2018 has been a year during which elections to build an authoritarian regime based on a single-man rule were held and the permanent state of emergency was established in Turkey.
The “Turkish-type Presidency” elections of 24 June 2018 was held and all the substantial amendments introduced into the Constitution, which was declared to be amended by the referendum of 16 April 2017, entered into force with the elections. Therefore, the year 2018 has been a year during which an authoritarian regime was constructed. This process has yet to be finalized.
The State of Emergency (SoE) regime started on 21 July 2016 and ended on 19 July 2018 but the SoE was virtually extended for another 3 years with Law No. 7145 that entered into force on 31 July 2018. Thus 2018 has also been a year during which the order of SoE was rendered permanent.
2018 has witnessed a process during which the Council of Europe re-initiated the political monitoring procedure against Turkey with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Resolution 2156 (2017) of 25 April 2017. The Council of Europe, however, has not been able to deliberate its monitoring report in 2018. The European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) attitude towards the substantiality of democracy and human rights problems in Turkey has also proven to be a noteworthy case in point. The fact that the ECtHR, which has been moving away from the principle of rule of law, has been constantly pointing to the Constitutional Court in order to avoid deliberating applications from Turkey has laid bare the corrosion in the protection of human rights values. It has been observed that the Constitutional Court, on the other hand, has been failing to hold rulings in favor of human rights and has been engaged in a negative attitude especially when “the national security policies of the state” were at stake. The court’s negative attitude, specifically towards the SoE decree laws and laws, has revealed the fact that it has not been an effective domestic remedy to protect human rights.
In spite of the problems brought about by democratic forces’ failure to consolidate against the emergence of an authoritarian rule in Turkey, the fact that the peoples of Turkey have gotten the democracy and peace message across especially at the polling stations has been significant and meaningful. İHD would like to underline the necessity that democratic forces perceive this message of the people in both 24 June 2018 and 31 March 2019 elections and form a democratic alliance.
İHD, hereby, presents its findings and assessments on violation allegations under separate headings.
Click to read the full report in English: 2018 IHD Violations Report
Click to read the 2018 summary table: 2018 SUMMARY TABLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TURKEY