Police crackdown in Turkey increases

More than 4,700 citizens of Turkey have been victims of police violence between 2015 and 2019, the latest report by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) released last Friday has revealed. These figures reflect that repression by the Ottoman state has increased exponentially in recent years, especially in the wake of the 2016 failed coup and ongoing clashes with the Kurds.

The document, entitled "Shutting down the street: Violations of freedom of assembly and demonstration (2015-2019)", records that Turks have faced at least 4,771 rights violations during this period while exercising their freedom of assembly and demonstration. In addition, as many as 141 people were killed in bomb attacks during protests, and 19 others died as a result of police intervention at rallies. 

The data provided by the TİHV shows a total of 20,071 arrests between 2015 and 2019, of which 662 were arrested for participating in these anti-government protests. The Prosecutor's Office also filed a battery of lawsuits against 4,907 people for their participation in the rallies, of which 1,000 were sentenced to a total of 13,370 months in prison.

The charges for which most have been charged or, in some cases, convicted relate to insulting the president, resisting the authorities or damaging public property, disseminating propaganda for or belonging to illegal organisations and, ultimately, violating Law 2911 on assemblies and demonstrations. "The destruction of the democratisation process in Turkey reveals profound and systematic violations against the right to assembly and demonstration," the report states.

A large part of the rights violations have taken place in the capital Ankara, in Istanbul and Izmir, during rallies against the mass siege led by the Erdogan government in the aftermath of the failed assassination attempt in July 2016. The institutions then expelled more than 150,000 civil servants, increasing discontent against the president. The Kurdish conflict has also been a catalyst for police repression against civil society. 

The most significant case was that of a protester, Erdal Sarikaya, who sued the authorities for injuries caused by a tear gas canister. Sarikaya lost his sight in one eye as a result in 2013 while protesting against the executive in Gezi Park. The sixteen police officers involved were not prosecuted, however, the Constitutional Court demanded that the state pay compensation to Sarikaya and initiated an investigation into the officers responsible for the injury.

The most recent demonstrations have been at Bosphorus University. Hundreds of students rallied last February against the appointment of the new rector of the centre, Melih Bulu, who was not chosen by the academics but placed by President Erdogan, contrary to university regulations. 

Police repression materialised with the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, which left dozens injured, and the detention of hundreds of students. In addition, a new law issued in April banned citizens from filming officers during an intervention for allegedly violating the privacy of the police. This action put a stop to evidence against police abuses, as all images collected were made illegal. 

The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey concludes the report with a strong rebuke to Ottoman institutions: "Restricting or suspending freedom of assembly and demonstration is a way of reducing the reach of citizenship and gradually destroying democracy in Turkey". The backsliding on this issue has alerted the international community to Erdogan's role in eroding the foundations of the rule of law in Turkey.