iranian Kurdish migrants

Two migrants were detained after crossing into Hakkari. They alleged torture and ill-treatment during detention.

Gezi Park case prisoners Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden transferred to İzmir prison

Gezi Park case prisoners Çiğdem Mater and Mine Özerden transferred to İzmir prison

Mater and Özerden have been held in İstanbul since their 2022 imprisonment. Their lawyers view the decision as a form of punishment as the two prisoners' families and lawyers reside in İstanbul.

20 July 2026 Evrim Kepenek

Suruç Justice Platform denounces impunity on anniversary of 2015 bombing

Suruç Justice Platform denounces impunity on anniversary of 2015 bombing

Today marks the 11th anniversary of the bombing that killed 34 socialist youths who had joined an event in the border town of Suruç to show solidarity with Syrian Kurds.