Executive summary

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This submission by the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project (TLSP) to the Directorate-General for Enlargement and the Eastern Neighbourhood of the European Commission (DG ENEST) sets out findings, analysis and recommendations on key issues related to the rule of law and fundamental freedoms in Türkiye, ahead of the preparation of the Türkiye 2026 Country Report. It addresses six priority areas, drawing on TLSP’s collaborative work with local and international civil society organisations.

The submission documents entrenched and systemic violations that have not only persisted but intensified.

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I. Capture and Instrumentalisation of the Judiciary 

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The independence and impartiality of the judiciary have been gradually degraded, leading to the "capture" of the judiciary by the ruling AKP/MHP coalition. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors (CJP) lacks structural independence; the Venice Commission confirmed in December 2024 that its composition and functioning have enabled its effective politicisation. 

Judicial recruitment is likewise compromised. The oral examination process is controlled by the Ministry of Justice, with outcomes widely reported to be predetermined on the basis of political affiliation. Decisions on promotion, transfer, and discipline have been systematically used to reward compliance with government interests and punish judges who deliver rulings contrary to those interests.

The Turkish Constitutional Court (TCC) faces parallel structural problems. Twelve of its fifteen members are appointed directly or indirectly by the President. The TCC has repeatedly failed to provide effective protection in politically sensitive cases, and a growing number of lower courts openly refuse to implement its judgments. The TCC is also subject to growing political pressure.

Members of the executive and governing coalition have repeatedly sought to influence ongoing proceedings, particularly those involving human rights defenders (HRDs) and opposition politicians. The environment for HRDs in Türkiye has deteriorated further since the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights noted an alarming surge in criminal prosecutions against HRDs, reaching “unprecedented levels” in 2024.

Key recommendations: restructuring the CJP in line with Venice Commission standards; reforming judicial recruitment; ensuring effective judicial review of decisions affecting judges and prosecutors; and strengthening the TCC’s independence and individual application mechanism. Additional priorities include adopting protective legislation for HRDs, ending punitive prosecutions, and fully implementing the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law under Articles 5, 10, 11, and 18 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR or Convention). Proceedings based on the arbitrary lifting of parliamentary immunity should be annulled, TCC jurisprudence on inviolability implemented, elected local representatives allowed to exercise their March 2024 mandates, HDP closure proceedings discontinued, and political interference in judicial processes ceased.

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II. Anti-Terror Laws and Their Arbitrary Application. 

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Türkiye’s application of anti-terrorism law stands in fundamental contradiction with the rule of law and international human rights standards. Inherently vague provisions — including Articles 220(6) and (7), 309, 312, and 314(1) of the Criminal Code — are applied in a broad, selective, and unforeseeable manner to criminalise the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression, assembly, and association.

Despite repeated calls from the Committee of Ministers and the Venice Commission for legislative reform, the authorities have presented only cosmetic amendments and maintain that no further action is required.

Key recommendations: immediate release of Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu, and Osman Kavala; amendment of overbroad criminal and anti-terrorism provisions; and effective implementation of ECtHR jurisprudence by prosecutorial and judicial authorities.

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III. Continuing Crackdown on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

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Severe violations persist through blanket and specific bans, police interventions with excessive use of force, and the criminalisation of peaceful protestors. These measures disproportionately affect the predominantly Kurdish south-east, women's rights organisations, LGBTI+ groups and workers. Systematic bans have been imposed on LGBTI+ assemblies, May Day demonstrations, the Saturday Mothers'/People vigil and the Feminist Night March, notwithstanding TCC rulings finding violations. Despite documented cases of police brutality, criminal prosecutions against officers are rare due to a requirement of prior authorisation by governors under Law No. 4483, generating a pervasive climate of impunity.

Key recommendations: amendment of Laws No. 2911 and 5442; review of the 2016 Directive on crowd-control weapons; establishment of an effective ex post facto review mechanism; and an end to the criminalisation of peaceful protest.

IV. Violations of the Rights of Prisoners

Prisoners face a wide range of violations, including the detention of seriously ill prisoners, torture and ill-treatment, prolonged solitary confinement and arbitrary disciplinary sanctions. The submission focuses on two issues: the continuing denial of the "right to hope" of aggravated life-sentenced prisoners under Article 107(16) of Law No. 5275 and Article 17(4) of Anti-Terror Law No. 3713, in breach of the ECtHR's Gurban group of judgments and affecting over 4,000 individuals; and the arbitrary denial of conditional release rights of political prisoners, illustrated by the cases of Selçuk Kozağaçlı and Murat Arslan.

Key recommendations: legislative reform to ensure the full implementation of the Gurban group of judgments, to ensure all life sentences are de jure and de facto reducible and to establish a judicially reviewable mechanism with an initial review no later than 25 years and robust procedural safeguards; revision of Article 89 of Law No. 5275 to provide objective and foreseeable conditional release criteria and to ensure that conditional release decisions are taken by independent and impartial authorities; and publication of comprehensive data on affected prisoners, as repeatedly requested by the Committee of Ministers.

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V. Lack of an Effective Remedy for Public Sector Workers Dismissed Under the State of Emergency. 

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During the 2016–2018 state of emergency, approximately 130,000 public sector workers were dismissed on vague grounds of alleged "membership", "affiliation" or "link" to "terrorist organisations". Neither the Inquiry Commission nor the subsequent judicial review provides an effective domestic remedy, as documented in two successive TLSP reports (2019 and 2023).

In Pişkin v. Turkey (December 2020), the ECtHR found violations of Articles 6 and 8 ECHR. Implementation remains under Committee of Ministers supervision, with additional repetitive cases decided in 2025–2026. The TCC has consistently declared complaints regarding the dismissals inadmissible.

Key recommendations: ensuring effective remedies and reinstatement for arbitrarily dismissed workers; compliance with Pişkin v. Turkey; publication of comprehensive statistics on dismissals, legal challenges, and outcomes; and adoption of binding time limits for the determination of pending cases.

VI. Evasion of ECHR Obligations and Circumvention of the Implementation of ECtHR Judgments

Türkiye has the highest number of pending ECtHR cases among Council of Europe (CoE) member States, with 144 leading judgments and 296 repetitive cases under supervision, representing 31.5% of all leading cases. Patterns of non-compliance include judicial circumvention through the reclassification of substantially identical facts as new offences — as expressly recognised by the ECtHR in Demirtaş (no. 4) — superficial "judicial reforms", and overt non-compliance, emblematically illustrated by the Kavala judgments, the continued detention of Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu, the conviction of Yüksel Yalçınkaya, and the new wave of mass arrests based on ByLock evidence.

Key recommendations include: genuine engagement with the Committee of Ministers’ enhanced supervision procedure; substantive legislative amendments as repeatedly called for; immediate release of Osman Kavala, Selahattin Demirtaş, and Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu; and a cessation of public statements attacking the authority of the ECtHR.