In reaction to the Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu’s claims that Amnesty International has not been publishing any reports regarding torture in Turkey in recent years, Amnesty International denied Soylu’s claims by publishing reports of torture in its social media account.
“You can find our urgent actions, reports, and calls against allegations of torture and ill-treatment in this chain” was written in Amnesty’s Twitter account as it shared the latest reports regarding torture, mistreatment, and human rights violations during Soylu’s ruling.
Amnesty International also brought the case of the Kurdish villagers who were thrown from a helicopter by soldiers last September.
“We sent a letter to the Turkish authorities regarding credible allegations that Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment after they were detained by the gendarmerie forces in the Çatak district of Van on September 11, 2020.” said Amnesty
Amnesty also recalled the Bogazici University protests.
“At least 30 people were detained in house raids on the grounds that they participated in the protests at Boğaziçi University. There are allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of some students in detention.”
The claims of torture in Diyarbakir Prison were also noted in Amnesty’s messages.
Mehmet Sıddık Meşe was allegedly subjected to severe physical violence in Diyarbakır Prison on 1 December.
Amnesty also wrote about the forced kidnappings that took place in recent years.
Since February 2019, there is the case of Gökhan Türkmen and Mustafa Yılmaz, who have not been heard from and allegedly were abducted by men with guns.
After Soylu stated that no torture or mistreatment took place during his period, civilians also shared their messages and experiences of mistreatment and torture denying Soylu’s claims.
According to the Turkish Human Rights Associations (IHD) data, at least 35 people with different political views were abducted between 2017 and 2018. Those who were abducted were either tortured, threatened or forced to be informants for the state.
