Censored Beyond Borders: Turkey’s Crackdown on Dissidents in the Diaspora
- Human Rights Research Center
- May 20
- 7 min read
Updated: May 21
Author: Sarisha Harikrishna
May 20, 2025
![Thousands protest against the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu in Istanbul, Turkey [Image credit: Louisa Gouliamaki, Reuters]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e28a6b_9ce48c71c0064432ba8691b9eda44d71~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_975,h_650,al_c,q_90,enc_avif,quality_auto/e28a6b_9ce48c71c0064432ba8691b9eda44d71~mv2.png)
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.
Glossary
Allegations: A statement, made without giving proof, that someone has done something wrong or illegal
Annulment: An official announcement that something such as a law, agreement, or marriage no longer exists, or the process of making this announcement
Authoritarian: Demanding that people obey completely and refusing to allow them to act as they wish
Barricades: A line or pile of objects put together, often quickly, to stop people from going where they want to go
Blatant: Very obvious and intentional, when this is a bad thing
Civic: Relating to the behaviour of a good member of society
Coincide: To happen at or near the same time
Consumer boycott: An occasion when customers stop buying a particular product or stop buying from a particular company as a way of expressing strong disapproval
Contravention: The act of doing something that a law or rule does not allow, or an instance of this
Crackdown: A situation in which someone starts to deal with bad or illegal behaviour in a more severe way
Curtail: To stop something before it is finished, or to reduce or limit something
Defiance: Behaviour in which you refuse to obey someone or something
Deteriorated: A condition that has become worse
Diaspora: A group of people who spread from one original country to other countries, or the act of spreading in this way
Diminishing: To reduce or be reduced in size or importance
Disciplinary: Connected with the punishment of people who break the rules
Dissemination: The act of spreading news, information, ideas, etc. to a lot of people
Dissident: A person who publicly disagrees with and criticizes their government
Enshrines: To contain or keep in a place that is highly admired and respected
Erosion: The gradual reduction or destruction of something
Exert: To use something such as authority, power, influence, etc. in order to make something happen
Expulsion: The act of forcing someone, or being forced, to leave a school, organization, or country, or an occasion when this happens
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
Iron grip: An extremely tight hold or control on something
Judiciary: The part of a country’s government that is responsible for its legal system, including all the judges in the country’s courts
Kurdish: The group of languages spoken by the Kurds, who are a group of Western Asian people who come from a region between the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and the Caspian Sea
Left-wing: Supporting the political left; relating to the belief that wealth and power should be shared between all parts of society
Nationalist factions: Groups within a larger group, especially one with slightly different ideas from the main group
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
Parole: Permission for a prisoner to be released before their period in prison is finished, with the agreement that they will behave well
Pivotal: Central and important
Politically orchestrated: A political event with every detail very carefully planned, sometimes secretly
Prohibitive provisions: Rules or clauses that prevent certain actions or uses and they are typically found in legislations banning specific activities or behaviours
Prosecution: The act of officially accusing someone of committing an illegal act, especially by bringing a case against that person in the court of law
Regime: A particular government or a system or method of government
Succumb: To lose the determination to oppose something; to accept defeat
Unprecedented: Never having happened or existed in the past