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Turkey saw widespread torture, abuse in 2025, report says
More than 1,800 people were subjected to torture or ill-treatment and over 6,700 were arbitrarily detained in Turkey in 2025, according to an annual report by the Human Rights Association (İHD), which documents a broad range of alleged rights violations across the country.
The report recorded at least 1,842 cases of torture or ill-treatment during the year, including 1,493 people affected during police interventions at demonstrations. Another 185 prisoners were subjected to similar treatment in places of detention.
İHD, founded in 1986 and based in Ankara, is one of Turkey’s oldest human rights organisations. It monitors and documents human rights violations across the country and compiles its annual reports using cases recorded by the association, publicly available information and data from other human rights organisations.
According to the 2025 report, the figures point to continued weakening of democratic rights and freedoms and the persistence of authoritarian trends. The organisation says the judiciary and law enforcement agencies were used to suppress political and social dissent, resulting in violations affecting a wide range of fundamental rights.
Protest and expression under pressure
İHD recorded 6,719 arbitrary detentions during 2025, while 1,328 people were kept in detention pending trial.
Restrictions on freedom of assembly were also widespread. Authorities prevented 306 demonstrations and public events from taking place, while police intervened in another 268 events.
A total of 8,477 people were detained in connection with these cases. Of them, 1,112 remained in detention pending trial and 1,625 were placed under judicial control.
The pressure also extended beyond street protests. At least 507 people were detained over positions expressed in writing, verbally or through other means, while 109 were remanded in custody and 123 were placed under judicial control, according to the report.
Journalists faced continued legal pressure. Proceedings or investigations were launched against 303 media workers during the year. Forty-two journalists were imprisoned, with 28 still behind bars at the end of 2025. Authorities also blocked access to 489 news articles.
The report cites figures from Turkey’s Justice Ministry showing that prosecutors opened 9,348 cases against 8,005 people in 2025 under laws criminalising insults against the president, state symbols and institutions.
Courts convicted 1,923 defendants under these provisions, while the announcement of sentences was deferred in another 2,127 cases.
Pressure on opposition-run municipalities
The report also highlights government intervention in municipalities governed by the opposition.
During 2025, 22 mayors and co-mayors in 21 municipalities were removed from office. Since the 2024 local elections, a total of 27 mayors have been removed, including five mayors of major municipalities.
İHD links these developments to broader concerns over political participation and the ability of elected local authorities to remain in office. “ The majority of mayors elected from the CHP and DEM parties were removed from office and replaced by appointed administrators. Mayors of numerous major cities, including Istanbul, Türkiye’s most populous city, were detained and arrested based on the testimonies of secret witnesses. This situation, which constituted an attack on the right to participation in governance and free elections, led to widespread social outrage, with mass protests and demonstrations taking place in many cities across Turkey. Police interventions against these demonstrations resulted in torture and ill-treatment spilling onto the streets. Hundreds were detained, and many were arrested”, the report says.
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The organisation also points to renewed hopes for a peaceful resolution of Turkey’s decades-long Kurdish conflict during 2025. Abdullah Öcalan’s February 2025 “Call for Peace and a Democratic Society”, urging the PKK to lay down its arms and dissolve itself, was followed by the organisation’s decision in May to end its armed struggle and dissolve itself.
A symbolic disarmament ceremony was held in Sulaymaniyah in July, while Turkey’s parliament established a commission in August to work on the issue and consider necessary legal arrangements. The commission later heard from 137 institutions and individuals, including İHD.
However, the association argues that these developments were not accompanied by sufficient steps towards democratisation. It says the continued use of judicial and law-enforcement measures against social dissent contributed to further rights violations.
Deaths and conditions in detention
The report documented 20 suspicious deaths in places of detention, including 16 in prisons. Two sick prisoners died in hospitals while receiving treatment.
İHD also recorded the deaths of 299 women and 64 children killed by men during the year, while another 471 deaths were classified as suspicious.
The report says violations in prisons remained a persistent problem, including concerns over physical conditions, healthcare and communication. It also points to overcrowding, noting that the number of prisoners increased much faster than prison capacity between 2016 and the end of 2025.
The association says its figures do not represent the full scale of rights violations in Turkey. They cover only cases that became public or were reported to İHD offices, meaning the actual number of violations is likely to be higher.
The report concludes that the developments of 2025 point to a continuing human rights crisis and argues that the hopes generated by the search for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict were not matched by broader democratic reforms.
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Sources: EUalive’s partner BGNES, www.ihd.org.tr
Caption: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a meeting with Russian President Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 01 September 2026. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2026 is held in Bishkek on 31 August and 01 September. EPA/VYACHESLAV PROKOFYEV / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN
