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58 rights groups press EU to condemn Turkey’s political crackdown
16.05.2025
By SCF
Source:https://stockholmcf.org/58-rights-groups-press-eu-to-condemn-turkeys-political-crackdown/
A coalition of 58 human rights and press freedom organizations has urged the European Union to issue a strong condemnation of Turkey’s escalating crackdown on political opposition and civil liberties, ahead of Friday’s European Political Community (EPC) summit.
In an open letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, the groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Stockholm Center for Freedom, accuse the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of “undercut[ting] the right to political participation” and taking steps “towards a full consolidation of power and the eradication of political opposition.”
The letter, published Friday, points to what it describes as a politically motivated campaign against İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was elected to represent 16 million residents. The authors say the “removal” of İmamoğlu was “set in motion by the cancellation of his university diploma,” followed “by police arrest and a court order to detain him along with dozens of other municipal officials and two district mayors from his party.” The letter notes that this action came the same day he was selected as the opposition’s candidate to challenge Erdoğan in the next election.
İmamoğlu, seen as the strongest political rival of President Erdoğan, was arrested on March 23 and put in pretrial detention on corruption charges, which many see as politically motivated.
“This came on the day he was selected as the Republican People’s Party’s candidate to run in the next election against President Erdoğan,” the letter states. “The Turkish government’s attack on the main political opposition in Turkey is a major escalation in the actions taken by the authorities for years to silence dissenting voices.”
The signatories also raise concerns over the detention and prosecution of young people, students and journalists for allegedly participating in protests, in order to send a clear warning to anyone wishing to exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
The letter highlighted the case of Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who “was convicted on the charge of ‘insulting the president,’ and received an 11-month suspended sentence, in the first of two prosecutions against him in which the main evidence relates entirely to his legitimate journalistic activities over many years.”
Authorities have also pressured domestic media and social platforms to censor information, imposed internet throttling during protests and moved to dismantle legal institutions. On March 21 an İstanbul court removed the executive board of the İstanbul Bar Association after it called for an investigation into the killing of two Kurdish journalists in northern Syria.
The groups say the EU’s response so far “has been overly mild and manifestly fails to match the scale and gravity of the clampdown unfolding in the country.” They write: “Rather than offering a lifeline to those in Türkiye who continue to defend human rights, this approach risks emboldening the Turkish authorities while further isolating Turkey’s already embattled civil society.”
The letter urges EU leaders to issue an unequivocal public condemnation of Turkey’s crackdown on political participation and civil society. It calls for EU institutions to use upcoming high-level meetings, such as the EU-Turkey High-Level Dialogue on Trade, to publicly and privately insist on a reversal of rights violations and to demand the release of detained opposition figures, civil society members and journalists.
The groups emphasize that human rights must remain a non-negotiable pillar of EU-Turkey relations and that any steps to modernize the EU-Turkey Customs Union must be contingent on demonstrable human rights improvements. They also call on the EU to insist on Turkey’s full compliance with European Court of Human Rights rulings, particularly those involving Selahattin Demirtaş and Osman Kavala, and to push for the unconditional release of these and other arbitrarily detained individuals.
In addition, the letter calls for independent investigations into allegations of torture, police brutality and violations of fair trial rights during recent protests. It urges EU missions in Turkey to intensify trial monitoring for prosecuted journalists, protesters and civil society members and to expand support for Turkish civil society, including through more flexible funding and stronger diplomatic backing.
Citing the bloc’s obligations under Article 21 of the Treaty of the European Union, the letter concludes: “It is incumbent upon the EU, including in view of its legal obligations under Article 21 of the Treaty of the European Union to protect and promote human rights in its foreign policy, to take a strong position to denounce this major setback for the future of the rule of law, human rights and the right to political association and participation in Türkiye.”
16.05.2025
By SCF
Source:https://stockholmcf.org/58-
A coalition of 58 human rights and press freedom organizations has urged the European Union to issue a strong condemnation of Turkey’s escalating crackdown on political opposition and civil liberties, ahead of Friday’s European Political Community (EPC) summit.
In an open letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, the groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders and the Stockholm Center for Freedom, accuse the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of “undercut[ting] the right to political participation” and taking steps “towards a full consolidation of power and the eradication of political opposition.”
The letter, published Friday, points to what it describes as a politically motivated campaign against İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was elected to represent 16 million residents. The authors say the “removal” of İmamoğlu was “set in motion by the cancellation of his university diploma,” followed “by police arrest and a court order to detain him along with dozens of other municipal officials and two district mayors from his party.” The letter notes that this action came the same day he was selected as the opposition’s candidate to challenge Erdoğan in the next election.
İmamoğlu, seen as the strongest political rival of President Erdoğan, was arrested on March 23 and put in pretrial detention on corruption charges, which many see as politically motivated.
“This came on the day he was selected as the Republican People’s Party’s candidate to run in the next election against President Erdoğan,” the letter states. “The Turkish government’s attack on the main political opposition in Turkey is a major escalation in the actions taken by the authorities for years to silence dissenting voices.”
The signatories also raise concerns over the detention and prosecution of young people, students and journalists for allegedly participating in protests, in order to send a clear warning to anyone wishing to exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression.
The letter highlighted the case of Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who “was convicted on the charge of ‘insulting the president,’ and received an 11-
Authorities have also pressured domestic media and social platforms to censor information, imposed internet throttling during protests and moved to dismantle legal institutions. On March 21 an İstanbul court removed the executive board of the İstanbul Bar Association after it called for an investigation into the killing of two Kurdish journalists in northern Syria.
The groups say the EU’s response so far “has been overly mild and manifestly fails to match the scale and gravity of the clampdown unfolding in the country.” They write: “Rather than offering a lifeline to those in Türkiye who continue to defend human rights, this approach risks emboldening the Turkish authorities while further isolating Turkey’s already embattled civil society.”
The letter urges EU leaders to issue an unequivocal public condemnation of Turkey’s crackdown on political participation and civil society. It calls for EU institutions to use upcoming high-
The groups emphasize that human rights must remain a non-
In addition, the letter calls for independent investigations into allegations of torture, police brutality and violations of fair trial rights during recent protests. It urges EU missions in Turkey to intensify trial monitoring for prosecuted journalists, protesters and civil society members and to expand support for Turkish civil society, including through more flexible funding and stronger diplomatic backing.
Citing the bloc’s obligations under Article 21 of the Treaty of the European Union, the letter concludes: “It is incumbent upon the EU, including in view of its legal obligations under Article 21 of the Treaty of the European Union to protect and promote human rights in its foreign policy, to take a strong position to denounce this major setback for the future of the rule of law, human rights and the right to political association and participation in Türkiye.”