Turkiye - 2 September 2024 Meeting Highlights

Chris Ramsey is Amnesty UK's Country Coordinator and has a long track record of Amnesty leadership and campaigning. He outlined the current human rights difficulties including the suppression of dissent, restriction on freedoms of expression and assembly as well as undermining of the judicial process including impunity for the security service on the use of  torture. In parallel there has been a diminution of Women's and LGBTI rights.

He took us through the history of modern Turkiye, established as a republic in 1923 under Kemal Attaturk who modernised, promoted a secular state and improved the situation of women. Turkiye was neutral in WW2 but there have been three military coups subsequently.

Looming over all consideration of Turkiye's internal situation and its role in the world is President Erdogan. Starting out as an efficient administrator with the common touch through periods as Mayor of Istanbul and then the country's Prime Minister he became President in 2014. This has been followed by a period of increasing power and a move to authoritarianism.

Turkiye has a significant geo-politcial role arising from its location and attempts to position itself as an 'honest broker' between Russia and Ukraine and, now less convincingly, Israel and Palestine. In addition it hosts 3.6 million refugees from Syria paid for by the UK and EU which are from time to time used for political leverage. The UK hoping for a trade deal has failed to make comments about Turkiye's Human Rights record.   

Chris went through a number of cases who have been on Amnesty and the Group's radar including:

• Eren Keskin - a human rights lawyer who has had spells of imprisonment, currently under sentence but remaining free while she appeals
• Osman Kavala - a philanthropist and businessman sentenced to life imprisonment on charges relating to the Gezi Park protests
• Can Atalay - a former MP and lawyer sentenced for his role in relation to the Gezi Park protests. In spite of subsequent acquitals he is now imprisoned for 'attempting to overthrow the Government'

There was an interesting conversation on how Amnesty chooses the cases it works on. Chris acknowledged that not all deserving cases could be covered and described those chosen as perhaps being 'emblematic'.

Chris also noted the banning of Women's Rights and Pride marches, the reduced protection to the victims of gender-based violence including Turkiye's withdrawal from the Council of Europe's Istanbul Convention designed to protect women from many of theses abuses.

Sutton Amnesty signs up to the Europe newsletter in which Chris Ramsey's work on Turkiye is prominent. We will continue to work on these cases. It was noted that Prof. Sebnem Korur Financi, a Women's Rights Defender, will be featured in the 2024 Write for Rights campaign.