Unprecedented level of hostile discourse against civil society in Turkey

The Turkish authorities are using closure procedures against associations as one of the new methods to prevent civil society from carrying out critical work, particularly in relation to women’s rights, LGBTI+ rights and the Kurdish question. According to a new report published by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT), the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), the Human Rights Association (İHD) and partner organizations, such lawsuits are part of a repressive system that has been put in place in recent years to silence critical voices. These cases could lead to the closure of associations and harassment of their members, the organizations said in their report.

Politically motivated cases

‘Uncertain and Eerie: Closure Cases Against Associations in Turkey’ concludes that such cases are systematically used as a tool to suppress civil society and restrict civic space. FIDH Vice-President and IHD representative Reyhan Yalçındağ commented: “It is disgraceful that in a country that claims to be a candidate for EU membership, there are still serious violations of the rights to freedom of association and expression as described in this report. While many pro-government NGOs are receiving substantial support, those calling for a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue and independent women’s and LGBTI+ rights groups are facing arrests, closures cases and other forms of harassment, demonstrating that these are politically motivated and aimed solely at crushing the opposition.”

Gerald Staberock, Secretary General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), added: “The hostile discourse against civil society, as documented in our previous reports, has reached unprecedented levels, with no effective remedy for those targeted. Smear campaigns labeling associations as ‘terrorists’ or ‘immoral’ aim to delegitimize the contributions of civil society as part of efforts to stifle democratic debate in Turkey.” 

Closure of hundreds of organizations

The report states that during the state of emergency in Turkey between 2016 and 2018, 1598 associations, 129 foundations and 170 media outlets, including many human rights organizations, were closed by decrees with the force of law (not by courts) for alleged links to terrorist organizations. Immediately after their closure, many of them re-established new legal entities to continue their work and filed legal challenges against the closure of their organizations before the Inquiry Commission for State of Emergency Measures. Established in 2017 as an ad hoc administrative mechanism for individuals dismissed from public service and entities closed by emergency decrees, the Commission has been criticized for being ineffective, lacking impartiality and independence, and violating due process. 

The Commission ended its work in January 2023 after rejecting 85.9% of the 127.292 applications it received. 1102 applications related to the closure of institutions, of which only 72 were accepted; there is no breakdown of the legal status of these applications and no information regarding the grounds on which the applications were accepted or rejected.

Society affected by closures

One of the examples cited in the report on closure cases was the Religious Scholars Mutual Aid and Solidarity Association (DİAYDER). Its members and leaders were Kurdish religious scholars who advocated the practice of their religion in their mother tongue and supported democratic Islam. For this reason, the imams read khutbahs (sermons) in Kurdish. One of the participants in the activities of the closed association expressed his reaction as follows: “As we are Kurds, we understood everything the imams said. We were part of the congregation of the association, we prayed there. At least 400-500 people would come to Friday prayers, 4-5 times a day. When we heard about the closure, it was like our world collapsed. What right do they have to shut down that mosque?”

Another organization that was closed down was the Migration Monitoring Association GÖCIZDER, which worked with refugees, mainly Syrians and Afghans, and those forcibly displaced from Kurdish cities. The closure of the association, an aid organization for many refugees, was shut down on the basis of “aim to legitimize the terrorist organization” and “try to show the operations conducted by the State’s legitimate security forces as persecution of citizens”.

Even the ‘We Will Stop Femicide Platform’ (KCDP), which struggles against femicide, is threatened with closure. The report, published a day before tomorrow’s closure hearing against KCDP, said the case was based on online complaints against the women’s organization by a member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and illegal police recordings of KCDP members.

The report states that politically motivated closure cases have been brought by abusing the anti-terrorism and associations legislation under Turkish law, in violation of the right to a fair trial, the right to an effective remedy and the right to freedom of association. It concludes with concrete calls to the UN and the EU, such as paying special attention to the ongoing closure cases against associations and requesting a visit to Turkey for investigation.