PROJE HAKKINDA.

Following the attempted coup on 15 July 2016, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency that lasted two years, during which 131,922 measures were adopted through 37 emergency decrees. Of these, 125,678 involved the dismissal of public servants, who were accused of links to “terrorist organisations.” Dismissed individuals, including judges, academics, teachers, and police officers, were left without meaningful recourse. Legislative Decree No. 685 established the Inquiry Commission on the State of Emergency Measures, tasked with assessing applications related to dismissals and other measures. While the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) initially recognised the Commission as an accessible domestic remedy in its Köksal v. Turkey decision, it also cautioned that the Commission’s effectiveness and subsequent judicial review would require further scrutiny to ensure compliance with Convention standards.

The Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project (TLSP) has been closely monitoring these developments. Its first report, published in October 2019, identified systemic shortcomings in the Inquiry Commission’s processes, concluding that it failed to provide a fair or effective remedy. This latest report builds on those findings by examining the judicial review process of the Commission’s decisions, focusing on the Ankara Administrative Courts, the Ankara Regional Administrative Court, and the Council of State. By analysing the functioning and decisions of these courts, the report assesses whether dismissed public servants are afforded an effective domestic remedy under international human rights law.

You can read the full report here.