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Turkey: Country Report – Version 2 the Situa�On in Turkey

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Turkey: Country Report – Version 2 the Situa�On in Turkey Asylum Research Centre Turkey: Country Report – Version 2 The situa�on in Turkey /shutterstock.com Seita 25 January 2017 (COI up to 6 January 2017) Cover photo © 25 January 2017 (COI up to 6 January 2017) Turkey Country Report - Update Explanatory Note Sources and databases consulted List of Acronyms CONTENTS 1. Main Developments since the attempted Coup d’état (July 2016) a. Overview of major legislative and political developments: i. Recent legislative developments incl. new amendments or decrees 1. State of Emergency 2. Emergency decrees a. Decree of 22 July 2016 (KHK/667) b. Decree of 25 July 2016 (KHK/668) c. Decree of 31 July 2016 (KHK/669) d. Decrees of 17 August 2016 (KHK/670 and 671) e. Decrees of 1 September 2016 (KHK/672, 673 and 674) f. Decrees of 29 October 2016 (KHK/675 and 676) g. Decrees of 22 November 2016 (KHK/677 and 678) h. Decrees of 6 January 2017 (KHK/679, 680 and 681) 3. Observations on the decrees by the Council of Europe Committee, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission ii. Recent political developmentsin particular regarding changes affecting government structures: 1. Central Government 2. Political parties 3. Legal and judicial institutions 4. Civil service and government ministries 5. Educational institutions, including Universities 6. Hospitals / health care structures b. Overview of changes to the security forces: i. General information on the reported changes affecting the: 1. Police 2. Armed forces/Military 3. Intelligence services 4. Border guards/forces (incl. Gendarmerie) ii. Corruption withinthe security forces c. Impacts of the attempted Coup d’état on the socio-economic situation 1 2. Rule of law / Administration of Justice a. Access to justice i. Legal representation ii. Criminal justice system and access to fair trial iii. Due process and procedural guarantees (incl. arrest and detention procedures) iv. Legal remedies b. Corruption in the judicial system 3. Human Rights issues a. Freedom of speech, expression and assembly i. Domestic legal framework (constitution and legislation) b. Freedom of religion c. Access to education d. Access to health e. Arbitrary arrest and detention f. Prison conditions g. Enforced disappearances h. Torture and other ill-treatment and abuse i. Extrajudicial and targeted killings, unlawful use of violence and harassment j. Death penalty 4. Treatment of perceived or actual members or associates of the Gulen movement and their family members since the attempted Coup d’état a. The Gulen movement – an overview b. Perceived or actual members or associates of the Gulen movement c. Business owners/company executives d. Trade Union members e. Armed forces/soldiers f. Lawyers g. Perceived or actual members or associates of the Gulen movement and their family members living abroad i. Closure of Gulen schools abroad 5. Treatment of perceived or actual opponentsto the current government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and their family members since the attempted Coup d’état a. Treatment of political opponents b. Treatment of journalists and other media professionals c. Treatment of civil society, human rights and political activists d. Treatment of other individuals perceived to support the attempted coup/commenting on the attempted coup 6. Change in the situation or treatment of civil servants and government officials and their family members since the attempted Coup d’état a. Police officers and intelligence officials b. Members of the judiciary c. Teachers, education ministry officials, university deans d. Clerics, preachers and religious teachers e. Staff at state ministries i. Diplomats f. Governors 2 g. Other civil servants or government officials i. Prison staff ii. Health workers iii. Staff of regulatory bodies iv. Presidential guards 7. Change in situation of or treatment of minorities since the attempted Coup d’état a. Kurds i. Overview of pre-attempted coup situation ii. Treatment of political opponents iii. Treatment of civil servants and government officials iv. Treatment of journalists and other media professionals v. Treatment of civil society, human rights and political activists vi. Torture and other ill-treatment and abuse b. Other minorities i. Overview of pre-attempted coup situation ii. Hate speech and violent attacks 8. Change in situation of or treatment of IDPs since the attempted Coup d’état 9. Change in the situation of or treatment of diverse individuals of sexual orientation and gender identity since the attempted Coup d’état 3 Explanatory Note This report is an update of ARC’s previous ‘Turkey Country Report’ of 15 December 2016 and presents country of origin information (COI) on Turkey up to 6 January 2017 on issues of relevance in refugee status determination for Turkish nationalsrelated to the attemptedCoup d’état and the introduction of the State of Emergency. The information included relates to the attempted coup and does not address non-state agent perpetrated violence (e.g. activities by IS, PKK or TAK) or the security situation and abuses in south-east Turkey. The COI presented is illustrative, but not exhaustive of the information available in the public domain, nor is it determinative of any individual human rights or asylum claim. All sources are publicly available and a direct hyperlink has been provided. A list of sources and databases consulted is also provided, to enable users to conduct further research and to conduct source assessments. For the previous ‘Turkey Country Report’ research focused on events after January 2015, particularly those which occurred between 15th July 2016 to 7th October 2016. For this update, research focused on events which occurred between 7 October 2016 and 6 January 2017, although some reports published in the new research period which covered events from the previous reporting period have been included,and all sources were accessed in January 2017. This updated reportprovides the samecontentasthe original report published on 15th December 2016 apart from correcting some typos, minor re-ordering, and deleting COIwhere it was superseded bynew events. The following additional sources have been included, post cut-off point, that provide some insights into the provisions contained in the latest emergency decrees issued on 6th January 2017 and the proposed amendments to the Constitution: o Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Turkey Dismisses More Than 6,000 Workers In Post-Coup Purge, 7 January 2017 o Anadolu Agency, Turkey issues new statutory law, 7 January 2017 o NRT, Turkey introduces new law appearing to target Gulen supporters abroad, 8 January 2017 o The Law Library of Congress, Turkey: Parliamentary Commission Approves Amendments to Constitution that Would Enhance President’s Powers, 9 January 2017 o The Law Library of Congress, Turkey: Three New Decree-Laws Issued Under State of Emergency, 11 January 2017 The source ‘TurkeyPurge’ was only discovered shortly before the publication date of the previous Turkey report and therefore a decision was taken to only refer to its existence rather than content. For this updated report, excerpts from articles published by TurkeyPurge within the set time-frame for research have been included. This document is intended to be used as a tool to help to identify relevant COI and the COI referred to in this report can be considered by decision makers in assessing asylum applications and appeals. However, this document should not be submitted in full or in isolation as evidence to refugee decision making authorities. Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy, the authors accept no responsibility for any errors included in this report. 4 Sources and databases consulted Not all of the sources listed here have been consulted for each issue addressed in the report. Additional sources to those individually listed were consulted via database searches. This non- exhaustive list is intended to assist in further case-specific research. To find out more about an organisation, view the ‘About Us’ tab of a source’s website. Databases consulted: ECOI Refworld Reliefweb Sources consulted: 76 Crimes Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) Al Arabiya Al Jazeera Al Monitor – Turkey Pulse Amnesty International Armed Conflict Location & Event Date Project (ACLED) Article 19 The Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for the Oppressed Association for the Prevention of Torture Atlas of Torture BBC News Bianet Brookings Institution Carnegie Endowment for International Peace CHR Michelsen Institute Committee to Protect Journalists Council of Europe Death Penalty Worldwide (Cornell Law School) Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Deutsche Welle Edge Media Network Education International Eldis Equal Rights Trust EurasiaNet EuroMedRights European Centre for Minority Issues European Commission – European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (Turkey) Forum 18 France 24 Fund for Peace – Fragile States Index 2016 Gay Star News Global Gayz The Guardian Hands off Cain Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research Human Rights Association Human Rights Foundation of Turkey 5 The Human Rights Institution of Turkey Human Rights Watch Hurriyet Daily News Institute for Economics & Peace – Global Peace Index 2016 Institute for War and Peace Reporting Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre International Bar Association International Commission of Jurists International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) International
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