Turkey: Ongoing Crackdown Poses Existential Threat to Independent Civil Society
06/05/2021
(Ankara, Brussels, Paris) 6 May 2021 – In the second of two reports on the crackdown against human rights defenders, civil society actors and independent voices in Turkey, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and one of FIDH’s member organisations in Turkey, the Human Rights Association (IHD), condemn repressive measures that inhibit freedom of association and create an increasingly narrow space for civil society in the country.
The report’s release today was set to coincide with the second hearing in the infamous Özgür Gündem case re-trial, [1] in which three prominent journalists and human rights defenders – including Şebnem Korur Fincancı, former chair of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), a member organisation of FIDH – face terrorism-related charges punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This case epitomises the serious exi
(Ankara, Brussels, Paris) 6 May 2021 – In the second of two reports on the crackdown against human rights defenders, civil society actors and independent voices in Turkey, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and one of FIDH’s member organisations in Turkey, the Human Rights Association (IHD), condemn repressive measures that inhibit freedom of association and create an increasingly narrow space for civil society in the country.
The report’s release today coincides with the second hearing in the infamous
Özgür Gündemcase re-trial, in which three prominent journalists and human rights defenders – including Şebnem Korur Fincancı, former chair of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV), a member organisation of FIDH – face terrorism-related charges punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This case epitomises the serious existential challenges undermining civil society in Turkey. Our organisations urge the government of Turkey