There is systematic violence in this country

Politics Service

The Palace regime’s rising resistance from the people against the attempted coup spilled into the May Day squares the other day. Citizens across the country took to the streets and united their demands against the regime. The most significant outcome of May Day 2025 was the people's determination to break free from one-man rule.

The government, attempting to suppress the people’s resistance, does not refrain from using its instruments of oppression. Most recently, the police’s harsh intervention against the crowd trying to reach Taksim on May Day drew attention. Over 400 people were detained in İstanbul, and many young people were beaten. Notably, there has been an increase in torture allegations since 19 March.

Although the Saray regime denies these allegations, the torture incidents have been documented in investigations by opposition MPs, reports of labour unions, human rights associations, and international organisations.

TORTURE INCREASED

According to examples of torture included in the 2024 reports by the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) and the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), torture and ill-treatment in detention centres in Turkey have become systematic. It was also noted that torture incidents increased after 19 March.

These torture allegations mostly occurred during protests, in custody, and within prisons following arrests. Students in particular, as well as journalists and lawyers, were among the most affected groups.

According to the data reflected in the reports, the disproportionate use of force and ill-treatment by security forces during protests stood out. Torture allegations in detention centres included physical and psychological torture, strip searches and sexual abuse, obstruction of access to lawyers, and lack of medical examination.

Citizens imprisoned after being arrested were exposed to the most physical violence and ill-treatment, strip searches and degrading practices, arbitrary disciplinary punishments, and restrictions on access to healthcare.

In a study conducted by the Human Rights Association’s (İHD) Documentation Centre a week after 19 March, many individuals were reported to have been subjected to acts of torture and ill-treatment by the police while in custody.

DISPROPORTIONATE INTERVENTION

The report included the following statements:

• During home raids and protests, at least 1,879 people, including children, were taken into custody; 260 people were arrested, and 468 were released under judicial control measures.
• In İstanbul, at least 622 people, including 20 children, and at least 262 people in Ankara were detained.
• Many individuals were subjected to acts of torture and ill-treatment such as beatings, gas and water sprayed at close range, reverse handcuffing, and strip searches during police interventions.
• In Ankara, 7 individuals were forced to undergo strip searches.
• At least 14 journalists were detained; 7 who had arrest warrants issued against them were released following objections.

BEATINGS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE

Findings from the report on Marmara Region Prisons prepared by İHD on 25 April also clearly revealed the regime’s repressive policies. The report listed cases of physical torture and beatings as follows:

• 60 prisoners were beaten unconscious in areas without cameras. Some of them wanted to be taken to hospital, but their requests were denied.
• Prisoners were reverse handcuffed, shackled by the feet, laid on the ground, and dragged.
• The report documented 3 cases in which prisoners who refused strip searches were tortured by being forcibly undressed. It also reported that strip searches were imposed on 9 prisoners and forced upon 11 more.
• Two prisoners who resisted were denied visitation rights.
• Prisoners were continuously subjected to psychological pressure and threats. In three documented cases, wardens threatened inmates by saying, “Report it wherever you want, nothing will change.”
• The report also noted that ill prisoners were not referred to hospital for months, and referrals to the Forensic Medicine Institute could take years.
• The imposition of handcuffed medical examinations also stood out.

12 CHILDREN SUBJECTED TO VIOLENCE

According to the report by the İstanbul Bar Association's Children's Rights Centre, covering the period of 22–28 March 2025, children were also subjected to systematic torture. According to the research, 26 children — 2 girls and 24 boys — were detained. Reverse handcuffs were used on 20 of them. Twelve children stated they were subjected to physical violence.

The report noted: “Some children were held with adults, their access to defence lawyers was limited. They were also exposed to physical interventions such as pepper spray and batons. It was observed that the children were psychologically pressured, and their requests for help were often denied.”

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

Following the protests that began on 19 March, women also faced numerous rights violations. Footage showing women being detained with disproportionate force was made public. According to data collected on the ground by the Women’s Rights Centre, women detained during and after protests were subjected to strip searches, sexual harassment, and sexist verbal abuse. Some of the cases of violence and harassment that reached the public are as follows:

• On 26 April, during the Gençlik Ayakta protest, a trans woman was detained with disproportionate force. During detention, her clothes were pulled at, exposing part of her body. In response to public outrage, the Ankara Governorship defended the footage by stating, "the person is not a woman but a man."
• In Kocaeli, on 23 March, a woman named B.E. was violently beaten while being detained. During the two-day custody, despite repeatedly asking for sanitary pads, her requests were denied.
• On the night of Saturday 22 March, a woman who was later placed under house arrest stated that she was sexually assaulted while in custody. In her testimony, she said: “While being detained, I was dragged on the ground by my hair. A police officer took me to the back of an ambulance and physically assaulted me. I wet myself out of fear. My clothes were still soaked in urine. A female officer with black hair said to me, ‘If you remain in our hands, we’ll kill you.’”
• On 8 April, Esila Ayık, a chronically ill woman with heart and kidney conditions, was suddenly arrested in Kadıköy after carrying a placard that read “Dictator Erdoğan” at the Dayanışma Sahnesi protest. For the first six days in prison, she was denied her medication. The minor issue with her heart valve was found to have worsened from "mild" to "moderate." On Wednesday 23 April, during an earthquake, Ayık was locked in a ward with other prisoners. She fell ill and was taken to hospital. Despite all objections and criticism, she remains in detention.
• In İzmir, a woman named F.E. was reportedly sexually harassed during her detention. Lawyer Merve Eylül Bütün stated: “My client was sexually harassed during the body search. The officer touched her vagina twice over her clothing.”

BATONS AND PEPPER SPRAY USED ON JOURNALISTS

Following 19 March 2025, the violence and torture against journalists reached alarming levels. Journalists covering the protests were subjected to violence and various rights violations. Systematic violence was inflicted not only on protesters but also on journalists. From Saraçhane onwards, efforts were made to prevent journalists from filming, and many were expelled from protest areas. During the police intervention in the Saraçhane protests, at least 14 journalists were beaten.

In İstanbul and İzmir, 14 journalists were detained at various times in home raids for covering the protests. Of those detained, 8 were initially released, only to be re-arrested. They were released again after two days in custody, following legal objections.

THEY DON'T WANT THE TRUTH TO COME OUT

Our BirGün reporters were also targeted: Ebru Çelik was kicked, beaten with a baton, and pepper sprayed directly in the face while covering the protests in Saraçhane. Another reporter, Deniz Güngör, was shot with a rubber bullet during the same intervention and later kicked.

In Eskişehir, journalists covering protests at universities were denied access to campuses. International media representatives attempting to follow the protests were also obstructed. BBC correspondent Mark Lowen was detained while reporting and deported.

The Mesopotamia Women Journalists Association (MKG) reported 54 separate rights violations against women journalists throughout March. These included:

• Physical violence against women journalists
• Targeting on social media
• Verbal abuse and sexist remarks while in custody
• Threats from police officers

The report revealed that women journalists were subjected to double pressure both in the field and online. Professional organisations declared: “It is not journalists being suppressed, but the truth itself.”

THE DEFENCE DID NOT AND WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT

Since the resistance began on 19 March, numerous rights violations have been committed against lawyers as well. According to the report by the Lawyers’ Rights Centre, many lawyers were made to wait for hours outside police stations without being allowed to see their clients. Entry into courthouses was arbitrarily blocked by law enforcement using excuses like “no visitor pass” or “name not on the list.” Even the president of the İstanbul Bar Association and its board members were repeatedly held back at barricades.

The other day in İstanbul, while lawyers waited at the police station to defend citizens detained for celebrating May Day in Taksim Square, they too were subjected to intervention. Lawyers who wanted to see their detained clients were denied access to the station. In response, they chanted: “The defence did not and will not remain silent.”

On several previous occasions as well, lawyers trying to defend citizens detained during protests were unlawfully obstructed by the police. After the 19 March protests, lawyers heading to Çağlayan Courthouse to defend arrested students also faced blockades.

On 22 March 2025, when İstanbul Metropolitan Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu was taken to Çağlayan Courthouse, lawyers gathering in front of the courthouse and attempting to enter were targeted by police; some lawyers were pepper-sprayed and physically assaulted. It was alleged that one lawyer was choked, and an official report was filed against the officers involved.

From the very beginning of the process, dozens of journalists were detained while covering the events, and many were beaten by police. BBC reporter Mark Lowen was detained for 17 hours in İstanbul while covering the protests and then deported for “posing a threat to public order.” Swedish journalist Joakim Medin was detained at İstanbul Airport on 27 March. He received a suspended 11-month prison sentence for “insulting the president” and “membership in a terrorist organisation” and remains imprisoned in Marmara Prison.

According to the İstanbul Bar Association’s Women’s Rights Centre, women detained during the Saraçhane protests were subjected to reverse handcuffing, dragged by their hair, and beaten.
They also faced strip searches and sexual harassment. Some women stated that the violence they suffered was not reflected in medical reports after detention.

LETTERS FROM PRISONS REVELEAD

Students imprisoned after 19 March also reported systematic rights violations in prison through letters and their lawyers. A young person writing from Silivri Prison said he could not access medication required for his bipolar disorder diagnosis. In the same letter, he stated that basic needs were not met in the canteen.

A Boğaziçi University student held in Metris No.1 Prison wrote: “Despite repeatedly communicating our needs for the canteen, the prison director ignored us. I couldn’t even access basic necessities like clean underwear and a toothbrush.”

Another young inmate in Silivri, speaking via social media through his lawyer, said his letters were confiscated and not sent, attempting to keep the violence they suffered hidden behind closed walls.

At İstanbul’s Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison, it was reported that security cameras were to be installed to monitor toilet and shower entrances. All these testimonies raise serious questions about the treatment of detained students in prisons in terms of fundamental human rights and legal standards.

Eren Üner, a student from İstanbul University’s History Department, was detained for documenting police torture. He reported that he was subjected to physical and psychological torture for six hours at the Vatan Police Headquarters. Sharing his experience on social media, Üner said he was threatened with the words: “We’ll drag you in through the back door of the Riot Police bus, and your corpse will come out the front.”

REJECTION OF THE AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING BAN

CHP Aydın MP and CHP Spokesperson for the Parliamentary Justice Commission Süleyman Bülbül made a statement regarding the Council of State’s decision to once again annul the directive of the General Directorate of Security, which banned audio and video recording during police interventions at protests. Bülbül said, “This decision confirms the government’s unlawfulness.” He added, “The systematic attempts to obstruct this right, and the effort to cover up ill-treatment and torture through unlawful directives, are crimes.”

AS THE REGIME BECOMES MORE AUTHORITARIAN, VIOLATIONS INCREASE

Following Turkey’s transition in July 2018 to what is referred to as the “one-man regime,” there has been a notable rise in rights violation rulings. The number of Constitutional Court (AYM) rulings on violations of the "prohibition of ill-treatment," issued in response to individual applications, are as follows by year:

• 2018: 62

• 2019: 181

• 2020: 381

• 2021: 503

• 2022: 540

• 2023: 590

• 2024: 1103

Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled Bu ülkede sistematik şiddet var, published in BirGün newspaper on May 3, 2025.