International Reactions

In an open letter issued on Tuesday, the New York-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to speak up against alleged torture on 18 men who were sentenced over their links to the Gülen movement in Turkmenistan, during his scheduled meeting with the Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov. Guterres is expected to […]

In a written statement issued on June 9, seven non-governmental organizations called on Turkmenistan government to release 18 men, affiliated with the Gülen movement, and to quash their convictions. “A Turkmen court sentenced 18 men to up to 25 years in prison on February 8, 2017, in what appears to be a purge of people associated with

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement on June 8 that the agency is deeply concerned by continued reports about the alleged push-backs and refoulement at the land border between Greece and Turkey. “Such allegations of informal forced return have been recorded before, and it is of vital importance that the

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday called on Turkish authorities to immediately release Taner Kılıç, chair of the board of Amnesty International’s Turkey section, who has been under detention since June 6. The anti-terror unit of the Izmir police on Tuesday detained lawyer and human rights defender Kılıç together with 22 other attorneys as part

Greek police continue illegally handing over Turkish asylum seekers back to Turkey, a policy that results in “lambs to the slaughter,” Hellenic League for Human Rights (HLHR) said in a statement on June 6. HLHR is the Greek branch of the worldwide monitoring group, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). “On 2 June at

The torture, ill-treatment, abusive, inhumane and degrading treatment of people who are deprived of their liberties in Turkey’s detention centers and prisons has become the norm rather than the exception under increased nationalistic euphoria and religious zealotry in the country, the Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has stated in a summary of its latest study. The

Eight non-governmental organizations have called on the Georgian government to refrain from returning detained Turkish teacher to back home where “he will be possibly subjected to political persecution, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. “[He] will have no access to fair trial,” said a statement, released on May 31. Mustafa Emre Çabuk, a teacher

Burmese authorities have forced back Turkish asylum seeker, Muhammet Furkan Sökmen via Thailand, putting him at risk of serious human rights violations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on June 1. “To make it clear they will not further violate international law, Burma and Thailand should immediately announce that they will provide UN agencies with access to

The United Nations Human Rights Committee has urged Turkey to confirm the whereabouts of three Turkish nationals who were detained in Malaysia at Ankara’s request due to their ties to the Gülen movement, a statement by the Brussels-based Intercultural Dialogue Platform said. According to the Thursday statement by the Intercultural Dialogue Platform, a network of

Two rapporteurs for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Wednesday expressed concern at the apparent lack of an effective domestic remedy for persons who have been dismissed from their jobs, arrested or detained by the Turkish authorities. Bernd Fabritius of Germany and Raphael Comte of Switzerland are rapporteurs on “new threats