Human Rights Foundation of Turkey Documentation Center[1][2][3][4][5]
31 May – 2 June 2025 Daily Human Rights Report
(06/001) No response to request for meeting with Abdullah Öcalan…
It has been learned that the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has not responded to the requests for a meeting submitted on May 30, 2025, by the family and legal guardian of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and the families and legal guardians of Ömer Hayri Konar, Hamili Yıldırım, and Veysi Aktaş, who are being held at Imralı Prison.
(06/002) Police Intervention in Gezi Commemorations in Istanbul and Ankara…
On May 30, 2025, seven people who unfurled banners related to the 2013 Gezi Protests at the entrance of Istanbul University’s Beyazıt Campus were detained by the police. It was learned that the seven individuals were released after being fined.
On June 30, 2025, police intervened in a commemoration and subsequent march in Istanbul’s Beyoğlu district, arresting a total of 94 people using physical violence. 82 people were released the same day after giving statements to the police. 12 people were released on June 1, 2025, by the magistrate’s court to which they were referred, subject to judicial control.
It has been reported that police intervened in a commemoration held on June 1, 2025, at Güvenpark in Ankara’s Çankaya district in connection with the 2013 Gezi Protests, but the commemoration took place without any arrests.
On June 1, 2025, police intervened against individuals participating in a “standing protest” on Yüksel Street in Ankara’s Çankaya district, arresting 15 people.
(06/003) Mayors, former MPs, and others detained in Istanbul and Adana…
As part of an investigation targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB), house raids were carried out in Istanbul and Adana on May 31, 2025, resulting in the detention of Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, Hasan Akgün, mayor of Büyükçekmece; Kadir Aydar, mayor of Ceyhan; Oya Tekin, mayor of Seyhan; Aykut Erdoğdu, former Istanbul MP for the Republican People’s Party (CHP); and 34 other municipal officials.
(06/004) Lawyer arrested in Istanbul…
Lawyer Burak Bekiroğlu was detained on May 31, 2025, in Istanbul on the grounds of a social media post he made about the brother of the Minister of Justice. Burak Bekiroğlu was arrested on June 1, 2025, by a magistrate’s court on charges of “defamation” and “insulting a public official in the course of their duties.”
(06/005) Detained Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Employee…
Nuri Başkanpan, an Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality employee who was detained on the grounds of a social media post he made about the Istanbul Deputy Chief Prosecutor who ruled to ban posters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested on May 31, 2025, by a magistrate’s court on charges of “targeting individuals involved in counter-terrorism operations.”
(06/006) Trial of DEVA Party Member…
DEVA Party founding member Metin Gürcan is facing charges in a case filed against him in Ankara Heavy Penal Court No. 26. In the final hearing of the case on June 23, 2025, the court sentenced Metin Gürcan to 16 years and 8 months in prison on charges of “obtaining information that should remain confidential to the state for political or military espionage purposes in a chain-like manner” and ordered his arrest. Following the decision, it was learned that Metin Gürcan was arrested and taken to Ankara Sincan No. 2 L Type Prison.
(06/007) Director subjected to racist attack…
According to news reports on June 1, 2025, Ecre Begüm Bayrak, the director of the film that won the best film award in the fiction category at a short film competition held in Ankara, was subjected to an intervention by the ceremony’s host, who told her to “stop making politics” after she mentioned the restrictions on access to detained students and the band Grup Yorum in her acceptance speech. It was reported that the director was later subjected to verbal attacks by the host and other individuals, who referred to her as “traitors,” “traitors to the nation,” “terrorists,” and “lowlifes.”
(06/008) Internet Content Subject to Access Restrictions…
It has been reported that access to 124 news articles mentioning the name of a Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) MP and his wife has been restricted by a decision of the Mersin Civil Court of First Instance No. 3 dated May 30, 2025, and that the court ordered the removal of the content in question.
According to news reports on May 30, 2025, access to the album “Haziran’da Ölmek Zor” by Grup Yorum was blocked on Spotify Turkey and Apple Music platforms, and the album was made invisible in Turkey.
According to news reports on May 30, 2025, access to the artist page of Grup Yorum on the Deezer platform was blocked.
(06/009) Individuals Detained in Edirne…
It has been reported that three individuals detained in Edirne on allegations of attempting to leave the country illegally were arrested by a magistrate’s court on June 1, 2025.
[1]The reports on the human rights violations of the Documentation Center are claims unless they are certified. The claim of violation either is certified through thoroughly investigations of HRFT Documentation Center, including by judicial verdicts, and becomes a definite data or it is not included to the annual report.
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[5] Daily Human Rights Reports are prepared on the information gathered by the Documentation Center from its own network and the following dailies and internet portals: Vatan, Milliyet, Hürriyet, Habertürk, Evrensel, Birgün, Cumhuriyet, Fırat Haber Ajansı, Jinnews, ETHA, Mezopotamya Ajansı, Yurt, Yeni Yaşam, NTV, Yeni Asya, Bianet, Halkinsesi.tv, Cnnturk, Tr724, İleri Haber, Siyasi Haber, Alınteri, Kızılbayrak, Sendika.org, Yüksekova Haber, T24, Diken, Gazete Karınca, Gazete Duvar. Haber Sol, El Cezire, BBC, Deutsche Welle, Reuters, AFP.