FAIR Submission to the 4th UPR Cycle of Turkey Published

1. Turkey received a total of 36 recommendation regarding right to peaceful assembly -17 during the 3^rd, 16 during the 2^nd, and 3 during 1^st While 23 of the recommendations were supported by Turkey, remaining 13 were only noted. When we analyse the supported recommendations, they are mainly limited to the right to peaceful assembly. When the recommendation includes references to LGBTIQ+ communities or anti-terror legislation or Venice Commission & ECtHR, Turkey tends not to support the recommendation. The recommendations urged Turkey to lift all existing restrictions on peaceful assemblies and to dismiss any unlawful charges and sentences imposed on participants. These recommendations emphasise the importance of ensuring that individuals are free to exercise their right to peaceful assembly without fear of repression or retaliation. By doing so, Turkey would take meaningful steps toward aligning its domestic laws and practices with its international obligations, fostering a more open and democratic society where freedom of expression and assembly are fully respected.
2. According to the Implementation Report on the 3rd Judicial Reform Strategy (2019-2023), no meaningful steps have been taken concerning the right to peaceful assembly. In fact, this right is conspicuously absent from Turkey’s legal and judicial reform strategies. On the contrary, obstacles to the freedom of peaceful assembly continue to persist across the country. Following the end of the state of emergency (OHAL), amendments to the Provincial Administration Law have granted provincial governors sweeping powers, which have significantly restricted the exercise of this right. In many provinces, blanket bans on all kinds of meetings and demonstrations have been imposed, with some lasting for months or even years.
3. Particularly concerning are the bans on peaceful assemblies organised by LGBTIQ+ communities, students and young activists, and women’s groups. Despite their constitutional right to assemble, these groups face consistent restrictions, with all events and demonstrations being systematically prohibited. The government’s failure to reform these laws and practices shows a clear disregard for its international commitments, as the right to peaceful assembly remains severely undermined in Turkey. This situation raises concerns not only about the lack of progress in human rights reforms but also about the increasing trend toward suppressing dissenting voices.
4. On 16 December 2020, the Law on the Prevention of Financing the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction was passed, taking effect on 31 December 2020. The government capitalised on international pressure to combat terrorism financing as a pretext to introduce amendments to unrelated laws, further stifling dissent. As part of this omnibus law, restrictive changes were made to two key laws governing civil society: the Law on Associations and the Law on Aid Collection. These amendments sparked significant backlash from civil society organisations and were widely criticised by international and regional human rights bodies, as well as rule of law mechanisms. It is clear that these reinforcements in the legal plane serve to curb rights and freedoms, as well as to consolidate the climate of fear and intimidation, to stifle rights defenders and non-governmental organizations and to further strain their work.
5. Despite its international obligations, Turkey has consistently failed to provide detailed and reliable data on key human rights issues. In spite of ongoing calls for greater transparency and accountability, the government has not offered comprehensive data or interpretations of legally binding documents concerning fundamental rights, particularly in areas such as freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, arbitrary detention, police brutality, and torture, ill-treatment. This data gap undermines Turkey’s international commitments and hampers the ability of international bodies and civil society to accurately assess the extent of human rights violations in the country.
6. In the field of freedom of expression and one of its forms of manifestation peaceful assembly, Turkey’s restrictive laws and government practices have led to widespread censorship and suppression of dissent. However, reliable data on the number of individuals prosecuted or convicted for exercising these rights is often unavailable. The authorities either fail to release detailed reports or provide vague, incomplete information, making it difficult to track the scope of these violations. Similarly, in cases of arbitrary detention -particularly following the 2016 attempted coup- there is little transparency regarding the number of people detained without due process, with the government often labelling such cases as matters of national security, further obscuring the statistics.
7. Regarding police brutality and torture and ill-treatment, although Turkey is obligated to uphold international standards, data on the prevalence of these abuses is sparse. Allegations of police violence during peaceful protests and incidents of torture in detention centres are frequent, yet official data documenting these claims is either not published or insufficiently detailed to allow for meaningful analysis. The absence of reliable statistics in these areas severely hinders accountability and fosters an environment where abuses can occur with impunity.

FOr the full text of the submission: FAIR – UPR Submission – Turkey