Over the last several decades, Turkey has been confronted with the anti-democratic
practices of its government. The country has been unable to resolve critical
issues regarding and affecting the rights of the nation’s various minority
ethnic groups, those who hold beliefs and ideologies different from the
mainstream and the sanctioned or deal with issues of gender, which are main
concerns of human rights defenders (Langley, 2002). Even though in the early
2000s, Turkey took several critical steps in the name of democratization as a
result of its desire to join the European Union, this progress was not
sustained. The country advertised its goals as increasing democratic values,
integrating laws with European standards, increasing the prosperity of her
citizens, and showing concern for the general welfare of Turkish society. During
this period, Turkey achieved considerable progress and became recognized as one
of the most successful countries in the world in decreasing human right
violations and promoting democratic values (Abramowitz, 2018). Such progress
ended as the politicians could not find their way to unite the country’s
differing interests into a politically cohesive whole. Under the current
government, in fact, Turkish society has become more polarized than ever before
under an autocratic regime that has brought a halt to the democratic
transformation.
Beginning with the use of excessive force by law enforcement agencies to
disperse civilian activists fighting an urban development plan in Taksim Gezi
Park in May 2013, human rights violations began to escalate in Turkey. The
government response to the protests led to the killing of three in the center
of Istanbul, in Taksim Square, and the protest, a peaceful one at first, turned
violent when police, at the behest of the political party in power, responded
with undue force (Amnesty International, 2015; Human Rights Watch, 2014).
Protests against the government followed nationwide with approximately three
and a half million people participating in almost 5,000 demonstrations
(Bellaigue, 2013). During these protests, 12 people lost their lives, one of
whom was a child, Berkin Elvan with more than 4,000 people injured, and 5,513
civilians taken into the custody. Hundreds of those arrested were charged with
terrorism. More than a hundred organizations supporting what came to be called
the Gezi Park Protests formed a coalition called Taksim Solidarity, which
became the subject of criminal investigations. Prominent journalists and
commentators opposed to the government’s response to the Gezi Park protests
were dismissed from their jobs due to the pressure of the government on their
media outlets (Amnesty International, 2015; Human Rights Watch, 2014).
Even while the actions at Gezi Park were taking place, corruption
related to the granting of government contracts remained a major problem in
Turkey (Freedom House, 2014, 2019b). A corruption investigation that occurred
between the 17th and 25th of December 2013 involved several high-level
officials including Ministers and their relatives, which many understood to be
a serious threat the possibility of a Turkish democracy (Freedom House, 2014).
Members of the government involved in the scandal denied the claims made
against them and accused those conducting the investigation of staging a
judicial coup. Prosecutors, judges, and police officers who took part in the
investigation were eventually declared to be terrorists and were accused of
working for a parallel state (Freedom House, 2015). Instead of probing
corruption claims widely, the Turkish government accused the civil servants
involved in participating in a conspiracy (Freedom House, 2019b; Human Rights
Watch, 2016b). When the in-place judiciary attempted to bring the cases to
trial, the government interceded and, with the help of pro-government members
of the judiciary, brought corruption hearings to an end (Amnesty International,
2015; Human Rights Watch, 2016b).
A scandal broke out on January 2014, when trucks were seized and were
found to be carrying weapons in Adana that were bound for Syria. However, the
Turkish Gendarmerie who conducted the search were all fired from their
positions and faced legal investigation. The first official statements about
the incident were that those trucks were loaded with humanitarian aid for
Turkmen groups located in northern Syria. Later, however, both Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other government officials accepted the fact that
those trucks were part of covert operations. Two prominent journalists, Erdem
Gül and Can Dündar, published stories revealing the actual content of the
trucks in the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet, but the government responded by
accusing them of espionage, and they were subsequently detained in prison for
several months (Amnesty International, 2016).
This singular event marked the beginning of a government campaign to
control the media, and pressure on the media escalated to the point at which
the opposition media were silenced. The private cable channel, Digiturk, for
example, stopped broadcasting TV channels belonging to the Gulen Movement. At
the beginning of the November of the very same year, daily newspapers and
televisions channels belonging to Ipek Group was raided, and government
trustees were assigned to take over the company. Further, Turkish Satellite
Communication Company Turksat dropped programming by the Samanyolu Group, media
outlet, and the chief executive of the group, Hidayet Karaca was sent to
prison. Subsequently, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018 after four
years of pretrial detention (Amnesty International, 2015, 2016; Freedom House, 2017,
2019a; Human Rights Watch, 2014).
All above-mentioned oppressive practices and the decline of democracy
led to a reaction against the ruling AKP party in 2015. In a general election
carried out on 7 June 2015, the AKP lost the majority it held in the parliament.
To regain control, the AKP decided to employ a war strategy to garner popular
support. During this period, the process to find peace with Kurdish elements in
Turkish society was taking place. However, the government, to provoke a
diversionary crisis, escalated human rights violations against the Kurds,
especially in southeastern Turkey. Attacks against the Kurdish media and the
Kurdish political party, (People’s Democratic Party, HDP), increased severely
(Human Rights Watch, 2016b). Such actions were consistent with previous actions
by the Turkish government that reserved the right to close down political
parties at will using the pretext that such entities posed a threat to the
state (Lewis & Skutsch, 1991). As a result, the ruling party launched
operations against those who were clamoring for autonomy in southeastern
Turkey. The excessive force used in those operations included torture, the
destruction of houses belong to civilians, violence against women, disruption
of medical care, and intentional creation food and water shortages among the
civilians (Human Rights Watch, 2016a; OHCHR, 2017). According to some
estimates, more than 350,000 people were compelled to evacuate their homes and
to move to other cities (Human Rights Watch, 2016a). In subsequent security
operations, civilians who wanted to return to their homes and repair the damage
caused by the operations were not allowed to do so by Turkish authorities.
Damaged houses and buildings were, in fact, demolished by bulldozers to prevent
the rebuilding of the settlements (OHCHR, 2017).
For some time, the anti-democratic actions of the repressive regime were
prosecuted on no legal base. While seeking ways of how to create the legal
environment in which such practices could be made legal and permanent, a coup
was attempted on July 15, 2016. The government crack-down in response to the
coup attempt, caused serious damage to Turkish society. The response resulted
in 237 civilian deaths, 2191 injures, and the arrest of 34 coup plotters
(Amnesty International, 2017b). After the coup attempt, the Turkish Government
declared a three-month State of Emergency that was eventually extended to two
years (Amnesty International, 2017b). The scope of the State of Emergency was
not limited to prosecuting those involved in the coup attempt. Instead, it turned in to a “witch hunt”
throughout Turkey (Abramowitz, 2018). A considerable number of people who were
not involved in the coup attempt or in any other crime were persecuted based on
their perceived ideological beliefs.
Political opponents were accused of being terrorists and enemies of the
state, and the ruling political party consistently used the term “enemy” in its
campaign slogans during their elections (Abramowitz, 2018).
Human right violations reached unprecedented levels after the failed
coup attempt. Beginning in July of
2016, Turkish government dismissed from service thousands of people who never
were involved in any kind of violent acts, included among them high-ranking
military officials, university professors, journalists, judges, human rights
defenders, police officers, scientists, teachers, doctors, students, and
others, many of whom were jailed. Turkey became a world leader in jailing
intellectuals and opposition politicians (OHCHR, 2018). During the declared a
state of emergency in the aftermath of the coup attempt, the government
reportedly suspended from employment, detained, or placed under investigation
without any evidence of wrongdoing a considerable number of people (Human
Rights Watch, 2017, 2018). The U.S. Department of State (2018) reported that
the number of people under investigation was 612,347, 2,060 of whom were under
the age of 18.
The Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) made calls for the
protection of the between 16,000 and 20,000 women, some of whom were pregnant,
and the 700 children who were then being held in pre-detention custody or in
prisons in Turkey (Stockholm Center for Freedom, 2017). Exposing pregnant women
to unhealthy conditions and incarcerating them in prisons where the lack of
medical equipment and staff makes them vulnerable to serious health risks such
as birth complications and death (Amnesty International, 2018) has become a
common practice in Turkey (Stockholm Center for Freedom, 2017).
In addition, Human Rights Watch (2019c) noted that Turkey has also seen
mass arrests and trials on terrorism charges of hundreds of lawyers tried in
proceedings that rights groups have documented as being politicized and unfair.
While lawyers always have a critical role to play in protecting the rights of
suspects in police custody and defendants in court, their role in protecting
the rule of law and human rights is all the more fundamental in the context of
the current crackdown in Turkey. Yet, or more likely because of that, as this
report demonstrates, authorities have also targeted lawyers, in particular,
criminal defense lawyers (Amnesty International, 2017a; OHCHR, 2018). More than
a thousand lawyers have been prosecuted for terrorism offenses in the past two
and a half years, with several hundred held in prolonged pretrial detention. A
civic group, the Arrested Lawyers Initiative, reported in April 2019 that 1,546
lawyers have been prosecuted, with 274 among them convicted in first-instance
courts of membership of a terrorist organization, with 598 having been held in
pretrial detention for varying periods (The Arrested Lawyers Initiative, 2019)
and approximately 34 bar associations were shut down on the grounds of an
alleged affiliation with a terrorist organization (OHCHR, 2018).
According to the State of Emergency Commission (Ohal Işlemleri Inceleme Komisyonu, 2018), more than 136,000 people have been purged from public service
through emergency government decrees. Three hundred journalists have been
arrested on the grounds (many of the arrested journalists are known to be
liberal, leftist, pro-Kurdish or nationalist) that their publications contained
“apologist sentiments regarding terrorism” or other “verbal act offenses” or
for “membership” in terrorist organizations. Hundreds more are currently on
trial (Kingsley, 2017). The individuals arrested have not been “provided with
specific evidence against them and, were unaware of investigations against
them” (OHCHR, 2018). Because the stated purpose of the emergency regime was to
restore the normal functioning of the democratic institutions, it is unclear
how measures such as the eviction of families of civil servants from
publicly-owned housing may contribute to this goal,” the OHCHR, report states.
More than 200 media outlets and 1,769 non-governmental organizations, such as
associations, unions, and confederations, have been closed. In addition, more than 100,000 websites were
reportedly blocked in 2016, including a high number of pro-Kurdish websites and
satellite TV channels.
The Turkish Constitution was designed, in 1982, in conformity with
Turkey’s strict adherence to a single Turkish nationalism (Kurdish Human Rights
Project (KHRP), 2011). Turkey has enacted laws that are either patently
undemocratic or authoritarian such as prohibiting minorities from getting
primary education in their mother tongue (Ozfidan, 2017). The country's largest
minority, the Kurds, who comprise 23% of the population, have no right to
self-determination even though Turkey has signed the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This refusal is felt through Turkey’s
embargo of their language, cultural, and political freedoms (KHRP, 2011). The
government’s refusal to support such cultural has issued results in violence and
arbitrary detention for several decades. Turkey today is riven by internal
polarization and is increasingly estranged from the West. The country faces
serious social, economic, and political challenges—particularly a deep division
between supporters and opponents of the current government and its more
religious, nationalist, and populist agenda. For example, in the wake of July
2016 coup attempt, the Turkish government shuttered 1,500 civil society groups
(CSOs) and many groups, such as Gulen movement supporters, Kurdish groups,
liberal activist groups, and the rule of law organizations are under tremendous
pressure (Center of American Progress, 2017). Scholars and human right
organizations are urging Turkey to recognize all the minorities in its territory
and to provide them the full opportunities to enjoy their economic, social and
cultural rights and to adopt the necessary plans of action for this purpose.
The quasi-legal practices of the administration during the state of
emergency also have seriously affected education rights. Looking at
restrictions on the right to peaceful protest and assembly in Turkey, the World
Report (2019) described attacks on academic freedom, and a failure to
investigate allegations of torture in police custody. More than 7,257 academics
were fired, and 5,705 academics were suspended and fired since July 2016
(United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, 2017). In addition to
that, around 463 academics are estimated to have lost their jobs because they
signed “the academic petition.” Apart from 26 academics who have been forced to
retire, 437 academics have been dismissed without due process or legal recourse
(Ozsoy, 2018). The petition for Peace Initiative called for an end to the war
against Kurds in Turkey and protested the use of force against civilians and
members of a trade union. Many of the hundreds who signed the petition have
been subjected to suspensions from their jobs, disciplinary action, dismissals,
criminal investigations, and even incarceration in solitary confinement. On
September 8, 2016, the government also announced the suspension of 11,500
Kurdish teachers for alleged links to a terrorist organization (Butler &
Toksabay, 2016). An atmosphere of fear has been created to silence all
democratic dissent. In the wake of the failed coup attempt of July, violations
of fundamental rights and freedoms have further eroded democracy in Turkey.
Since the failed coup attempt more than 15 higher education
institutions, 1069 private schools, 848 students’ dormitories, 301 university
preparation schools (dershane), 19 unions and trade confederations, and many
civil society organizations have been shut down (Stockholm Center for Freedom,
2017; United States Department of State-Bureau of Democracy, 2018). More than twenty thousand academic faculties
have been closed; their staffs fired.
Close to 100,000 public and private school teachers, across the country,
were abruptly dismissed from their jobs and most of them were detained or
jailed, and some of them are still under investigation. All 1,576 deans serving
universities in Turkey were forced to resign, and a travel ban was imposed on
all academics. All of those affected were dismissed on allegations of being
members of terrorist organizations or undermining the national security of the
state. None were afforded any procedural rights or confronted with any evidence
to justify such allegations and dismissals, and no official charges have been
brought (Human Rights Watch, 2017).
While the attempted coup represented a threat to democracy in Turkey,
the dismantling of democracy was in the making before the coup attempt. The
government's measures constitute further attacks on all critical voices and the
rule of law in the country. The targeting of individuals and institutions for
their associations, real and alleged, without evidence of wrongdoing, is a
violation of fundamental human rights and, where academic personnel and
universities are involved, they constitute a severe assault on academic freedom
that, in itself, is a threat to democracy. In addition, whether fired in the
post-coup purge or for signing a petition decrying violence against scholars,
academic and other professionalisms are leaving in the country in droves. It is
unlikely, under the current conditions, that intellectuals will serve as civil
servants in Turkey.
Because of the unlawful practices of the Turkish Government in recent
years, Turkish people who have been seriously affected from human right
violations, especially, after a coup attempt on 15 July 2016, began to escape
the political conflicts and the ill-treatment of the Turkish government. Even
though the UNHRC (2018) report did not emphasize the situation, Turkish became
the 5th country among those nations whose citizens are seeking asylum in Europe.
According to statistics, the number of asylum seekers from Turkey had gradually
decreased from 2008 to 2016. However, a dramatic increase in the number of
asylum applications occurred in 2016 in Europe, corresponding to the state of
emergency declared in Turkey. By 2018, the number of Turkish refugees in Europe
seeking asylum had arisen to 23,407, which was almost five times the number
reported in 2016 (European Asylum Support Office, 2019).
The study of human rights violations in Turkey remains a limited area of
exploration, specifically, during Erdogan’s era and especially, after the
crack-down after the coup attempt in July 2016. This edited collection is an
attempt to include a range of up-to-date social science, humanities, and
political science empirical research articles and theoretical discussions on
the nature of the experience of human rights violations in Turkey. Chapters for
this book could include personal anecdotes and the collection of empirical data
regarding shifts in an author’s thinking about including all aspects of
violations of human rights in Turkey.
Book chapter contributions centered (but not exclusively) on the
following themes are welcomed:
- The history of Turkish democracy
- The protection of the cultural and political rights of ethnic minorities
- Corruption and a lack of transparency in government
- Police activities including torture in custody and jail and abductions
- Academic freedom and educational rights
- The rights of women and children
- Freedom of speech and the press (Internet, social media, etc.)
- Discrimination and abuses
- Human trafficking
- Protection of refugees and the rights of migrants
- Turkish refugees (asylum seekers outside of Turkey)
- Impacts of the current political situation on the economy (brain drain)
Submission & Inquiry Procedures:
Chapter Proposal Submission Requirements: in your Chapter Proposal
submission, please include the following information: (1) name(s) of authors
and institutional affiliation; (2) title of the proposed chapter; and (3) a
proposal narrative, not to exceed 500 words excluding references. Additionally, the chapter proposal must
identify which one of the themes of this edited volume you believe the proposed
chapter would best fit.
Final chapters accepted for the book should be 25-30 pages (7000-8000
words), including all references, tables, figures, and charts.
Chapter authors must commit to reviewing one chapter as part of their
participation in this project.
All proposals and questions should be submitted to the editors at
humanrightsinturkey@gmail.com
Timeline
Proposal submission (a 500-word chapter abstract): July 10, 2019
Peer Review & Acceptance/Rejection Notification: July 30, 2019
A complete book proposal to the publisher: September 01, 2019
Full chapter to editors: October
1, 2019
Chapters emailed to reviewers: November 01, 2019
Chapters reviews due to editors: November 15, 2019
Chapters returned with reviews to authors for revision: December 1, 2019
Completed and revised book to the editors: January 1, 2020
Full book submission to the publisher: February 1, 2020
Given the review process, it is anticipated that the book will be
published in the summer of 2020.
Chapters should be between 7,000 and 8,000 words, including the
abstract, tables, figures, and references.
Publisher:
An academic publisher has been identified. Based on the
publisher’s response and their proposal requirements, a full table of contents
is required for submission. Once authors have been identified and a table of
contents created, the editors will submit this manuscript for review and
acquisition.
General Formatting
Submitted manuscripts should conform to the following guidelines:
- MS Word .doc or .docx
- 12 point
- Times New Roman font
- double-spaced
- 1" margins
- Justified
- APA 6th edition style for citations, tables, and figures
- APA 6th edition style for paper sections.
- Use the doi (Digital Object Identifier) when available
Permissions
It is the author’s responsibility to obtain any permissions required for
copyrighted material reused in the book before the delivery of the manuscript.
This includes quotations of 40 words or more, illustrations, and tables that do
not fit into the categories of fair use or public domain. Song lyrics and
poetry always require permission unless they are in the public domain. These
can be costly and/or difficult to obtain; we suggest avoiding such material
whenever possible.
Where there is any doubt, such as using a modified version of an
illustration, it is wise and courteous to ask for permission and to give credit
for the material (e.g., Modified from …, Adapted from…).
Be sure to include the appropriate source line as a table footnote or as
part of the figure caption. Follow any specific wording requirements itemized
by the original publisher.
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