As part of our mission to defend law and human rights, we closely monitor developments in the field of law and human rights in Türkiye. Below you can read and download the English (EN) edition of Issue 5 (19–25 October 2026).
Political prisoner’s leg amputated due to judicial and medical neglect. Weekly human rights and justice developments in Türkiye (19–25 October 2026).
Weekly Human Rights & Justice Developments in Türkiye
📌 Issue 5 | Date 19-25 October
🗓️ 26.10.2026
“As part of our law and human rights advocacy mission, we closely follow developments in law and human rights in Turkey. Within the scope of this work, we publish a weekly bulletin documenting/archiving the summary of the previous week.”
⚖️ ARBITRARY DETENTIONS AND ARRESTS
October 24Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor's Office targeting the Milas Municipality, 18 people, including Mayor Fevzi Topuz and his son Doruk Topuz, were arrested.
October 2334 people, including Emrah Kozay, the Mayor of Adana's Çukurova district, former Mayor Soner Çetin, and two deputy mayors, were arrested.
October 22In an operation centered in Ankara across 12 provinces targeting the community known as the Süleymancılar, 19 out of 38 detained individuals were arrested.
October 21BirGün newspaper reporter İsmail Arı was arrested by the magistrate court following a complaint by Ebubekir Şahin, former President of the Radio and Television Supreme Council.
October 20According to information shared with the public by MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, cancer patient Mehmet Daylak, a math teacher dismissed by decree (KHK) who was being tried under Gülen movement investigations in Gaziantep, was re-arrested 13 days after his release. Mehmet Daylak had one kidney removed and is 86% disabled.
October 19As part of an investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into claims that two German citizens were carrying out transactions to launder high amounts of money from unidentified sources, 15 people were arrested, including journalist Murat Ağırel, who was under house arrest due to fund crisis reporting.
📢 FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY AND ASSOCIATION
October 25The tent vigil protest initiated against the "EIA Positive" decision given for the planned "Zenkar 2 Solar Power Plant and Energy Storage Facility" project in Kervansaray Neighborhood, Sur district of Diyarbakır, entered its third day. After company employees entered the project site accompanied by gendarmerie and soldiers, the neighborhood residents' march towards the project site was stopped by the gendarmerie.
October 24During a process in which journalists were arrested, a trustee was appointed to Halk TV, and access to T24 and numerous websites was blocked, press professional organizations organized simultaneous demonstrations in Istanbul Kadıköy, Ankara, and İzmir under the slogan "No to censorship, freedom to news". The marches, called by organizations including TGS, DİSK Basın-İş, Journalists' Association, Press Council, ÇGD, İGC, and DFG, were supported by political parties, trade unions, bar associations, and non-governmental organizations. In the demonstrations held on the first anniversary of the appointment of a trustee to TELE1, banners reading "Free press cannot be silenced" and "Journalists imprisoned, financiers free" were carried.
📰 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE PRESS
October 23Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD) announced that an access block decision was issued against Halk TV's YouTube channel with 2.6 million subscribers based on URL using channel ID, following its username being blocked on October 14. Changing its username to @Halktv-eu after the blocking decision, the channel has not yet been rendered invisible from Türkiye by YouTube. Access blocks against Halk TV continue alongside the trustee process appointed within the scope of the investigation into channel owner Cafer Mahiroğlu.
October 21Yeni Yaşam newspaper, whose social media accounts were closed many times before, announced that its X accounts were once again blocked from access.
October 21Independent Communication Network (BİA) Media Monitoring Report revealed that pressure and censorship against journalists increased in the July-September 2026 period; seven journalists were arrested in three months while access blocks were imposed on at least 52 online news items and the X accounts of 16 journalists and eight media outlets. According to the report, journalists reporting on irregularities in the fund market faced access blocks, while T24 was shut down on allegations of "LGBT propaganda", showing that following Açık Radyo and TELE1, this closure demonstrates the continuation of policies to weaken independent media. At least two journalists were sentenced to prison in the last three months, while TCK Article 217/A, which entered into force in October 2022, continues to be used in investigations and arrests targeting journalists.
🏛️ JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE AND THE RULE OF LAW
October 22In the process following the March 31, 2024 local elections, the ruling party changed in 37 out of 81 provinces; it was stated that including district and town municipalities, the number of municipalities passing to the AKP reached 112. While arrests, dismissals, trustee appointments, and party-switching mayors were expressed to reshape the political map, opposition party leaders claimed that some party transitions occurred through blackmail.
October 19Judge Murat Arslan, President of YARSAV (Judges and Prosecutors Association) who was awarded the prestigious Václav Havel Human Rights Prize by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), was released after serving the entirety of his 10-year prison sentence.
October 19Germany-based Die Zeit newspaper alleged that some Turkish citizens paid bribes to open criminal investigations in Türkiye in order to present evidence of political prosecution in asylum applications. According to the report by Christoph Heinemann, intermediaries on TikTok and Telegram provide real investigation records to be entered into UYAP in exchange for bribes. It was reported that providers issue investigation files and indictments for 800 euros, while packages including illegal border crossing to Germany start at 6,000 euros. While the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) announced encountering fake UYAP websites, the report noted that the asylum acceptance rate for Turkish citizens dropped from 43% to 12%.
⛓️ TORTURE AND MALTREATMENT
October 23The left leg of severely ill prisoner Abdullah Tırpan, held in Istanbul Metris Prison, was amputated below the knee last night. However, due to the infection spreading to the upper part of his leg, it was learned that Tırpan will undergo a second surgery to amputate his leg above the knee.
⚧️ GENDER AND HUMAN RIGHTS
October 24A group reacting to the unfurling of an LGBTI+ flag at the 128th Ordinary General Assembly of the Istanbul Bar Association attacked those who opened the flag.
🧒 CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
October 22In Kapaklı district of Tekirdağ, 14-year-old F.K., a 9th-grade Vocational Education Center (MESEM) student, was assaulted with kicks, slaps, and punches by business operator Abdulkadir K. in an auto repair shop under the pretext of not coming to school and work. This situation once again brought up questions as to whether the purpose of MESEMs is vocational education or cheap labor.
🛟 REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
October 20In two separate incidents off Lesvos and Samos islands in Greece on October 19, 12 refugees and migrants lost their lives, including a baby. Off Agrilia in southern Lesvos, a speedboat carrying refugees capsized after colliding with a Greek Coast Guard patrol boat; while Greek authorities claimed the speedboat rammed the patrol boat, results of an independent investigation into how the collision occurred have not yet been announced. Greek police detained a 37-year-old Turkish citizen found among the survivors on suspicion of operating the boat and human smuggling.
🕊️ RELIGIOUS GROUPS
October 19Cemevi members and local residents initiated a vigil against the transfer and eviction of Kıraç Cemevi in Esenyurt to the Cem Foundation. Cemevi President Evren Kaya stated that the cemevi was built with the labor of neighborhood residents, alleging that the Cem Foundation obtained the title deed by using connections in the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, and said they took the decision to court. Kaya said, "This place is ours, we built it. We will definitely not hand it over to the Cem Foundation."
⚖️ CROSSBORDER JURISTS
This bulletin has been prepared to objectively archive developments in human rights and justice.
