Censored Beyond Borders: Turkey’s Crackdown on Dissidents in the Diaspora

Author: Sarisha Harikrishna

May 20, 2025

Thousands protest against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in Istanbul, Turkey [Image credit: Louisa Gouliamaki, Reuters]

Few issues ignite global debate quite like the relentless erosion of freedom of expression in Turkey, now officially referred to as Türkiye, a nation once hailed as a role model for the Middle East but which is now grappling with the silencing of its most critical voices (Genç, 2018). The country has had a long history of unjustified restrictions on media freedom and the rights to association and assembly, especially in the aftermath of the 2013 Gezi Park protests (Remembering the dream of a different Turkey, 2018). The Gezi Park protests in early summer 2013 saw thousands of citizens taking to the streets in opposition of the government’s building plans in Gezi Park.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan planned to rebuild an Ottoman barracks that had been destroyed in 1940 and a shopping mall in the area, which led to activists occupying the park in defiance of the construction plans, facing water cannons and tear gas. The violent police crackdown to drown out the dissent resulted in the death of eight people and saw 8,000 people injured (Letsch, 2014). The protests were incredibly significant for further human rights movements in the country, inspiring hope in the Turkish people to fight for their beliefs. Years after the protests had ended, a 657-page indictment was accepted by the Istanbul court, framing the demonstrations as a politically orchestrated campaign to damage the government’s reputation (Turkey: Baseless Charges Over Landmark 2013 Protests, 2019). The acceptance of this indictment paved the way for the prosecution of several prominent activists, such as Osman Kavala, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment without parole (Poole, 2022).

The allegations outlined in the indictment lacked specificity. They did not make a clear connection between the “evidence” and the charges against the protestors, in clear contravention of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects the right to a fair trial. Since the country’s constitution, namely Articles 26-30, enshrines the right to freedom of expression, it is appalling that such blatant unconstitutional actions are permitted to go unchecked.

From Gezi Park to Today: The Decline of Free Speech in Türkiye

12 years on since the Gezi Park protests, the country’s civic landscape has deteriorated, with reports circulating in 2024 that the parliament’s justice committee had approved a draft law that increased penalties for those suspected as “foreign agents” (Ok, 2024). The vague wording of the bill’s language incited new waves of fear among political dissidents because it left the term “foreign interests” entirely up to open interpretation.

Although the bill was later withdrawn in a victory for civil society in the country, it still poses an important question on the extent to which the authoritarian government was willing to go in order to suppress opposing voices (Türkiye: Withdrawal of so-called ‘agents of influence’ law is important victory for civil society, 2024). Fast-forwarding to 2025, the government has once again drawn international condemnation with Prime Minister Erdoğan’s recent jailing of his political rival, Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu (Wither and Davies, 2025). İmamoğlu was poised to be a presidential nominee for the 2028 election. His calculated detention and subsequent jailing,  a clear effort to undermine democratic principles, have sparked the country’s largest protests in years. Following his arrest on March 19, 2025, over alleged corruption and purported ties to Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK), a militant and political organization, Mr İmamoğlu faced another setback with the annulment of his college degree from Istanbul University (Girit et al., 2025).

As Turkish law requires presidential candidates to hold a valid university degree, the decision effectively disqualified him from running. Critics, including opposition leaders and legal scholars, argue the move was politically motivated and timed to coincide with İmamoğlu’s growing popularity as the Republican People’s Party’s likely presidential nominee (Ekrem İmamoğlu Denounces Politically Driven Legal Proceedings in Turkey, 2025). These actions prompted questions about the role of President Erdoğan and his government’s involvement in the judiciary’s independence.

The 2025 protests saw the Turkish authorities arrest more than 1,400 people, including journalists, with widespread accusations of the judiciary being used as a political tool to silence dissent (Hubenko, 2025). Istanbul Bar Association President İbrahim Kaboğlu criticised the Justice and Development Party (AKP) for its actions of diminishing the legal safeguards in the country (Intensified crackdown on dissidents violates constitution: Istanbul bar president, 2025). He believes these actions violate the mandatory and prohibitive provisions of the constitution.

Silencing Student Voices

As the government’s actions continue to receive criticism both domestically and internationally, young students have also played a pivotal part in spearheading the pushback against the oppressive regime. Influential student Berkay Gezgin, who has garnered a significant amount of youth support with his views supporting democracy in the country, was detained by Turkish authorities for four days without being informed of the charges against him (Michaelson, 2025).

This is clearly in violation of Article 9(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which mandates that individuals who are arrested be informed promptly of the charges and the reasons for the charges against them. Turkish student activists have recently started calling for a “buy nothing” consumer boycott in an effort to exert economic pressure on the government as a result of the unprecedented number of jailings committed under President Erdoğan’s rule (Turkish opposition calls for no-buy day over jailed students, 2025).

The younger generation, who have borne witness to Prime Minister Erdoğan’s 20-year iron grip on the country, have joined Kurdish activities, left-wing groups, and even nationalist factions that once collaborated with the government in the uprising against the government (Valente, 2025). Although the student protests at Istanbul University were met with harsh police force, the students broke through police barricades, highlighting their growing sense of hopelessness and resolve in protesting against an unjust government (Turkish students continue to fight for their freedom against authoritarianism, 2025). 

However, the responding actions of educational institutions are alarming. Boğaziçi University imposed disciplinary investigations on dozens of students and accused them of organizing unauthorized protests on campus (Reidy, 2021). Such accusations could result in students’  temporary or permanent expulsion from university, effectively stripping them of their future aspirations, just for voicing their dissent against the regime.

Conclusion

Although mass protests are unlikely to be the only factor to force President Erdoğan out of office and make way for a return to the democratic principles that the country was founded upon, it is a step in the right direction. With every protest and every refusal to stand down, cracks are beginning to show, even with his efforts to curtail the dissemination of information against him through social media.

International pressure and the resilience of journalists and media outlets, along with ordinary citizens who refuse to succumb to the government, will pave the way to a bright future that the young can hope to not just survive, but thrive in. If the country can reclaim its commitment to fundamental rights, there is still the possibility of a more open and democratic future where freedom of expression is upheld.

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Glossary

• Authoritarian: Demanding that people obey completely and refusing to allow them to act as they wish

• Gezi Park protests: A peaceful protest initially intended to contest the urban development plan for Gezi Park, which turned violent after police involvement, leading to a significant number of injuries and deaths being reported

• Indictment: Something that shows a policy, system, society, etc. is bad or wrong

• Judiciary: The part of a country’s government that is responsible for its legal system, including all the judges in the country’s courts

• Ottoman barracks: Military-era barracks built during the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman military barracks in Gezi Park were built in 1780 but were later destroyed in 1940. President Erdoğan’s intention to rebuild the military barracks ignited dissatisfaction from protesters, who argued that it was a glorification of Türkiye’s Ottoman past — an encroachment on the country’s modern, secular values.

• Pivotal: Central and important

• Unprecedented: Never having happened or existed in the past