TURKEY: Human Rights Violations Rising & more – 16th Dec 2025

Merhaba from Oakley! This is the Rorshok Turkey Update from the 16th of December twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Turkey.

On Wednesday the 10th, Hakan Fidan, the Foreign Minister, said the Turkish government will not allow Syria to fall back into chaos, underlining that developments across the border directly impact Turkish stability and security. Fidan spoke at a conference in Ankara focused on Syria’s future, calling for a unified and peaceful post-conflict transition. He also criticized Israel for policies he said destabilize the region and stressed that the government cannot tolerate federal segmentation in Syria.

Turkey’s stance comes amid broader international discussions on reconstruction and refugee return amid ongoing Syrian fragmentation. Regional observers said Turkey is positioning itself as a central security actor in Syrian negotiations while balancing relationships with global powers and local factions.

Still on foreign affairs, on Wednesday the 10th, Reuters reported that the United States and Turkey had resumed talks on the government’s possible return to the F-35 fighter jet program. The United States ambassador to Turkey said discussions focused on Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, which led the US to remove Turkey from the program and impose sanctions back in twenty twenty. He said US law doesn’t allow Turkey to operate the S-400 system while participating in the F-35 project, but added that recent talks had been more productive than in previous years.

Fidan told Reuters that both sides expected progress soon and had begun technical work to lift sanctions.

On Thursday the 11th, the news outlet Turkish Minute reported in an English article that Turkey’s human rights record worsened sharply in twenty twenty-five, with at least 2,300 deaths linked to rights violations.

Human Rights organizations in Turkey pointed to deaths from workplace accidents, murders of women and children, and suspicious cases involving military conscripts. The groups also reported a rise in enforced disappearances and an expanding crackdown on opposition-run municipalities, unions, and civil society groups. Police frequently intervened in peaceful demonstrations, while pressure on journalists and media outlets increased. Prison populations reached record levels, with more minors held in pretrial detention.

International institutions raised concerns that restrictions on basic freedoms had deepened rather than eased during the year.

On another note, The BirGün daily reported that a seventeen-year-old high school student ended a pregnancy after alleged sexual abuse while interning at the Parliament cafeteria. The newspaper didn’t name the aggressor. The report said doctors discovered the pregnancy after the intern sought medical care and filed a mandatory notification because she was under eighteen.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed the arrest of a parliament employee following a complaint from the girl. Prosecutors said the suspect was jailed on charges related to sexual harassment of a child, with testimony taken at a child interview center. Officials haven’t publicly addressed the pregnancy allegation. An internal parliamentary inquiry led to disciplinary action against five kitchen staff members.

On Tuesday the 16th, an İstanbul court upheld a prison sentence of four years and two months and ordered the continued detention of Fatih Altaylı, a prominent journalist held since June on charges of threatening the president.

Judges said the court viewed Fatih Altaylı’s comments during a YouTube broadcast as threats toward President Erdoğan and ruled that they weren’t protected under press freedom. The panel said the statements evoked an assassination and amounted to an expression of intentional killing. However, the verdict was called into question as it appeared politically driven, arguing that it was meant to discourage criticism of President Erdoğan and create a chilling effect around speaking about him.

On Monday the 15th, Turkey launched the 16th Ambassador Conference gathering foreign envoys to shape foreign policy priorities for the coming year under the theme Peace, Stability and Prosperity. The annual meeting will run through the week and is expected to cover evolving regional security issues, diplomatic ties with neighbors, and the government’s global strategic goals.

Officials said this forum allows Turkey to present its external policy approaches as global tensions rise. Diplomats and senior officials from multiple continents are attending, with sessions on Middle East dynamics, climate diplomacy, and economic partnerships.

In other news, on Monday the 15th, the National Defense Ministry reported that they shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle after it approached Turkish airspace over the northern Black Sea. The Ministry said the aircraft had gone out of control and was shot as a precaution.

Because of its small size, radar systems detected it intermittently, first mistaking it for a meteorological object. Once the drone entered Turkish airspace, officials waited until the aircraft reached an uninhabited area to strike it with a missile. The drone broke into pieces on impact, and recovery teams have not yet reached the full wreckage. The Air Force will examine the debris once collection is complete.

Last Tuesday the 9th, a Turkish court ordered the detention of twenty top-tier Super League football players and officials in a major gambling probe, intensifying a nationwide crackdown on match-fixing and illegal betting. The arrests followed a broader operation that had earlier led to the detention of dozens of players, club presidents, and referees. Meanwhile, authorities lifted the detention order for Ahmet Çakar, a former referee and football commentator, after his health condition worsened. The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said his treatment is ongoing

The Turkish Football Federation had already suspended hundreds of referees and players as the investigation expanded across divisions. League officials said the probe aims to restore confidence in domestic football integrity after years of controversy.

On Sunday the 14th, Gülşah Durbay, the Şehzadeler district mayor in the western city of Manisa, died at the Manisa City Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment for colon cancer. She was thirty-seven years old. Her death followed the death of the mayor of Manisa earlier this year, adding to the tragedy.

Later the same day, Şehzadeler Municipality held an official memorial ceremony in front of the municipal building. Özgür Özel, the head of her party, the Republican People’s Party, attended the event and spoke emotionally about Durbay’s role in the party and her political journey. He described her as a dedicated party member who came from a strong Republican People’s Party family. Her death prompted widespread condolences across local politics in Manisa.

Throughout the week, Turkey’s ongoing water crisis remained a major environmental talking point, as reservoirs stayed at critically low levels and drought conditions deepened across much of the country. Officials said climate change, reduced rainfall and mismanaged resources have strained supplies for agriculture, industry and urban areas, with cities like İstanbul reporting reservoir levels far below normal.

The government’s National Water Efficiency Initiative, launched earlier this year, continues rationing measures and public campaigns to reduce waste. With over 88% of Turkey at risk of desertification, experts urged investments in new infrastructure, better monitoring systems, and nature-based solutions with World Bank support for drought and flood resilience. The crisis also triggered intense debates on social media about climate adaptation and future water security.

This week, the western Bursa’s Provincial Directorate of National Education’s ban on New Year’s and Christmas-themed activities in schools has triggered widespread debate. Reportedly, school administrators received messages in WhatsApp groups instructing them not to hold such events, citing that they are not among the Ministry of National Education’s officially recognized days and weeks. The guidance stressed that activities linked to Christmas, New Year celebrations or gift exchanges should not take place in schools.

Many criticized the decision, saying it ignored Turkey’s multicultural structure. They said that the ministry was limiting student-centered New Year activities because some religious hardliners frame them as a Christian tradition. Critics argue the move risks undermining inclusivity in education.

Finally, on Monday the 15th, Archaeology Magazine reported that last week, the United States had returned a group of forty-three antiquities to Turkey, including several significant looted pieces. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit traced the items, many taken from Turkey in the nineteen sixties, through Switzerland, the United Kingdom and museum collections before securing their repatriation.

Among the returned objects are a life-size bronze statue known as the Nude Emperor, originally from the ancient site of Bubon, and a second-century marble sculpture of the Greek orator Demosthenes seized from a New York museum.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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