PACE monitors express serious concern about ‘the future of democracy in Türkiye’

PACE’s co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Türkiye, Lord David Blencathra (United Kingdom, ECPA) and Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), have made the following statement:

“We are deeply concerned about the recent events and ongoing backsliding of democracy in Türkiye. In particular, we are alarmed by the increasing political pressure, judicial harassment and intimidation being directed at the main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), and its members.

In recent months, many CHP representatives and local officials have been subjected to criminal investigations and arrests, and other judicial harassment to obstruct their elected mandates. Since March 2025, the CHP leader and mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is a potential presidential candidate, continues to be detained on remand on the basis of spurious corruption charges, despite calls from the Assembly for his immediate release (see Resolution 2597 (2025)). He was recently sentenced to prison for insulting election officials in 2022 and banned from political activities. His lawyer, Mehmet Pehlivan, was also placed in detention on remand.

Since March, hundreds of CHP mayors, party administrators and municipal officials have been arrested on terrorism and corruption charges. At least 15 mayors from CHP-led city and district municipalities — including Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Adana - have been suspended from office and placed in pre-trial detention.

We are also alarmed by the recent attacks on the CHP party itself. On 2 September, an Istanbul court annulled the legality of the party’s Istanbul provincial congress held in October 2023, removed the elected Istanbul leadership and appointed a new interim administration from the faction that lost the internal election. The future of the CHP and the fate of its current leadership are also under threat pending the outcome of legal proceedings concerning alleged irregularities in the election of delegates at the CHP's general congress in October 2023.

All of these developments appear to be an attempt to weaken the main opposition party in Türkiye. They undermine the principle of political pluralism, the will of voters, and trust in democratic governance. This is all the more disappointing given that the beginning of the 'terror-free Turkey' process had given rise to hopes of ensuring sustainable peace and political stability in the country.

These developments are even more worrying when considered alongside other practices that have previously been condemned by the Assembly and other Council of Europe bodies, such as the continued repression of opposition politicians, civil society activists, journalists and government critics; the abuse of pre-trial detention; the politicisation of the judiciary; and violations of the freedoms of assembly and expression. We are seriously concerned not only about abuses of human rights and the rule of law, but also about the future of democracy in Türkiye. As safeguarding the rights of the CHP is essential to protecting the country’s democratic future, we call on the authorities to immediately halt all judicial harassment and politically motivated investigations targeting CHP representatives.

We once again urge the Turkish authorities to uphold democratic values, the rule of law and human rights in line with their obligations as a member of the Council of Europe.”