United Nations and Council of Europe: growing concern over mass detentions in Türkiye
İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and at least other 106 people have been detained by Turkish authorities since March 19, 2025, prompting the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the United Nations Human Rights Office to express their deep concern.
These detentions triggered country-wide demonstrations that were met with unlawful blanket bans on protests in three cities. Over 1,000 people have been detained during the protests, among them at least nine media workers. UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Liz Throssell stated that the Office was calling for the immediate and unconditional release of individuals detained for peacefully exercising their rights. She emphasized that all those accused should be treated with dignity, be granted a fair trial, and have access to legal counsel of their own choosing. Throssell also urged the authorities to ensure freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and to promptly investigate credible allegations of unlawful force used against protesters. Amnesty International reviewed footage showing excessive police force against peaceful demonstrators, including baton beatings and kicks while on the ground. The indiscriminate use of pepper spray, tear gas, water cannon, and plastic bullets sometimes fired at close range caused injuries and hospitalizations. These unlawful acts must be promptly investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable.
These detentions were sparked by the fact the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has issued detention orders for İmamoğlu, along with the Mayor of Şişli, journalists, and artists as part of two separate investigations: one regarding alleged terrorism links and the other corruption. The secret witnesses have raised various allegations, including bribery, irregularities, financing journalists, and improper financial activities during the local elections and CHP congress.
The move came just days before March 23, when Mr. İmamoğlu was set to be nominated by the Republican People’s Party (Cumhuriyet Halk Partisi, CHP), Türkiye’s main opposition party, to run against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a presidential election in the next three years.
The accusations linking the Republican People’s Party (CHP) to terrorism began with the October 30, 2024, arrest of Ahmet Özer, university professor and mayor of Esenyurt, İstanbul. On the same day, a court ordered his pretrial detention on charges of PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) membership and removed him from office.
On February 13, ten elected council members were detained on similar PKK membership allegations. These individuals had secured municipal positions through a strategic alliance between the CHP and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party in the local elections.
The prosecution's case is based on the unfounded claim that these politicians were acting under PKK directives or as part of the PKK-linked Peoples’ Democratic Congress, an umbrella organization for Kurdish, leftist, and civil society groups legally active since 2011.
The day before the detention order, İstanbul University stripped İmamoğlu’s university diploma. Legal experts in Türkiye widely condemned the move as an abuse of the university’s authority in an effort to prevent him from being eligible to run for the presidency. Likewise, the Bureau is dismayed by Istanbul University’s decision to revoke diploma of Mr. İmamoglu, emphasizing its potential implications for democratic participation and electoral fairness.
Reaffirming its previous resolutions on Türkiye, including Resolution 2459 (2022) on Türkiye's obligations, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe reminds that as a Council of Europe member, Türkiye is committed to upholding democratic values. It urges the immediate release of Ekrem İmamoğlu and the dropping of all unfounded charges against him and other detained politicians.