Thousands of Turkish expatriates are expected to gather in Strasbourg on Wednesday for the fourth annual demonstration outside the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) buildings, urging European institutions to take urgent action against persistent human rights violations in Turkey.
Similar protests were held in 2022, 2023 and 2024 in front of the ECtHR, attended by hundreds of victims of a Turkish government purge following a failed coup in Turkey in 2016 as well as activists and EU parliamentarians.
The ECtHR is accused by victims of human rights violations in Turkey, which increased after the coup attempt when the government launched a crackdown on non-loyalist citizens under the pretext of an anti-coup fight, of failing to process victims’ applications expeditiously and in some cases making judgments in favor of the Turkish government. The CoE is accused of not using the tools at its disposal to force Ankara to abide by ECtHR rulings that are in favor of victims.
Turkey has defied ECtHR rulings faulting Turkey for violating the rights of imprisoned philanthropist Osman Kavala and Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirta?.
In addition to these cases, a local court in Turkey again convicted former teacher Yüksel Yalç?nkaya of terrorism in September 2024, despite the ECtHR finding a violation of his fundamental rights last year. The Kayseri 2nd High Criminal Court sentenced him to six years, three months, the same as his original conviction in 2017.
The conviction in the retrial is subject to an appeals procedure, and the new decision will be finalized after a judgment by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals.
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Previous Strasbourg protests organized by the platform attracted wide participation and international attention. Organizers say they will continue to hold the event annually until the institutions “move from concern to action.”
The protest will be broadcast live on MC EU TV and the Peaceful Actions Platform’s YouTube channel.
