• Afrin. Operation Olive Branch
    May - June 2018War crimes accusations"
  • Coup attemt aftermath
    AboutConfiscationsDecreesOHAL CommissionState of emergency
  • Gladio B Turkey
    About Gladio B in TurkeyJames Corbett about GladioPaul L Williams about GladioSibel Edmonds about Gladio BThe Susurluk scandalOp. Gladio documentary BBC
  • Gülen Movement
    About the Gülen MovementAbout Hanefi AvcıConservative or moderate?Documents and reportsFethullah GulenFETÖGulens intentionsGulen and jihadPersons- Leading figuresStratfor about the MovementStructure The "12 Wise Men"TerrorThe CIA connectionThe Imam's ArmyUS CablesVideos
  • Humen rights
    Human Rights Watch report 2020 TurkeyTurkey 2019 human rights reportReligious freedom reportTorture and ill-treatment
  • Media in Turkey
    About media in TurkeyJournalists in troubleMedia outlets shut downSocial mediaTurkey Crackdown on media 2016-18Who controls the media?
  • New Turkey
    Abductions in New TurkeyAbout "The New Turkey"Brain drain in New TurkeyPrisons in New TurkeyTorture in New Turkey
  • Purges
    About purges in TurkeyAcademics for peaceCHP deputiesGülen movementHDP deputiesLawyers in TurkeyMedia in Turkey
  • Sources
  • Terror attacks 2015-19
Web Page Creator
Web Page Creator
 

Turkey’s post-coup crackdown nearly on par
with China’s imprisonment of Uighurs

Turkey jailed 220,000 people on dubious terrorism charges between 2016 and 2019, rights group the Arrested Lawyers initiative said on Friday, a figure nearly on par with China’s detention of Uighurs on bogus terror charges, with Beijing convicting 250,000 people, mostly Uighurs and Muslims, between 2016 and 2018 according to official data.

“According to data we compiled from the Turkish government’s official reports, within the years of 2016 and 2019, more than 220,000 people have been convicted for membership of an armed terrorist organization. Data for 2020 has not been published yet,” the Arrested Lawyer initiative tweeted, quoting Human Rights Watch Australia director Elaine Pearson, who had tweeted the figures for Chinese imprisonment of Uighurs.

“More than 130,000 people have been dismissed from their civil service jobs and deprived of their and their families’ subsistence. More than 282,000 people of all ages, because of their daily activities, which are non-criminal acts according to law and part of their normal routine, have been taken into custody, and in excess of 600,000 have been the subject of investigations. At least 77,000 people have been incarcerated,” Keneş said in a December interview with Turkish Minute.

According to a statement from Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on February 20, a total of 622,646 people have been the subject of investigation and 301,932 have been detained, while 96,000 others have been jailed due to alleged links to the Gülen movement since the failed coup. The minister said there are currently 25,467 people in Turkey’s prisons who were jailed on alleged links to the Gülen movement.


Student indicted over support for Boğaziçi protests on social media

An İstanbul court has accepted the indictment of student Beyza Buldağ for expressing support for protests sparked by the appointment of a pro-government rector to İstanbul’s prestigious Boğaziçi University, Turkish media reported on Friday.

The indictment, which was accepted by the İstanbul 15th Criminal Court of First Instance, accuses Buldağ of “inciting hatred and enmity in the public” and “provoking criminal activity” due to 20 posts shared by the Boğaziçi Solidarity Twitter account that she allegedly managed.


Suicides in Turkey surged by 48 pct during AKP rule

A report drafted by main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Vice Chairperson Gamze Akkuş İlgezdi has revealed that suicides in Turkey have increased by 48 percent since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, the Cumhuriyet daily reported on Saturday.

The number of suicides in the country increased from 2,301 in 2002 to 3,406 in 2019, the report said, noting that the ruling AKP failed to determine the reasons behind 42 percent of the suicides that took place during its rule. Read the full article

20,000 Turks fled to Greece following 2016 coup attempt

Around 20,000 Turkish citizens have fled to neighbouring Greece following a failed military coup against the government in 2016, Hürriyet newspaper reported on Sunday.
A bulk of the 19,653 people who entered Greece following the failed putsch are accused of membership in the Gülen movement, a religious group Ankara maintains orchestrated the failed coup, it said.

Of the 9,000 Turkish citizens who have sought asylum in Greece, only 2,000 have been successful, according to Hürriyet, while the remaining 7,000 have yet to hear back on their applications. The applications of 697 Turkish nationals have been rejected.


Abducted Persons

It is learned that Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) provincial executive Ali Ayduğan, Students Collective members Uğurcan Baynal and S. B. were abducted by persons reported to be police officers stopping them for general information check in 3 different points in Ankara on February 18, 2021.

It is learned that the lawyers calling Security Directorate for allegation of abduction were responded as “their names are not in detention or hospital lists”.

Ali Ayduğan who was subjected to physical violence is released in Gölbaşı district, Uğurcan Baynal who was threatened is released in Pursaklar district and S. B. who was also threatened is released in Sincan district on the same day.

Ali Ayduğan stated the following at the press declaration held at Human Rights Association (IHD) Ankara office: “They took me away from my friends, saying that they would ask some questions. Then they dragged me into the car. They kept me in the travelling car and threatened and committed physical violence for two hours. At one point we got out of Ankara city borders. They slowed down the car in a street in Gölbaşı, and saying ‘get off’ and threw me out of the moving car. They said ‘Tell your friends that we will take them too. You will not walk around the streets or we will kill you’ to threaten us.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 22, 2021 that, Ali Rıza Çalpar (26) was abducted by anonymous persons in Kınık town of Almus district of Tokat on February 5, 2021 and was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. It is reported that Ali Rıza Çalpar was released near Almus Dam on the same day.

Ali Rıza Çalpar stated the following: “I departed on foot from Şendere street of Gevrek neighbourhood in Kınık town of Almus district of Tokat towards Görümlü town. A white car (Renault Kangoo model) stopped by me while I was on my way. (…) 3 persons with black face masks got off the car and attacked me. One of them was squeezing my neck to bend my head and pushing me to the car while others were holding my arms and trying to put me in the car. I pushed by feet to the back seats to resist but I felt a burning in my neck and lost consciousness (…)

When I gain consciousness back I found myself blindfold, with tied arms and naked upper body, walking on a snowy ground in between two persons holding my arms. I asked, ‘Who are you, where did you take me?’. One of them said, ‘We will ask a few questions and release you immediately in case you respond us correctly. Otherwise we will bring your family here and kill all of you, nobody will know’. After a few minutes of walking I realized that we went into a closed place because of the noise of a door opening and slowing down of the wind.

They made me sit on something which I though was a chair. (…) They said ‘Tell us the truth, we will not release you if you don’t. There is nobody else apart from us here, there is JITEM (gendarmerie intelligence organisation), there is the ones who represent the state custom of thousand years, now talk’ and started to kick my stomach. (…) They fastened me to the chair with a thin barbed wire wrapping over my stomach. The wire was pricking as I take deep breaths.

Then they asked me some names, and when I said that I did not know them, they started to drip a melted substance on my arms, which I suppose was plastic. They kept dripping it on my arms and shoulders while at the same time telling that they would riddle me with holes if I would not talk. (…) They tightened the wire on my stomach and dripped melted plastic again. They poured cold water on me and then I felt pain in my neck. I do not remember the rest.

When I got my consciousness back I found myself left near the Almus Dam, close to Karadere bridge. I was wearing my sweater but my undershirt and coat were not on me. My wallet, money, identity cards and bank cards were all in my coat, and they did not leave any of them. I filed a criminal report to Almus Gendarmerie Station.”


Turkey expelled 21,194 people from military after failed coup

Turkey has removed 21,194 people from the armed forces since a failed military coup in July 2016, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said on Friday. The government’s battle against remaining elements of the Fethullah Gülen movement, which it blames for the putsch, will continue, Akar told reporters in Ankara on Friday, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.
‘Prisons are a public health problem’
Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Human Rights Branch held an online panel discussion on "Being a Human in Prison" to raise publicity and concerns about the violations of rights committed in prisons and on the rise especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moderated by Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Chair Dr. Metin Bakkalcı, the panel hosted Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Kocaeli MP and human rights activist Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu and human rights activist Zafer Kıraç as speakers. The event was also attended by TTB Central Council Chair Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Central Council member Dr. Halis Yerlikaya and TTB Human Rights Branch members.

 

'People not seen as subjects of rights'

Making a brief opening speech, Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı said that being a human has become difficult in factories, schools and houses as people are not seen as subjects of rights in Turkey in the last years.

She underlined that prisons are the places where the most serious human rights violations are committed in the country. Taking the floor after the TTB Chair, Dr. Metin Bakkalcı, the TİHV Chair, said that the TTB had a theoretical-practical accumulation in the light of its human rights-based philosophy of medicine, remembering Dr. Ata Soyer, who wrote "Prison and Human" based on this accumulation.

Dr. Bakkalcı emphasized that the sentence of "Humans are humans with their rights" is valid in the penal system as well and the state has the responsibility in the event of any usurpation of rights. "The issue of prisons is a field of struggle that brings the founding role of human rights," Bakkalcı added further.


'Violations have intensified during pandemic'

Addressing his online audience, HDP Kocaeli MP and Dr. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu stressed that the state of Turkey's prisons cannot be considered separate from the political state of the country. According to his speech, the state has been planning to open 225 new prisons in the last five years and 193 of them have been built.

While the number of prisoners dropped to 250 thousands after the law on criminal enforcement entered into force, this number has once again neared 270 thousands. Gergerlioğlu emphasized that there is a serious problem with the capacity of prisons in Turkey. The MP also gave examples of human rights violations in prisons, indicating that these violations have intensified after the outbreak of the pandemic.

Gergerlioğlu defined prisons as places where people from wardens to prison administrations, from prosecutors to judges cover rights violations. In the last part of his speech, he specifically focused on the problems experienced by women and child prisoners in Turkey.

'A model isolating from human relations'

Taking the floor after Gergerlioğlu, Zafer Kıraç indicated that campus prisons constitute a model that objectifies people in every sense of the word and isolates them from all types of human relations.

Drawing attention to the contradiction of the expression "increased capacity" now used for prisons, Kıraç indicated that certain social groups are subjected to much more serious usurpation of rights in prisons; some of these groups are women, babies, children, LGBTI+s, elderly, foreign nationals and the ones sentenced to life imprisonment, according to Kıraç.

Concluding his remarks, Zafer Kıraç said, "The problem of prisons is a public health problem in the sense that it is both a health problem in itself for the ones behind bars and it leads the ones outside to be concerned, thinking 'when I might be imprisoned.'"
Source:https://bianet.org/english/human-rights/
239985-prisons-are-a-public-health-problem

Press freedom in January 2021:
Two journalists appeared before a judge per day

In Turkey, the developments concerning press freedom and journalists’ trials in January 2021 constituted a sort of “handbook for prosecuting journalists”. During the month, at least 43 journalists appeared before a judge in various trials across 10 cities. In other words, two journalists were tried every day. Read the full article

Enforced disappearances in Turkey: an old habit or a new trend?

Turkey has a long history of state-sponsored abductions and enforced disappearances, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.
Between 2002 and 2015 only one case of enforced disappearance was transmitted to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (’the UN Working Group‘), compared to 214 registered cases in 1980-1990 (UN Working Group, 2020 Annual Report, p. 48).

However, this positive tendency seems to have been completely reversed since an attempted coup d’état to overthrow the Turkish government was reported to have taken place on 15 July 2016. Since then, a total of 14 new cases of state-sponsored abductions were transmitted to the UN Working Group (UN Working Group, 2020 Annual Report, p. 48). Read the full article

More about disappearances/abductions in Turkey


Torture and Ill-Treatment in Police Interventions to Protests in Istanbul and Izmir

Torture and Ill-Treatment in Police Interventions to Protests in Istanbul
It is learned that the people who were detained in police interventions against protests of police interventions against protests in Boğaziçi University in Istanbul on February 2, 2021, were subjected to physical and verbal violence of the police during interventions and under custody; and that at least 1 woman was subjected to sexual abuse. It is also learned that 1 journalist was injured at face by a rubber bullet fired by the police.

One of the detainees, K. Ç, stated the following on physical violence and sexual abuse: “There were 4 riot police officers behind me. Somebody squeezed my bottom while I was encircled. I turned back as I noticed, and I saw these 4 riot police officers behind me, and I reacted against them, telling to move away. (…) While they were putting me in the detention car, my right arm was twisted and I was dragged then I was pushed to the detention car, facing down on it. At that moment, the police officer who was holding my right arm, pushed his leg on my genitals and tried to handcuff me behind my back. A female friend by me reacted against him and told him to get his leg back. I was handcuffed behind my back and put in the detention car.”

Another detainee E. E., stated the following: “We were attacked on a busy street so many of us were in danger of being hit by the cars. While they were detaining us, at least 10 police officers were swooping down on per person. As a result, one of our friend has a fracture in foot, one has dislocated jaw and another one has head trauma because of being beaten.”

Şeyma Çopur stated the following: “We were waiting at the bus stop while we were faced with violence of the police. There were no warnings, the police chief ran to us, pushed one of our friend, saying ‘look down’. We were detained immediately. (…) They handcuffed all of us behind our backs. We were harassed both physically and verbally, they cursed at us a lot. They said, ‘We are the state, do you know what we can do here?’. They squeezed testicles of our male friends. We were still in handcuffs behind our backs under custody. One of our friend were suffering from serious bruises on the wrist but they did not loosen the handcuffs. The police officers dislocated one friend’s jaw. We were beaten in the detention car, I have crushes and bruises on my body.”

Batuhan Çotur stated the following: “The police verbally harassed and committed physical violence while they were detaining us. They punched us and dragged on the floor. They used handcuffs behind our backs and put us in the detention car. Verbal harassment and physical torture continued in the detention car as well.”

Rıdvan Gezer stated the following: “The police tried to handcuff us behind our backs while they were detaining us. Then they failed to handcuff us and tried to take off our face masks, pushed us and dragged to the detention car. Many of our friends were kicked and punched at these moments. I was put in the car without handcuffs so they dragged me out of the car, and tortured me to put handcuffs. Then I was taken to another car, a police officer came behind me and started to punch me. And he brought another friend of mine, and pushed him on my body, then he took a club from the car and started to hit both of us. I was in handcuffs behind my back so I could not cover my head, he hit my head at least twice with the club.”

Elif Üçerli stated the following: “We were detained around 16.30, and were kept in the detention car until 5 a.m. in the ne next morning. This was itself a form of torture. They continuously beat us; I still have pain in my shoulders. I suffered from high blood tension for a long time in there. They tried to seize our phones without any record.”

Tanya Kara stated the following: “They detained us with torture. We were walking on the street while they have detained us. They dragged our friends on the ground, they forced us to lay down on the ground and handcuffed us behind our backs. There were four or five police officers stepping onto us. Some of our friends are severely beaten at the head. They insulted us, and threatened us saying ‘Do not forget our faces’. They were especially rough on women. They pulled their hair, and kicked them on the ground while detaining. A friend of us who was detained in Bebek, was kicked at her vagina.”

Caner Delisu stated the following: “They brought a baton in the detention car and hit one of our friend with it, even at the head. They were threatening us, saying ‘We will finish you’. They kicked our head to the car when we rejected being handcuffed behind our backs. They did this in front of the hospital. When we reacted, they went in and started to insult us, they said ‘You are terrorists’. They kicked my leg just before I went into the doctor’s room”.

(02/039) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Police Interventions to Protests in Izmir
It is learned that the people who were detained in police interventions against press declarations to protest police interventions to protests in Boğaziçi University and to protests discrimination against LGBTIQs in Izmir on February 2, 2021, were subjected to torture and ill-treatment of the police during interventions and under custody.

One of the detainees, Berke Avcı, stated the following: “There were 7 or 8 police officers coming onto me and they started to pull me, one of them hit my head with the police wireless when they could not make me fall down, and the wireless broke into pieces. Then the number of police officers raised, and they forced me to lay down on the ground. I was resisting while they were pulling my hands towards my back to handcuff me. One of the police officers started to kick my stomach while the other was kicking my head. I was trying to lift my body and a police officer stepped on my head, and stayed on my head on one leg for a while. Then they pushed me back to the ground, a police officer stepped on my hand this time. Then I noticed that the police officers were pushing harder to handcuff me behind my back so that they were about to break my hand, I let them to take my hands towards my back. I was wearing a coat and a rucksack so they could not fasten the cable tie. This made them to force my hand further. (…) I saw that many of my friends in the detention car were in handcuffs behind their backs and they were being beaten by the police pulling their hair, sitting on them and kicking them.”

Zilan Tayboğa stated the following: “I was handcuffed behind my back while being detained. A male police officer pushed his knee on my back, another one pulled my hair and hit my head to the ground which split my lip open and bleed. (…) They continued to beat us in the detention car.”


A look at Turkey’s brain drain

A total of 330,289 people emigrated from Turkey in 2019, according to the government’s official statistics body. Turkey’s brain drain has been talked about for a number of years, but it is quite difficult to quantify exactly what effect it is having, because it’s difficult to measure the impact of people not being somewhere. Read the full article 

Read more about brain drain in turkey


Turkey’s press freedom violations in numbers
at the end of January 2021:

70 170 1406 76%
Journalists imprisoned
in Turkey
Media outlets forcibly
closed since 2016
Years of jail time handed
to journalists since 2016
Evidence direcctley
consisting of journalistic work
Souce: https://freeturkeyjournalists.ipi.media/

Turkish Militias and Proxies

Erdoğan has created a private military and paramilitary system. He deploys this apparatus for domestic and foreign operations without official oversight.

This study, which reveals the extent to which Turkey aggressively deploys proxies and militias to project power across the Middle East, is the first fruit of a cooperation agreement between the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and TRENDS Research & Advisory of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The two institutes will continue to research together regional military and security issues. They also intend to conduct symposia and maintain academic exchange programs. Read the full article


Advocates of silenced Turkey report 2020

When the Turkish President declared in an infamous speech that “old Turkey no longer exists. This Turkey is new Turkey”, the story of Turkish authoritarianism had once and for all taken on a new character. Since July of 2016, the Turkish government has improperly imprisoned 130,214 homemakers, teachers, NGO workers, academics, judges, prosecutors, and journalists. Read more.........

Human rights lawyers in Turkey face threats and detention

24 January marks the Day of the Endangered Lawyer, a moment to recognise the threats facing lawyers around the world who dare to stand up for human rights. In recent years Amnesty International has felt the impact of these threats close to home, through the government crackdown on our colleagues in Turkey. Read the article............

Council of Europe anti-torture Committee
publishes two reports on Turkey

Report to the Turkish Government on the visit to Turkey carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)

BİA Media Monitor 2020

In 2020, 23 journalists were sentenced to a total of 103 years and 3 days in prison. At least 48 journalists were detained in a year, 430 journalists were detained in five years. At least 18 journalists were assaulted in 2020, 139 journalists were assaulted in five years. In six years, 63 journalists were convicted of "insulting the president. Critical newspapers' public ads were suspended for 276 days. Read the full article

 

3,362 people killed, 3,534 mistreated or tortured in Turkey in 2020,
opposition MP says

An annual report on human rights violations in Turkey, drafted by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu, has revealed 3,362 deaths and 3,534 incidents of torture or maltreatment in 2020, with 1,855 of them taking place in prisons, the İleri Haber news website reported on Saturday. Read the full article


The year is 2020: What happened?!

.
Read the full article


Human Rights Watch country report 2020: Tyrkey

Read about Freedom of Expression, Association, and Assembly - Human Rights Defenders, Lawyers - Torture and Ill-Treatment in Custody, Enforced Disappearances - Kurdish Conflict and Crackdown on Opposition - Refugees and Migrants - Key International Actors.

Reports about torture and ill-treatment in Turkey


Provided by HRFT Documentation Center Human Rights Report.
September 2020 - October 2020 - November 2020 - December 2020 - January 2021

HRFT Documentation Center Human Rights Report
1 - 24 February 2021 reports about torture and ill-treatment in Turkey.

(02/298) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage pf February 22, 2021 that, 13 prisoners in Mardin E Type Prison are transferred under coercion to prisons in Urfa and Diyarbakır. Transferred prisoners are: İlhan Dayan, Selman Acet, Sabri Kömürcü, Adem Irmak, Beşir Dal, Agit Öcal, Bayram Demirhan, Ersin Çiçek, Ebubekir Koç, Abdullah Erez, Ali Aslan, Mahzun Geçgin and Umut Deniz Ertem.

(02/278) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 19, 2021 that, in Tekirdağ F Type Prison No 2, the wards were not being heated enough, the water given to prisoners was limited and the posts sent to prisoners were not delivered.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 19, 2021 that, Murat Aktaş, a prisoner who was subjected to physical violence of the correction officers in Edirne F Type Prison was subjected to disciplinary proceedings.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 20, 2021 that in Urfa T Type Prison, books belonging to prisoners were seized after ward searches.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 21, 2021 that, in Afyon T Type Prison No 1, the wards were over-capacity and were not heated enough, and the vegetables sold to prisoners at commissary were rotten.

(02/265) Torture and Ill-Treatment Under Custody in Aydın
It is learned from the news coverage of February 18, 2021 that, Sadegül Akalın, Söke district co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP); Caize Yörücü, provincial executive of HDP and 2 other members of HDP who were detained in Söke and Didim districts of Aydın on February 14, 2021 were subjected to strip search under custody.

Sadegül Akalın stated the following: “They took us to a room before the detention room and exercised strip search on us. There was a female police officer in the search room and she asked us to take off our clothes. I rejected, and said that strip search is illegal and inhuman. Our lawyers were not present there. We were 2 women, subjected to strip search at district police station”.

Caize Yörücü stated the following: “We were 2 women detained in this district. They took us into a room leaving the door half-open. There were 3 or 4 male police officers at the door. They stripped us and searched us there. And then we were taken into detention room”.


(02/250) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 17, 2021 that, İ. A., a prisoner in Antalya Elmalı T Type Prison, was subjected to physical violence of the correction officers because of rejecting to stand up during roll-calls. It is stated in the news reports that İ. A. was subjected to physical violence of other prisoners in the ward too. It is reported that İ. A. has fractures in his cheekbone, chin and ribs due to violence.

Human Rights Association (IHD) Antalya branch made a visit to İ. A. and prepared a report stating the following: “[İ. A.] states that, after 2-days of solitary cell confinement for he rejected to stand up during roll-calls; he was taken to the sub-manager’s room and was asked whether he persists in his rejection and was responded as ‘Then I am sending you to another ward. You can insist on your attitude there’. (…) Then he states that, he felt the hostile environment in this new ward immediately, and in a short while he was dragged to the restroom area of the ward by 2 prisoners, and was attacked there which resulted in fractures in cheekbone. He states that he banged the ward door for help and asked to be taken out, but nobody came for a long while and when the officers came and took him out, he was severely beaten in the aisle.

He was put in a solitary with broken ribs and chin, and he had bruises all over his body. He was taken to Elmalı Public Hospital the next day, and he was then referred to Antalya Research and Training Hospital where the doctors told him that he was almost dying. Then he states that, he had a surgery on January 20, and was kept for a night in Antalya L Type Prison after the operation where itself was felt as a torture; he was in post-operation condition with high-fever and was kept in a small cell without any bed, was not visited by any doctors of health personnel and was not given any painkillers and antifebrile.

He also states that he was not treated after being taken back to Elmalı.” The report also includes the declaration of prison administration which states the following: “It was declared that, the prisoner rejected the roll-call and his ward was altered because of this; he was beaten by other prisoners and while he was taken out of this ward towards a solitary cell, he threw himself on the floors, and injured himself by hitting his head to the walls; the officers used proportional force against him since he was resisting, and it is out of question that he was beaten by officers”.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 17, 2021 that, 2 prisoners (Ekrem Muhammed Hennan Hamudi and Yücel Balyacı) in Antalya Alanya L Type Prison, were subjected to disciplinary proceedings for they submitted to the prison administration that they were to participate in the hunger strike to demand an end to isolation of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. It is learned that 2 prisoners were penalised with 11 days of solitary cell confinement which was first cancelled by Alanya Court of Execution but was approved by Alanya Penal Court.

(02/229) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) made a declaration on February 17, 2021 and stated that, Dilek Hatipoğlu, Hakkari co-mayor, who was transferred from Ankara Sinan Prison to Van T Type Prison on February 12, 2021 rejected to strip search at the entrance of prison, and that she was subjected to strip search by the correction officers using physical violence against her.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 16, 2021 that, prisoners in Düzce T Type Prison were subjected to verbal violence of the correction officers during ward searches.


(02/231) Torture and Ill-Treatment Under Custody
It is learned from the news coverage of February 16, 2021 that, HDP Youth Assembly member Muhammed Ünal was subjected to physical and psychological torture and ill-treatment under custody at Istanbul Directorate of Security. Muhammed Ünal was arrested on February 7, 2021 for the protests against new rector appointed to Boğaziçi University, and he was released upon appeal on February 12, 2021.

Muhammed Ünal stated the following: “At the security directorate, they asked me questions, ‘Why did you come to Boğaziçi? Who sent you? Why are you here, what is your purpose? Who are you working for?’ and said ‘If you help us we will help you too’. (…) When I asked them whether these questions are within the official statement, they responded ‘No, we are having a casual conversation’. I told them it was a criminal act what they do, and I will not speak without my lawyer and use the right to remain silent. And then I was subjected to physical and psychological violence and torture.”

(02/169) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 11, 2021 that, 5 prisoners in Mersin Tarsus Prison Compound are transferred to other prisons under coercion. It is stated that 3 prisoners (Gökhan Çetin and 2 prisoners) were transferred to Kayseri Bünyan T Type Prison and 2 prisoners (Vedat Bektaş and Selahattin Ortaç) are transferred to Manisa Akhisar T Type Prison.

(02/136) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 10, 2021 that, Murat Aktaş, a prisoner who was subjected to physical violence of the correction officers in Edirne F Type Prison was subjected to disciplinary proceedings.

(02/073) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 4, 2021 that in Mardin E Type Prison, water cuts are too often and the food given to prisoners is non-hygienic.

(02/058) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 3, 2021 that, in Van T Type Prison, after the search in the ward where journalists Şehriban Abi and Nazan Şen are also kept in, blankets in the ward were seized without any reason by the officers.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 3, 2021 that, in Van High Security Prison, the letter of journalist Cemil Uğur addressing Evrensel daily newspaper was considered as improper because of expressions on journalist Metin Göktepe, who was killed by the police in 1996, and on torture and ill-treatment in prison; and that the letter was seized by prison administration.

(02/058) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 3, 2021 that, in Van T Type Prison, after the search in the ward where journalists Şehriban Abi and Nazan Şen are also kept in, blankets in the ward were seized without any reason by the officers.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 3, 2021 that, in Van High Security Prison, the letter of journalist Cemil Uğur addressing Evrensel daily newspaper was considered as improper because of expressions on journalist Metin Göktepe, who was killed by the police in 1996, and on torture and ill-treatment in prison; and that the letter was seized by prison administration.

(02/036) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 2, 2021 that, prisoners who reject strip search in Malatya Akçadağ T Type Prison were subjected to physical violence, and that prisoners were forced to stand up during roll-calls, hot and cold water given to prisoners was restricted and social, cultural and sports rights of prisoners were restricted too.

(02/038) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Police Interventions to Protests in Istanbul
It is learned that the people who were detained in police interventions against protests of police interventions against protests in Boğaziçi University in Istanbul on February 2, 2021, were subjected to physical and verbal violence of the police during interventions and under custody; and that at least 1 woman was subjected to sexual abuse. It is also learned that 1 journalist was injured at face by a rubber bullet fired by the police.

One of the detainees, K. Ç, stated the following on physical violence and sexual abuse: “There were 4 riot police officers behind me. Somebody squeezed my bottom while I was encircled. I turned back as I noticed, and I saw these 4 riot police officers behind me, and I reacted against them, telling to move away. (…) While they were putting me in the detention car, my right arm was twisted and I was dragged then I was pushed to the detention car, facing down on it. At that moment, the police officer who was holding my right arm, pushed his leg on my genitals and tried to handcuff me behind my back. A female friend by me reacted against him and told him to get his leg back. I was handcuffed behind my back and put in the detention car.”

Another detainee E. E., stated the following: “We were attacked on a busy street so many of us were in danger of being hit by the cars. While they were detaining us, at least 10 police officers were swooping down on per person. As a result, one of our friend has a fracture in foot, one has dislocated jaw and another one has head trauma because of being beaten.”

Şeyma Çopur stated the following: “We were waiting at the bus stop while we were faced with violence of the police. There were no warnings, the police chief ran to us, pushed one of our friend, saying ‘look down’. We were detained immediately. (…) They handcuffed all of us behind our backs. We were harassed both physically and verbally, they cursed at us a lot. They said, ‘We are the state, do you know what we can do here?’. They squeezed testicles of our male friends. We were still in handcuffs behind our backs under custody. One of our friend were suffering from serious bruises on the wrist but they did not loosen the handcuffs. The police officers dislocated one friend’s jaw. We were beaten in the detention car, I have crushes and bruises on my body.”

Batuhan Çotur stated the following: “The police verbally harassed and committed physical violence while they were detaining us. They punched us and dragged on the floor. They used handcuffs behind our backs and put us in the detention car. Verbal harassment and physical torture continued in the detention car as well.”

Rıdvan Gezer stated the following: “The police tried to handcuff us behind our backs while they were detaining us. Then they failed to handcuff us and tried to take off our face masks, pushed us and dragged to the detention car. Many of our friends were kicked and punched at these moments. I was put in the car without handcuffs so they dragged me out of the car, and tortured me to put handcuffs. Then I was taken to another car, a police officer came behind me and started to punch me. And he brought another friend of mine, and pushed him on my body, then he took a club from the car and started to hit both of us. I was in handcuffs behind my back so I could not cover my head, he hit my head at least twice with the club.”

Elif Üçerli stated the following: “We were detained around 16.30, and were kept in the detention car until 5 a.m. in the ne next morning. This was itself a form of torture. They continuously beat us; I still have pain in my shoulders. I suffered from high blood tension for a long time in there. They tried to seize our phones without any record.”

Tanya Kara stated the following: “They detained us with torture. We were walking on the street while they have detained us. They dragged our friends on the ground, they forced us to lay down on the ground and handcuffed us behind our backs. There were four or five police officers stepping onto us. Some of our friends are severely beaten at the head. They insulted us, and threatened us saying ‘Do not forget our faces’. They were especially rough on women. They pulled their hair, and kicked them on the ground while detaining. A friend of us who was detained in Bebek, was kicked at her vagina.”

Caner Delisu stated the following: “They brought a baton in the detention car and hit one of our friend with it, even at the head. They were threatening us, saying ‘We will finish you’. They kicked our head to the car when we rejected being handcuffed behind our backs. They did this in front of the hospital. When we reacted, they went in and started to insult us, they said ‘You are terrorists’. They kicked my leg just before I went into the doctor’s room”.

(02/039) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Police Interventions to Protests in Izmir
It is learned that the people who were detained in police interventions against press declarations to protest police interventions to protests in Boğaziçi University and to protests discrimination against LGBTIQs in Izmir on February 2, 2021, were subjected to torture and ill-treatment of the police during interventions and under custody.

One of the detainees, Berke Avcı, stated the following: “There were 7 or 8 police officers coming onto me and they started to pull me, one of them hit my head with the police wireless when they could not make me fall down, and the wireless broke into pieces. Then the number of police officers raised, and they forced me to lay down on the ground. I was resisting while they were pulling my hands towards my back to handcuff me. One of the police officers started to kick my stomach while the other was kicking my head. I was trying to lift my body and a police officer stepped on my head, and stayed on my head on one leg for a while. Then they pushed me back to the ground, a police officer stepped on my hand this time. Then I noticed that the police officers were pushing harder to handcuff me behind my back so that they were about to break my hand, I let them to take my hands towards my back. I was wearing a coat and a rucksack so they could not fasten the cable tie. This made them to force my hand further. (…) I saw that many of my friends in the detention car were in handcuffs behind their backs and they were being beaten by the police pulling their hair, sitting on them and kicking them.”

Zilan Tayboğa stated the following: “I was handcuffed behind my back while being detained. A male police officer pushed his knee on my back, another one pulled my hair and hit my head to the ground which split my lip open and bleed. (…) They continued to beat us in the detention car.”

 

(02/021) Torture and Ill-Treatment in Prison
It is learned from the news coverage of February 1, 2021 that, in Mersin Tarsus Women’s Prison, hot water is not provided to the wards on the grounds of building renovation process and thus prisoners have to use cold water in showers. It is also stated in the news reports that the heating does not work in wards.

It is learned from the news coverage of February 1, 2021 that, Doğu Demirtaş and Selahattin Can Uğuzeş, Boğaziçi University students who were arrested on January 30, 2021, were subjected to verbal violence of the correction officers in Metris Prison.

January 2021

Source: https://en.tihv.org.tr/


Black Sites in Turkey

In a near-repeat of the CIA’s ‘extraordinary renditions’, the regime of Turkish president Erdoğan is kidnapping dozens of members of the Gülen movement from around the world. Victims are now raising a serious accusation: secret torture sites are part of the repression. A team of nine media organizations from eight countries, coordinated by CORRECTIV, investigates. Read the story

The Kobanî massacre and the protests afterwards.

The Kobanî massacre was a combination of suicide missions and attacks on Kurdish  civilians by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on the Kurdish-held city of Kobanî, beginning on Thursday, 25 June, and culminating on Friday, 26 June 2015.  The attacks continued into 28 June. Read about the attack and the later protests


Torture and ill-treatment in Turkey

Every month, human rights organizations, the media and victims report cases of torture and ill-treatment in Turkish prisons and police stations. Here are some sources:


Operation Gladio B (II)

Operation Gladio B was a classified ongoing expansion of Operation Gladio. The original Gladio was established just after the end of World War II by a small number of senior officials withinOSS/CIA, MI6 and NATO. This was a top secret network of fascist "stay-behind" cells trained to carry out acts of terrorism in the event of a Soviet invasion.

This was exposed in the 1980's after they were used to carry out a string of false flag attacks , mostly in Italy, which were initially blamed on communist groups. As the cold war ended, this strategy of tension was diversified to include Gladio B, which substitutes Muslims for fascists and neo-nazis.
Read about Gladio B

The Imam's Army

The Imam's Army (Turkish: İmamın Ordusu) is a book by Turkish journalist Ahmet Şık on the life and work of Fethullah Gülen and his Gülen movement. Şık was detained in March 2011, before the book was published, and the draft book was seized by the government and banned, claiming it was an "illegal organizational document" of the secret organization Ergenekon.
Şık was detained pending trial, being eventually released pending trial in March 2012. In the interim, in an act of anti-censorship defiance, a version of the book was released in November 2011 under the name 000Kitap (000Book). Read more about "The Imam's Army"

Council of Europe media freedom alerts: Turkey

Journalists Arrested in Major Clampdown 2016-17-18-19

Index 2016 2017 2018 2019




Human Rights Watch country report:
Events in Tyrkey 2020



Council of Europe anti-torture Committee
publishes two
reports on Turkey



Black Sites in Turkey



Advocates of silenced
Turkey report 2020

About Some sources Gladio B: Gulen & CIA.
Abduction/ missing persons. Brain drain Torture