The Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and the Human Rights Defenders Solidarity Network have called for the release of human rights defenders who were arrested last week as part of an investigation into the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK).
Among those affected are Yıldız Tar, media and communication coordinator of Kaos GL; Kaos GL member Ayşe Panuş; and human rights defenders Yakup Kadri Karabacak, Berfin Azdal, and Nurcan Kaya. A total of 60 individuals were detained, and 30 of them remain in custody. Reports suggest that these individuals were arrested on charges of "membership in a terrorist organization," based on phone conversations and surveillance recordings from 2012 and 2013. The review of these recordings indicates that peaceful, lawful, and legitimate daily activities have been criminalized, leading to unjust deprivation of liberty. So far, no decision has been made regarding appeals against their detention.
The case file numbers for the investigation, dated 2025, raise concerns that the surveillance decisions used as justification for these arrests were part of past politically motivated investigations conducted when the judiciary and security bureaucracy were under the influence of the Gülen movement, a religious group once allied with but later targeted by the Turkish government.
Furthermore, the use of 13-year-old surveillance records as evidence for alleged terrorist organization membership highlights a pattern of judicial harassment through counterterrorism laws, as previously emphasized by the Human Rights Defenders Solidarity Network. The authorities must answer a crucial question: If law enforcement and prosecutors had sufficient evidence in 2012 and 2013, why did they not take action then? Why are these individuals being arrested only now?
Appeal to authorities
We call on authorities to immediately release the detained human rights defenders and all those who have been unlawfully arrested or detained. Counterterrorism laws should not be misused to silence human rights defenders.
Signed by:
Human Rights Defenders Solidarity Network, 17 May Association, Civil Rights Defenders, Initiative for Freedom of Expression, Equal Rights Monitoring Association, Rights Initiative Association, Truth Justice Memory Center, Human Rights Association (Istanbul branch), Human Rights Agenda Association, Kaos GL, Women’s Human Rights Association, Women’s Time Association, Women’s Culture, Art, and Literature Association, Lambda Istanbul LGBTI Solidarity Association, Media and Law Studies Association, Lawyers for Freedom Association (Istanbul), P24 Independent Journalism Association, Research Institute on Turkey, Rosa Women's Association, Romani Godi - Roma Memory Studies Association, Star Women’s Association, Social Policy, Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation Studies Association, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, Society and Law Research Foundation, TLSP, UniKuir, and Life, Memory, Freedom.
