The Turkey 2024 Report, prepared annually by the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, was published on 30 October.

The report was presented at a press conference held in Brussels by Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign policy and security, and Olivér Várhelyi, the commissioner responsible for enlargement.

The report underlined that Turkey "remains at an early stage of preparation in the area of the rule of law and fundamental rights. No progress was made on key issues identified in previous reports and serious concerns remain."

The same applies, said the report, to the area of the functioning of the judiciary, where Turkey "remains at an early stage of preparation in this area and no progress has been made. Despite the adoption of new judicial reform packages, the fundamental shortcomings in the functioning of the judiciary remained unaddressed. Turkey continued to refuse to implement certain judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Undue pressure by the authorities on judges and prosecutors continued to have a negative effect on the independence and quality of the judiciary. Serious efforts are needed to significantly improve the functioning of the country’s judicial system. The Commission’s recommendations from last year were not implemented and remain valid. In the coming year."

Human rights situation, an issue of concern

As for the overall human rights situation in the country, the report said that "it has not improved and remains an issue of concern. The Turkish legal framework includes general guarantees for the respect of human and fundamental rights, but the legislation and its implementation need to be brought into line with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and ECtHR case law. Trials and 6 convictions of journalists, writers, lawyers, academics, human rights defenders and other critical voices for alleged support for terrorism have continued. The Commission’s recommendations from last year were not implemented and remain valid."

The functioning of democratic institutions in Turkey, said the report, "continued to be severely hampered. The structural shortcomings of the presidential system remained unaddressed."

Political pluralism undermined by the judiciary’s targeting of opposition parties

In particular, said the report, "political pluralism continued to be undermined by the judiciary’s targeting of opposition parties and Members of Parliament. Approximately 8 000 People’s Democratic Party (HDP) members and officials are currently imprisoned. In January 2024, the Court of Cassation defied two Constitutional Court rulings to release one of the detained defendants in the Gezi trial, who had been elected as a Member of Parliament.

In May 2024, several former HDP legislators and two former co-chairs of the party were sentenced to long prison terms despite a ECtHR ruling for their immediate release. The HDP’s closure case on terrorism charges, including the banning from political life of 451 HDP members, remains pending before the Constitutional Court."

Situation in the East and South-East regions

The report said: "Violations of human rights by security forces continued to be reported. Hate crimes and hate speech against Kurds continued. No judicial or administrative remedies were adopted in relation to property rights cases in Diyarbakır’s Sur district. In March 2024, Kurdish Newroz celebrations took place peacefully, despite heavy police presence. Eastern and southeastern provincial governors imposed arbitrary blanket bans on meetings and events, including before the March 2024 local elections. A broad interpretation of terrorism and judicial and administrative pressure on journalists, political opponents, bar associations and human rights defenders working on the Kurdish issue continued to raise concerns. Kurdish language media outlets and cultural rights institutions have remained closed since 2016."

The report also underlined that "in the Kobane trial, in May 2024, the court sentenced 24 Kurdish politicians from the former pro-Kurdish HDP party to prison terms on alleged charges of crimes against the State. In a separate trial, the closure case against the HDP continued at the Constitutional Court. Former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş remained in prison despite two ECtHR rulings calling for his immediate release. In June 2024, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe urged the Turkish authorities to take all necessary measures to secure his immediate release. Many new detentions of members of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), mayors and other DEM representatives on terrorism-related charges were reported. In the case related to the 2015 killing of then Diyarbakir Bar Association Chair Tahir Elci, the Court acquitted in June 2024 all three police defendants due to lack of evidence."