Regions: Turkey

Turkey flag

Turkey has faced an unprecedented crackdown on the media and justice system following the failed coup in July 2016. Abuse of Turkey’s vaguely worded anti-terror legislation is widespread: scores of journalists, human rights defenders, opposition parliamentarians and academics are on trial facing terror charges, without clear evidence or logical charges. Many have been held for over a year in pre-trial detention. Attacks on freedom of expression are compounded by pressure on the judiciary exerted through increasing dismissals, prosecutions and arrests of judges and prosecutors. Restrictions on expression also severely undermine the public’s right to information, with Turkish courts regularly ordering media blackouts after terrorist attacks and wholesale blocking of websites.  Nowhere is this felt more strongly than in the South-East of the country, where reliable information on human rights abuses is increasingly hard to access and journalists struggle to safely report news.

According to official government sources, there are no journalists in jail in Turkey – they are in fact all “terrorists”. Calls from the international community for Turkey to ensure that no one is prosecuted on the basis of their journalism have been rejected as interference in independent judicial processes. By monitoring trials, drafting expert legal opinions on cases and sharing this information with the international community, ARTICLE 19 aims to dismantle this narrative.

Cumhuriyet trial Caglayan courthouse

Judicial harassment in Turkey

A manual of Turkish criminal procedure 

Türkiye: End political attacks on journalists
02.10.2024 2 min read

Türkiye: End political attacks on journalists

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UN: Türkiye must respect freedom of expression online
26.09.2024 2 min read

UN: Türkiye must respect freedom of expression online

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UN: ARTICLE 19’s commentary on the Global Principles for Information Integrity
17.09.2024 13 min read

UN: ARTICLE 19’s commentary on the Global Principles for Information Integrity

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Online trainings on UN mechanisms and advocacy for civil society in Türkiye
11.09.2024 1 min read

Online trainings on UN mechanisms and advocacy for civil society in Türkiye

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Türkiye: Protect journalist Murat Ağırel amid escalating death threats
11.09.2024 6 min read

Türkiye: Protect journalist Murat Ağırel amid escalating death threats

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UN: 57th Session of the Human Rights Council kicks off in Geneva
09.09.2024 10 min read

UN: 57th Session of the Human Rights Council kicks off in Geneva

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Türkiye: Sentence for journalist Bülent Mumay is an attack on press freedom
27.08.2024 6 min read

Türkiye: Sentence for journalist Bülent Mumay is an attack on press freedom

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Türkiye: Protect media freedom and reinstate Açık Radyo’s licence
10.07.2024 5 min read

Türkiye: Protect media freedom and reinstate Açık Radyo’s licence

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Türkiye: EU must do more to protect media freedom and human rights
09.07.2024 5 min read

Türkiye: EU must do more to protect media freedom and human rights

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