Human Rights Watch’s 2025 report highlights Turkey’s entrenched corruption, defiance of ECtHR rulings, and ongoing persecution of dissenters under Erdoğan’s leadership. Judicial independence erodes, with thousands detained for alleged Gülen ties and widespread media censorship. Economic crises fuel xenophobia towards refugees, while women face rising violence and inadequate protections.
Recent incidents reveal deep-rooted corruption in Turkey’s judiciary, exacerbated by politically motivated appointments, allegations of ties to organized crime, and judicial abuse of power. Notable cases include lenient sentencing for a prosecutor’s misconduct and scandalous behavior by judges. These developments highlight a dire need for judicial reforms to restore public trust.
The murder trial of Tahir Elçi, a prominent Kurdish human rights lawyer and then president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, who was shot dead in November 2015, is now overshadowed by serious allegations of impunity, prosecutorial misconduct and torture of witnesses.
Işınkaralar’s case highlights quite a number of serious issues including widespread torture and sexual abuse in police custody, the reduction of safeguards against torture, non-compliance with the Istanbul Protocol on medical documentation of torture, impunity and corruption.
The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and The Arrested Lawyers Initiative have released a detailed report highlighting the declining independence of the legal profession and bar associations in Turkey. The report underscores the targeting of law professionals through unfair trials, arbitrary detainment, imprisonment and harassment, as well as the alarming misuse of counter-terrorism legislation to prosecute lawyers in the course of their legitimate work.
Legal quagmire: Lawyer Eyup Akıncı’s comments on judicial corruption lead to his house arrest and Iidictment.