As protests rage across Turkey, global civil society alliance, CIVICUS urges Turkey's government to pay heed to the protestors' demands for greater democratic and personal freedoms. The response of the Turkish government to the protests has been heavy handed as witnessed in the crackdown underway since 31 May. A blackout was also imposed on sections of the media to prevent reporting of the protests.
The demonstrations which originally began in Istanbul against the government's proposals to undertake urban development plans on the site of a public park have now spread to other major cities in the country including the capital Ankara where hundreds have been detained. The protestors are expressing widespread dissatisfaction against the policies of Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's government which they see as undermining Turkey's democratic and secular fabric.
CIVICUS highlights the following areas of concern:
- Scores of protestors have been in injured due to excessively heavy handed police tactics in dealing with protestors' anger at reported plans to 'redevelop' Istanbul's Taksim Gezi park into a shopping mall. The disproportionate response of the police in Istanbul including through indiscriminate use of tear gas shells and water cannons have resulted in serious injuries to the protestors. There are now concerns about similar acts of police brutality at other protest sites.
- In March 2013, CIVICUS raised concerns about state repression and the judicial harassment of Turkish civil society activists and media professionals for dissenting against government policies. In January 2013, a series of mass raids were carried out against civil society groups under the guise of catching members of banned organisations. Over a dozen human rights lawyers were arrested in the swoop. Four others were given heavy sentences of up to seven and a half years imprisonment.
- Turkey has been described by the civil society group, Committee to Protect Journalists as the "world's worst jailer of journalists" with a reported 49 journalists jailed as of 1 December 2012. The notorious Article 301 of the penal code which criminalises "insult" of the Turkish state, Turkish ethnicity and government institutions is frequently imposed to silence journalists and writers in the country.
CIVICUS urges the Government of Turkey to: (i) instruct law enforcement officials to abide by the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms and desist from heavy handed crowd control tactics, and (ii) publicly commit to engaging in dialogue and policy making in line with core constitutional values.
Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Secretary General of CIVIUS said:
"The way that Turkey's leaders have responded to recent protests will further fuel the feeling of disenfranchisement felt by many in the country. The true test of a constitutionally elected government is how well it responds to criticism. President Erdogan's heavy-handed approach calls into question his commitment to democratic values."
