2016–present purges in Turkey

A jailed Kurdish leader said an attempt to ban his leftist party was part of Tayyip Erdogan's plans to foment "chaos" in Turkey's opposition ahead of elections this year, but said it would not save the president from defeat after two decades in power.

Turkish police detained three top district officials of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) among 35 people in an operation, state media said on March 19, after a court case was opened to close down the HDP.

Turkish prosecutors on Dec. 30 prepared an indictment against 108 suspects including former co-chairs of the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) as part of a probe into deadly terror attacks in 2014.

Turkish prosecutors have prepared an indictment against 108 people, including former Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş, in connection with the 2014 incidents.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Dec. 22 ruled that the arrest of Turkey's opposition politician Selahattin Demirtaş in 2017 for terror charges violated his freedom of expression and right to participate in elections.

The Peoples' Democratic Party's (HDP) co-leader was being deprived of the rights to liberty, security, and freedom of choice, the ruling said.

Arrested soldiers who participated in the 2016 attempted coup d'etat in Turkey, are accompany by Turkish soldiers as they arrive at the court inside of the Sincan Prison before trial in Ankara, Turkey, 01 August 2017. Photo: EPA/TUMAY BERKIN

Eight mayors from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in southeastern Turkey have been dismissed over alleged terror links, the Interior Ministry said on March 23.

A human rights report prepared by the U.S. Department of State includes "baseless accusations" about the state of human rights in Turkey, said the Foreign Ministry on March 13.

The part regarding Turkey's Human Rights Report "appears that it is far from objectivity and prepared with political motives," said the ministry in a written statement.

The agency in charge of the state advertising budget in Turkey has imposed a ban on two of the country's remaining independent media outlets, extending a crackdown on dissent that has seen dozens of newspapers and broadcasters shut down since a failed 2016 coup.

More than 120 journalists have been held in Turkish prisons, a world record, and the media situation in the country has not improved since last year, when the state of emergency was lifted. This was reported by the International Press Institute, quoted by British media.