Introduction

“The human rights violations increased since violence has dominated national politics.” were the words of Osman İşçi, General Secretary of Human Rights Association (İHD) during our interview. Interesting enough, the EU membership talks appeared to encourage the Turkish government, under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), to improve the country’s image by solving human rights problems. For example, many female students were forced to remove their headscarves in universities by previous governments. However, when AKP won the majority, the government sought to prevent discrimination based on religion in universities by lifting headscarf ban in 2007 and ensuring freedom of religion through a prominent democratisation package in 2013, which bestowed the right to wear a headscarf in government offices, the judiciary and military services.[1]

Despite such attempts, the persistence of certain issues faced in the country gave rise to human rights violations in different formats. According to İşci, one possible reason for the increase in violations is the launch of military operations of Turkey in the Middle East which caused a skyrocket in the number of violations. Moreover, the combination of careless economic policy such as the growing current account deficit and over-dependence on foreign investors,[2] and the rising corruption might have contributed to the growing public grievance, which manifested itself in the Gezi Park protests; where a peaceful protest evolved into large-scale demonstrations in multiple cities.

Alongside the aforementioned specific reasons for the surge of violations, various economic crises, political instability, and their negative consequences dominate everyday politics in Turkey, which directly or indirectly affect the politics of North Cyprus. We have suffered from devastating economic and political impacts of numerous crises, from the failed coup of 2016 to the Turkish currency and debt crisis in 2018; all of which formed a critical perspective in the minds of the younger generation, including me, over the actions of the incumbent Turkish government. As a result, focusing on a specific aspect, I will address the human rights violations in Turkey in this article.

 

Right to live


According to the Torture and Ill-Treatment Report (İşkence ve Kötü Muamele Raporu)[3] prepared by the Diyarbakır branch of the İHD, there have been 3,659 infringements between 2010 and 2019; 335 of which were physical violence acts mostly committed by prison guards. In addition to this, perpetrators of torture are usually not punished, and most cases are ignored by the judiciary as they are either timed out or dismissed by pro-government judges. The dramatic increase in the cases and the questionable course which the criminal justice has followed might indicate the authoritarian nature of policies adopted against detainees, and the power given to the security forces after the state of emergency following Turkey’s failed coup.[4] The aftermath of the coup has led to infringements such as depriving soldiers, who had allegedly taken part in the coup, of water and food, as well as torturing them. Despite denials from the previous Justice Minister Bozdağ and President Erdoğan, Amnesty International reported that the detainees were denied food and beaten up by police officers.[5]

The prison conditions also threaten the living standards of prisoners. According to statistics of the Ministry of Justice, the number of prisoners has reached to 286,000, whereas the capacity of the penitentiary system is only 235,431 prisoners. Furthermore, issues of overcrowding, inadequacy of sanitary facilities, and unavailability of sleeping spaces in prisons also pose a challenge for prisoners, especially considering the possibility that COVID-19 can have devastating consequences on prisoners. With this in mind, the exclusion of political prisoners convicted on terrorism-related crimes -such as links with PKK, Gülen movement and revolutionary leftist associations- from a draft law offering house arrest or early release on parole raises yet another question on how well human rights are upheld in Turkey. What makes matters worse is that most of these prisoners have been convicted or imprisoned without solid evidence, such as journalist Ahmet Altan and opposition politician Selahattin Demirtaş.[6]

Moreover, the femicide rates in Turkey are rapidly increasing; in contrast to the right to live. Many women are also beaten up and sexually abused by their partners. For example, in 2019, 474 women were killed and most of their perpetrators are still free because existing laws are not enforced. Many perpetrators tend to wear religious dresses to be eligible for “tie reduction” thus they get reduced sentences. Istanbul Convention, a human rights treaty for violence against women, is ignored by the AKP on the grounds that it damages traditional family values and encourages the advancement of LGBT movement. Turkish government is even currently considering to withdraw from the treaty.[7] Alongside femicides, 40% of Turkish women are vulnerable to domestic violence by their partners[8] which shows every-day problems that Turkish women endure.

 

Freedom of expression


The anti-terrorism laws in Turkey include the possibility of prosecuting any dissenter without evidence, blocking certain websites and implementing criminal investigations for social media users. Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) requires licenses to be bought by internet broadcasting platforms to control the content, such as blocking politically inappropriate content; especially during military operations: “Operation Peace Spring” involved the investigation of over 839 online accounts and detention of many people.[9]

One group which has significantly suffered from the anti-human rights rhetoric of the government is the journalists. Over 120 journalists were jailed for terrorism-related crimes without an official indictment. Considering this alongside the fact that one-third of all judges were removed from the office on the grounds of national security, the unlawfulness of accusations and the overall restrictions on freedom of expression are highlighted even further.[10]

A new law passed in the parliament with the votes of AKP and its parliamentary ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) enforces social media companies to delete inappropriate content when requested. Denial, on the other hand, will be faced with implementation of fines and narrowing down of their broadband width - a familiar treatment which was utilised during previous terror attacks in Turkey. This law can be seen as the extension of restrictions on freedom of expression on online platforms seen by the end of 2019, when 408,000 websites and 7,000 Twitter accounts were blocked.[11] This law, therefore, further restricts freedom of expression and spread of dissent.

Freedom of expression has suffered further in the aftermath of the failed 2016 coup with the destruction of more than 300,000 books which included many images and/or information about the Gülen movement, and damages to the independence of publishing houses and the media. Moreover, the intolerance of the Turkish government to any form of opposition has caused unstable arrangements in school books, such as the ridiculous prohibition of a mathematics book which included initials of Fethullah Gülen’s name in “from point F to point G”.[12]

Osman İşci also notes the neglect and reluctance media companies show with regards to reporting human rights violations and protests as problems, interpreting this as efforts to maintain a sound relationship with the government. He recalls the period during the EU membership negotiations when human rights organisations attracted great media attention; however, in recent years, it is only a small number of left-wing media companies or Kurdish TV channels which report those violations, thus revealing another way in which freedom of expression is limited in the country.

 

Freedom of assembly


The restrictions on the freedom of assembly have become so tight that even peaceful protests have faced extreme police brutality, best example being the Gezi Park protests, which were peaceful demonstrations against the construction of a military barrack in Taksim, İstanbul. These protests were intensified in response to the police brutality where eight people were killed including a 15 year-old named Berkin Elvan.[13]  After the Gezi Park protests, restrictions on the freedom of assembly have become a usual method implemented by the Turkish government to conceal opposition views. One example is the government’s ban on the LGBTQ+ Pride events in cities and the use of forceful police interference to a march by LGBTQ+ university students in Ankara.[14]

Women associations suffer from limitations of assembly too. “Las Tesis” demonstrations, which were aimed to highlight violence against women, have resulted in detention of seven women in which protesters were convicted for “opposition to meeting and march laws” and “insulting the president”.[15]  All of these examples display how the Turkish government employs bans on freedom of assembly to suppress the formation of any dissent.

 

Right to work


There is a wide range of rights violations in Turkey, but a significant one is the violation of the right to work. After the failed coup, 134,207 public sector workers were removed from the office,[16] alongside with many academics, doctors and police officers, whose passports were also confiscated due to their alleged links with the coup.[9] Four years after the failed coup, the government carries on removing elected governors from the office, especially in the Southeastern Turkey, by accusing them of supporting the PKK. The government has appointed unelected state officials in eight municipalities in place of removed governors.[18] Furthermore, Turkey holds the record for having the highest number of worker deaths (1,797 in 2018) in Europe which underlines the insufficiency of laws protecting workers as well as a reluctance to implement existing laws to create safe working conditions for workers.[16]

 

Conclusion


Turkey’s future does not seem to be great in terms of human rights. Public dissent resulting from the poor economic performance is quenched by extensive use of violence, putting restrictions on expression, blaming terrorist organisations for the failures of the government and removing political opponents from government posts, only to replace them with pro-government officials.

I would argue that the lack of an independent judiciary system is the main reason for the continuation of human rights violations because pro-government judges are reluctant to prevent human rights violations. Plus, extreme use of force discourages people to effectively oppose the existing government due to restrictions on the freedom of assembly and freedom of expression. Joining one of the mainstream political parties may be a viable option, however, their lack of capability to provide a stringent opposition to hold the ruling party accountable is a big source for my skepticism towards such an idea, alongside their support for AKP in many illegitimate military operations causing many deaths and injuries.

By considering those problems, I asked İşçi what his plan is against the authoritarian government violating human rights and ruining the lives of millions of people. He replied in a calm manner: “We will carry on fighting against violations. If we give up, Turkey will never be free.” Considering the challenges İşçi and others faced, their struggle is immensely appreciated.

References

[1] Al Jazeera Turk. (2013). "Türkiye’de başörtüsü yasağı: Nasıl başladı, nasıl çözüldü?". URL: http://www.aljazeera.com.tr/dosya/turkiyede-basortusu-yasagi-nasil-basladi-nasil-cozuldu. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[2] Jarosiewicz, Aleksandra. (2013). "Turkey's economy: a story of success with an uncertain future". URL: https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2013-11-06/turkeys-economy-a-story-success-uncertain-future. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[3] İnsan Hakları Derneği Diyarbakır Şubesi. (2020). "2010-2019 Yılları Arası İşkence ve Kötü Muamele Raporu". URL: https://www.ihddiyarbakir.org/Content/uploads/02b55fde-c4f8-4a69-aa00-a09d4f0d9573.pdf. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[4] Bozarslan, Felat. (2020). "İHD: En çok işkence şikâyeti cezaevinden". URL: https://p.dw.com/p/3eEFW. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[5] Amnesty International. (2016). "Turkey: Independent monitors must be allowed to access detainees amid torture allegations". URL: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/07/turkey-independent-monitors-must-be-allowed-to-access-detainees-amid-torture-allegations/. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[6] Human Rights Watch. (2020)."Turkey: COVID-19 Puts Sick Prisoners at Grave Risk". URL: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/03/turkey-covid-19-puts-sick-prisoners-grave-risk. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[7] McKernan, Bethan. (2020). "Murder in Turkey sparks outrage over rising violence against women". URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/23/turkey-outrage-rising-violence-against-women. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[8] Yackley, Ayla Jean. (2020). "Murders of women in Turkey: ‘The state cannot shield us’". URL: https://www.ft.com/content/866a35af-af57-425d-8c5d-a51a9774e427. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[9] Amnesty International. (n.d.) "Turkey 2019". URL: https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/europe-and-central-asia/turkey/report-turkey/. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[10] Reuters. (2019). "More than 120 journalists still jailed in Turkey: International Press Institute". URL: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-media/more-than-120-journalists-still-jailed-in-turkey-international-press-institute-idUSKBN1XT26T. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[11] Tuysuz, Gul. (2020). "Critics fear Turkey's new social media law could hurt freedom of expression. Here's how.". URL: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/29/europe/turkey-social-media-law-intl/index.html. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[12] Flood, Alison. (2019). "Turkish government destroys more than 300,000 books". URL: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/06/turkish-government-destroys-more-than-300000-books. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[13] Radikal. (2014). "Berkin Elvan: Gezi'de yitirilen sekizinci can". URL: http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/berkin-elvan-gezide-yitirilen-sekizinci-can-1180607/. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[14] McKernan, Bethan. (2018). "Istanbul Pride: Eleven arrested as march goes ahead despite official ban". URL: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/istanbul-pride-eleven-arrests-official-ban-march-parade-turkey-lgbt-a8426656.html. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[15] Hurriyet Daily News. (2019). "Police disperse women's ‘Las Tesis’ dance protest in Istanbul". URL: https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/police-disperse-womens-las-tesis-dance-protest-in-istanbul-149624. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[16] Karakaş, Burcu. (2018). "Türkiye’nin insan hakları karnesi". URL: https://p.dw.com/p/39lrM. Access date: 6/9/2020.

[17] Reuters. (2020). "UPDATE 1-Turkey replaces eight mayors in crackdown on pro-Kurdish party". URL: https://www.reuters.com/article/turkey-security-kurds/update-1-turkey-replaces-eight-mayors-in-crackdown-on-pro-kurdish-party-idUSL8N2BG8KU. Access date: 6/9/2020.

Photo: Ümit Yıldırım, Unsplash.