The appointment of trustees in place of elected Kurdish mayors in Turkey highlights the government’s ongoing hostility towards the Kurdish population. Despite discussions aimed at resolving the Kurdish issue through democratic means, the Turkish state continues to employ heavy-handed tactics, including military strikes on civilian infrastructure in Northeast Syria and Iraq, while simultaneously undermining Kurdish political representation domestically. Recent actions, such as the arrest of Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer and the removal of mayors from Mardin and Batman, exemplify a broader strategy to consolidate power and suppress dissent by criminalizing Kurdish institutions and leaders under the pretext of combating terrorism. This pattern of governance raises serious concerns about the erosion of democratic principles and human rights in Turkey.
Silenced Voices: Human Rights Bulletin for Turkey Septembre 2024
September Report:
Kurdish individuals faced violence and arrests in Turkey.
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TÜRKIYE-The repression against the Kurdish people: Human Rights Council Working Group on Universal Periodic Review
4th cycle – 49th session April / May 2025 MOUVEMENT CONTRE LE RACISME ET POUR L’AMITIÉ ENTRE LES PEUPLES (MRAP) Is a French organisation born of underground resistance to Nazism and fascism, it was officially founded in 1949 on the initiative of former members of the Resistance and deportees. MRAP is member of the French…
Turkey Report – The repression against the Kurdish people
The repression against the Kurdish people
1-INTRODUCTION
1. The report analysis the implementation of the recommendations
adopted at the third Periodic Review of Türkiye (May 2010). The
conclusion is that Türkiye has not implemented the
recommendations it accepted.
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Attack on Civilian Settlements in Northern and Eastern Syria
E26/10/2024
Since Wednesday, October 23, 2024, the Turkish state has been bombing Sinjar, the Yazidi center
devastated by ISIS, as well as civilian areas in northeastern Syria. Citing an attack in Ankara, allegedly
carried out by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Turkey has launched indiscriminate bombings on
civilian zones in northeastern Syria. These attacks have hit bakeries, flour warehouses, gas stations,
highways, oil wells, and power stations using drones, warplanes, and howitzers.
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Report on torture in prisons- Turkey
Since the coup d’état in Turkey on July 15, 2016, there has been an increase in the repression of lawyers, artists, opposition parties and organizations, and especially of the Kurdish community. David Kaye, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, who visited Turkey in 2016, stated that “the Turkish government has a very broad concept of terrorism” and “considers anyone who opposes it to be a terrorist.” (1) A similar assessment was made by Ignacio Sanchez Amor, the European Union’s rapporteur on Turkey. The fact that the Turkish government considers everyone who does not agree with it to be a “terrorist member, terrorist” leads the majority of the opposition, especially the Kurdish, to see them as enemies.
Report on minorities on Turkey
The establishment process of the Republic of Turkey is characterized by forced Turkification. This process began even before the establishment of the state, with genocides against the Armenian and Assyrian people (1915) and the Greek-Pontic people through genocide and population exchange (1919-21). The geography inhabited by these peoples, along with their entire historical and cultural heritage, was almost erased, and Muslim-Turkish communities from the Caucasus and the Balkans were settled in their place.
Report on freedom of expression – Turkey
Since the 1990s, there has been continuous pressure on Kurdish media and press in Turkey. Regardless of changes in governments, the free expression of Kurds has been deemed a crime. Anti-terror laws, particularly Articles 7 and 8, have been included to restrict free expression. The AKP-MHP administration, especially after the July 15, 2016 coup attempt, used anti-terror laws as a shield against criticisms of the government and its institutions. The laws were employed as tools to silence all opposing segments under the guise of “combating terrorism.” United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression David Kaye visited Turkey between November 16-18, 2016.