Failed coup attempt four years ago (July 15)

On the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to give priority to cases regarding Turkey. "Critical media representatives and other persons have no chance of a fair trial in Turkey. Thus, a complaint to the ECHR is their only chance to get justice," stated Kamal Sido, the STP's Middle East Consultant. "Thus, it is all the more important that their cases will be reviewed by the court as soon as possible. However, some of the affected persons have been waiting for a decision by the ECHR for years."

For example, the head of the Samanyolu broadcasting group, Hidayet Karaca, has been in custody since December 19, 2014. He had submitted a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights on May 7, 2015. "The journalist has been waiting for an answer ever since," Sido criticized. "In the meantime, he has been sentenced to life imprisonment for various terrorist offences. Today, he is in a cell in the Istanbul-Silivri prison, suffering from various diseases." Recently, it had become known that over 80 inmates of this prison have contracted Covid-19, and at least one of them has died of it.

"At the same time, every opportunity must be taken to ensure that Turkey, as a member of the Council of Europe, will implement the decisions of the ECHR," Sido warned. "It is a scandal that the Turkish government has, for example, ignored the ruling on the release of former HDP chairman Selahattin Demirta?. Also, Osman Kavala, the civil rights activist and patron of culture, is still kept imprisoned – against a ruling by the ECHR". Further, Sido emphasized that new instruments would have to be developed if the existing ones are not sufficient to guarantee the implementation of the court's rulings.

Most of the Turkish citizens affected did not commit a crime – they merely made use of their democratic rights. "Many of them are media workers who just did their jobs, and there are similar cases concerning members of the Kurdish ethnic group who peacefully to took part in public discussions or demonstrations," Sido added. The same applies to other communities such as the Assyrian/Aramaic, Armenian, Christian, Alevi, and Yazidi ethnic groups. The Turkish judiciary has repeatedly interpreted peaceful expression of opinion as terrorist propaganda.

Last year, there were 59,800 cases against 47 states pending before the ECHR. 15,050 of the cases (25.2 percent) concerned Russia, followed by Turkey in second place with 9,250 cases (15.5 percent). A total number of 884 judgments were found in 2019, and 113 of them concerned Turkey. In 97 percent of these judgments, the ECHR ruled that Turkey had violated at least one article of the European Convention on Human Rights. Most of the rulings regarding violations of the freedom of expression were against Turkey, namely 35 of a total of 68 cases.