In a recent appeal, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Türkiye to reevaluate its application of terrorism charges, especially in light of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan’s recent appeal to cease the organization’s longstanding insurgency against the Turkish government. For decades, the PKK waged a conflict that resulted in the deaths of approximately 40,000 individuals. Öcalan has been imprisoned since 1999 following his conviction under Article 125 of Türkiye’s Penal Code. The PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by numerous governments, including Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union.
According to Human Rights Watch, the call for peace should serve as a prompt for Türkiye to halt the alleged systematic misuse of terrorism charges against those perceived as government dissenters. This ongoing issue includes situations in which individuals are arrested based on legal activities linked to the PKK, such as the cases of politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. Detained since 2016, their imprisonment persists despite the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) mandates for their release, highlighting the tension between Türkiye’s legal actions and ECHR rulings.
The ECHR has consistently found Türkiye’s detentions of political figures to contravene Articles 5, 10, and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has issued several directives urging compliance with ECHR judgments, indicative of growing international scrutiny over Türkiye’s domestic policies.
In February, Türkiye’s internal conflict management was thrust into the spotlight once again when the Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office arrested ten local politicians over alleged PKK affiliations. As part of this ongoing pattern, HRW noted that fifty individuals are currently under investigation for supposed links with the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), a legal Kurdish-aligned political party.
This development, covered by JURIST, intensifies the debate over Türkiye’s alignment with international human rights standards and poses significant implications for its political landscape and human rights record.