Human Rights in Turkey: 2024 in Review

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Introduction

This report highlights the most important developments in the area of human rights in Turkey in 2024. Throughout the year Turkey continued its downward trajectory in democracy and human rights under the increasingly authoritarian rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. With near-total control over the media, judiciary and state institutions, the government further intensified its crackdown on dissent, targeting opposition groups, independent media, civil society and marginalized communities with relentless pressure.

According to Freedom House, Turkey is among the top 10 countries that have seen the sharpest decline in freedoms over the past decade. Turkey’s score has dropped by 22 points since 2014, placing it alongside Venezuela in the seventh spot on the list of countries that have experienced the worst democratic backsliding.

Approximately 21,600 applications from Turkey are pending before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), making it the highest case-count country in 2024, comprising more than a third of the ECtHR’s caseload.

Throughout the year, the Erdoğan government escalated its repression of perceived adversaries, with the Gülen movement remaining a primary target. Tens of thousands of people were detained, prosecuted or imprisoned on terrorism-related charges based on tenuous evidence. Simply having an account at a Gülen movement-affiliated bank, working at any institution linked to the movement or subscribing to certain newspapers and magazines was enough to warrant arrest.

According to a statement from the Turkish justice minister, a total of 705,172 people have been investigated on terrorism-related charges due to alleged links to the Hizmet (Gulen) Movement since a failed coup in 2016. As of July 2024 there were 13,251 people in prison who were in pretrial detention or convicted of terrorism in Hizmet-linked trials.

Following the death of Fethullah Gulen on October 20, 2024, government-aligned media launched a new wave of hate speech, dehumanizing and vilifying both Gulen and his followers. Echoing Erdogan’s own inflammatory rhetoric, pro-government outlets intensified their smear campaigns, branding Gulenists as traitors and terrorists. At the same time the government expanded censorship efforts, systematically suppressing moderate voices while ensuring that anti-Gulen propaganda remained the dominant public discourse.

The Kurdish political movement and opposition groups also faced relentless crackdowns. Mass detentions, politically motivated trials and forced removals of elected mayors were routine. The government retaliated for opposition victories in the March 31 local elections by seizing control of municipalities, particularly those won by pro-Kurdish parties. Opposition leaders, including Selahattin Demirtas.

Turkey’s transnational repression of critics abroad persisted in 2024, with the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) continuing illegal renditions. Since 2016, at least 118 dissidents have been abducted. In a high-profile case, Kenya, under pressure from the Turkish government, deported UN-protected Turkish nationals in October without due process, drawing international condemnation. The US State Department and Human Rights Watch raised concerns over Turkey’s misuse of international legal mechanisms to target exiles.

Press freedom in Turkey deteriorated further in 2024, with journalist associations calling it “a lost year.” Press freedoms were under increasing legal and political pressure, marked by detentions, police violence and censorship. Eighty-nine journalists, media staff and one newspaper faced trial in at least 70 cases. There was also an alarming rise in physical and verbal threats against journalists, often from political groups aligned with the ruling alliance.

The government systematically weaponized its control over state regulatory bodies, such as the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), imposing heavy fines and broadcast bans to silence critical reporting.

The enormous gulf between Turkey’s constitutional provisions for the protection of human rights and the grim reality on the ground continued to grow. Political prisoners, including thousands of people jailed on vague terrorism charges, were subjected to harsh conditions, medical neglect and arbitrary denial of parole. Over 700 prisoners died in the first 11 months of 2024, highlighting the dire state of detention facilities. Children were not spared either — 759 minors under the age of 6 were forced to live in prison with their incarcerated mothers.

Turkey is ranked the worst performer in Europe in terms of impunity, according to the 2025 Atlas of Impunity, a global index that assesses impunity across the five dimensions of unaccountable governance, abuse of human rights, economic exploitation, conflict and violence and environmental degradation.

The deterioration of labor rights continued, with at least 1,897 workers losing their lives in workplace accidents due to weak safety standards and poor enforcement. Underage labor exploitation was rampant in vocational schools, where students were forced to work long hours under unsafe conditions for meager wages.

Minority groups, including Kurds, Alevis and Syrian refugees, faced escalating discrimination, hate speech and physical attacks. Syrians were subjected to violent mob attacks, forced deportations and anti-refugee rhetoric.