Solidarity with OTHERS

Signatories👇

📣An #open #letter signed by 54 parliamentarians, academics, lawyers and human rights advocates has called for an #inclusive #democratic #reform and amnesty process in #Türkiye. Addressed to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, the letter welcomes renewed dialogue aimed at ending conflict and resolving long-standing political disputes. However, it warns that reforms limited to selected groups could deepen divisions and undermine public trust. The signatories—including 10 Members of the European Parliament and three members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe—call for the protection of all #political #prisoners, an end to the misuse of #counterterrorism laws, and the implementation of European Court of Human Rights judgments(#ECtHR). They also urge Türkiye to restore #judicial #independence, strengthen the separation of powers, guarantee effective legal remedies and establish an open nationwide dialogue involving all affected communities. ❗️The letter says lasting peace requires democracy, equality, accountability and respect for human rights. @CoE_RuleofLaw @CoEHumanRights @EUDelegationTur

Read issue 3⃣1⃣6⃣ of our weekly newsletter 🔽 solidaritywithothers.com/issue-316/

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🔴Today, Türkiye’s justice and interior ministers announced a nationwide operation targeting 968 people over alleged links to the Gülen movement. The scale, presentation and timing suggest #political #move rather than an evidence-led security operation. 1⃣ The accompanying footage shows heavily armed police entering homes, including those of elderly people. Yet no individualised evidence is offered that those shown posed an immediate or violent threat. The spectacle declares people dangerous before any court examines their case. 2⃣ This is not one criminal case involving 968 people. Separate investigations across 81 provinces have been combined into one headline number. Criminal responsibility must be individual. A mass figure instead creates the image of a vast organisation that remains an urgent threat. 3⃣The timing is impossible to ignore: two days before the tenth anniversary of the failed coup. For a decade, the coup attempt has been used to justify repression extending far beyond anyone credibly accused of participating in violence. 4⃣The ECtHR has already exposed the legal foundations of this persecution. In Yalçınkaya v Turkey(2023) and Yasak v Turkey (2026) cases, it found Article 7 violations because Türkiye’s courts imposed criminal liability without properly establishing individual knowledge and intent. 5⃣ Thousands of related cases have produced further ECtHR violations. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has repeatedly found Gülen-linked detentions arbitrary and warned that widespread or systematic unlawful imprisonment may constitute crimes against humanity. @CoEHumanRights @MichaelCJT @YvesCruchten @NachoSAmor @profbensaul @PACE_President @alain_berset

📜We are proud to be an organising partner of the Justice March under the Peaceful Actions Platform (@PAPlatformu ) Together with 17 NGOs across Europe, we helped deliver this letter to the Council of Europe and its main institutions, calling for stronger action on the continued non-implementation of #ECtHR #judgments and the systemic injustices affecting thousands of people in Turkey. The Justice March has brought these concerns to #Strasbourg for #five consecutive years. justice-march.com

📣#New #Report Turkish Maarif Foundation and the Global Attack on Gülen Schools For nearly a decade, the Turkish government has pursued a campaign of #transnational #repression that reaches far beyond its borders. Schools have become one of its primary targets. Our new report documents how the Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMV), established just weeks before the 2016 coup attempt, has been used as a state instrument to take over or replace Gülen schools around the world. The findings are striking. ▶️Since 2016, at least 162 schools in 29 countries have been closed, confiscated or transferred. ▶️131 of them were handed over to TMV, affecting around 7,800 teachers and staff. ▶️In many cases, these actions followed sustained diplomatic pressure and were carried out without transparent legal procedures, effective judicial remedies or compensation for those affected. Looking at 14 country case studies across Africa, Asia and Latin America, the report shows that these were part of a coordinated international policy of Turkey. The report also examines these developments through the lens of international criminal law and concludes that there is a reasonable basis to consider whether the documented pattern may amount to the #crime #against #humanity of persecution under Article 7 of the Rome Statute. Read the report here: solidaritywithothers.com/turkish-maarif…

Read issue 3⃣1⃣5⃣ of our weekly newsletter 🔽 solidaritywithothers.com/issue-315/

Last week's summary on #TurkeyRightsMonitor

Read issue 3⃣1⃣4⃣ of our weekly newsletter 🔽 solidaritywithothers.com/issue-314/

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At the @osce_odihr Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on #Preventing #Torture and Ill-Treatment in #Vienna, our colleague Coşkun Yorulmaz delivered a statement, drawing attention to the worsening situation in #Türkiye. ▶️He highlighted that the first Global Torture Index by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) places Türkiye among the highest-risk countries for torture and ill-treatment. He also raised concerns over severe prison #overcrowding, with more than 430,000 prisoners held in facilities operating around 40% above capacity, contributing to deteriorating health conditions and #preventable #deaths. ▶️The statement recalled the death of teacher Halime Gülsu after repeated requests for access to her medication were denied, and the torture of teacher Eyüp Birinci in police custody, despite the Constitutional Court later confirming he had been subjected to torture. It also addressed credible reports of unlawful strip-searches and invasive body-cavity searches, as well as the persistent climate of impunity surrounding such violations. We called on Türkiye to honour its international obligations, ensure independent investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment, end impunity, and provide justice and effective remedies for victims. Full video of the session: youtube.com/watch?v=kYN9rW…

🟡Come and join us on WEDNESDAY, 24th June in Strasbourg! 5th JUSTICE MARCH justice-march.com

📢Join us on 24 June in Strasbourg for the 5th Justice March. Together, we will call for the implementation of ECtHR judgments in Türkiye and stand in solidarity with all victims of state repression. Justice delayed is justice denied — make your voice heard. justice-march.com

Read issue3️⃣1⃣2⃣of our weekly newsletter 🔽 solidaritywithothers.com/issue-312/

Last week's summary on #TurkeyRightsMonitor

Read issue3️⃣1⃣1⃣of our weekly newsletter 🔽 solidaritywithothers.com/issue-311/

Last week's summary on #TurkeyRightsMonitor

Read issue3️⃣1⃣0⃣of our weekly newsletter 🔽 solidaritywithothers.com/issue-310/

Last week's summary on #TurkeyRightsMonitor