Turkey - an update

Earlier in the year we took action for Taner Kılıç (Chair of Amnesty Turkey) and İdil Eser (Director of Amnesty Turkey) who have both been arrested and charged in Turkey.

Taner Kılıç was detained at the offices of his law firm on 6 June 2017 and accused of being involved with Fethullah Gülen’s ‘terrorist orgnisation’.

İdil Eser was arrested without reason on 5 July along with nine other activists when attending a routine digital security and information management workshop in a hotel. They have become known as the ‘Istanbul 10’.

In October the prosecutor filed charges against Taner and the Istanbul 10, accusing them of assisting a variety of ‘terrorist organisations’. These accusations are baseless and part of a crackdown on human rights in Turkey since 2016’s failed coup.

The Istanbul 10 had their first hearing on 25 October. Much of the evidence in Idil’s case related to her work with Amnesty. After a day of hearing evidence the group were released on bail. Taner Kılıç had his first hearing on 26 October. Sadly, he was denied bail and remains in prison.

Amnesty is continuing to call for the charges to be dropped and the Istanbul 10 are featured in this year’s Write for Rights campaign.

You can add your own solidarity message by uploading a photo of a message or picture to www.freeistanbul10.tumblr.com