Introduction
In the contemporary world, human rights are the main focus in many countries and an indicator of their level of development. Such human rights are enshrined at the state level in the constitution, which prescribes how a person should behave and what obligations as a citizen are essential for people. In this study, the main problems of infraction matters are reviewed in the example of Turkey. Nowadays, freedom of speech and women’s liberties are currently most often violated as fundamental human rights there. These two issues, among other concerns, are discussed in detail in the research to clarify Turkey’s overall level of adherence to human rights. Cases of rights infringement are analyzed in work and provide the necessary argument for the following thesis: today, Turkey cannot be counted among the list of countries where human rights are respected sufficiently.
Country Profile
The Republic of Turkey is a transcontinental state, most of which is located in Asia. Almost the entire population is Muslim and faithful to their religion. In particular, the country has a secular constitution, which is the primary law in the nation. The government of Turkey is a republican parliamentary democracy (Baser et al., 2017). The population of Turkish women is almost equal: 50.2% are women, and 49.8% are men (Baser et al., 2017). Despite this, there are infringements of women’s rights in social and economic sectors.
Today, there is a reasonably significant conflict in Turkish society based precisely on human rights. A considerable part of the country’s society does not support the idea of people becoming victims of violent acts because of their certain political and religious beliefs (Aydin & Langley, 2021). In this context, the Kurdish–Turkish conflict is worth discussing, directly involving many human rights violations. Due to such disputes, violent groups often have methods of solving such conflicts (Aydin & Langley, 2021). Society has a considerable debate about settling these arguments without using offense and violating rights.
It is essential to understand that conflicts and group division do not allow Turkish society to qualitatively resolve such issues due to the government’s usual lack of control over this situation. The state mainly tries to solve the problems of different sides of the Kurdish-Turkish problem and other social formations through violence (Brysk, 2018). Moreover, many conflicts are centered around the right to life, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion of diverse people. In this regard, it is worth understanding that even the media will not be able to use their power effectively to influence the course of human rights infraction cases.
Specific Human Rights Issue
The main focus should be on Turkey’s growing problem of political imprisonment. One of the goals of this research is to examine how the dynamics regarding political prisoners are changing. Considering the events of mass journalists’ confinement in 2016, it is worth taking a closer look at individual cases (Brysk, 2018). In particular, to analyze the judicial system of that time and its specifics, draw a certain parallel with modern times, and understand how the situation has changed.
There is a question among many people about to what extent the country meets the transnational requirements of international law. It is crucial to understand that the Constitution in Turkey at the international level raises specific questions regarding these rights (Gkliati, 2017). Although freedom of speech has been allowed at the state level since 2011, much of it is not observed in real life (Gkliati, 2017). It is likewise worth noting that every year in Turkey, rights issues are reviewed, and corrections that should improve the situation of citizens are made.
In particular, it is of concern that despite such active reformation in the matter of law, it does not fully work with the people and for their benefit. In this context, it is worth remembering the coup of 2016, when many people were dismissed from government jobs and convicted (Aydin & Langley, 2021). At the same time, many human rights organizations were dissolved or persecuted.
2016 that mass persecution and imprisonment took place. This period can be considered the peak of violation of international law, as there were many murders, disappearances, torture, and much more (Aydin & Langley, 2021). Such gross violations of the law have been going on for a long time; then, the government decided to intervene and try to reorganize the system and sort things out.
Nevertheless, in this context, it is worth saying that there are open shortcomings in the observance of rights to this day. Institutions that should directly engage in research on rights are in crisis due to their lack of influence in society (Aydin & Langley, 2021). That should as well emphasize that despite the adoption of several important laws and the transformation of the issue of rights, such democratic institutions have no influence and effectiveness on the general state of affairs.
The main question that causes discussion is whether such a system has changed or whether political crimes, in general, have ceased to be commonplace. In addition, this study will consider additional issues, which mainly belong to women’s rights and their situation in a Muslim country (Aydin & Langley, 2021). An essential contribution to the research is the analysis of trends concerning human rights. In particular, a critical stage is understanding human rights violations and issues.
The Importance
The events of human rights violations in 2016 significantly impacted the country’s state of affairs. In particular, this research somewhat refutes the myths that have arisen in recent years. A separate important issue is women and the observance of their liberties. This work makes a significant contribution to revealing whether the attitude towards human rights has changed and whether the situation has changed during the last few years. It is likewise necessary to review the authorities’ ability to deal with the situation in the country.
Freedom of Speech
Despite all the government’s efforts to spread such an opinion about rights among society regarding freedom of speech, the situation in the country remains challenging. First, it is worth paying attention to the fact that most of the media in the country are close to the president. Such engagement should follow from the fact that the leading media rarely question the actions of President Erdogan and the government (Turkey in 2020, 2021). Most television and print publications are focused on saving the face of the country’s president. Moreover, there are about 100 cases in the country where journalists were detained for terrorist activities (Brysk, 2018). The authorities saw terrorism in the fact that journalists questioned the government and the correctness of state decisions.
It is likewise worth considering that a law somewhat prohibits the free expression of opinions in the media. Such regulations were passed by the current president and provided for strict verification and regulation of what enters public publications. The same situation occurred during the events of 2016 (Turkey in 2020, 2021). Journalists who tried to record all events in detail and real-time and cover critical topics were accused of terrorism. Still, many reporters have not been imprisoned but had vast professional problems (Turkey in 2020, 2021). At the same time, most editorial offices were closed by the government, or their leadership changed to loyal to the state authorities.
Continuing the question about 2016, a significant number of ordinary citizens received warnings and fines for posting information on their social networks at the time. Wikipedia as a resource was blocked in Turkey for a long time, and this ban was lifted only in 2017 (Del Real, 2017). However, in general, many sites and Internet pages continue to be blocked, and these blockings occur daily (Turkey in 2020, 2021). Thus, the problem in the country with freedom of speech is present and, accordingly, is problematic. Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that when there are protests regarding the violation of human rights, the government reacts extremely violently and tries by all means to stop such rallies.
The Issue of Women’s Rights
Unfortunately, a massive amount of human rights violation cases in Turkey happen to women. There existed separate cases when women were forbidden to protest for their rights: for example, such cases were observed during the Covid19 period when some local communities banned protests. In particular, such a ban affected exceptionally women and their desire to fight for their rights. In particular, it later turned out that the pandemic was just an excuse to make such adjustments.
To date, the Turkish government has created many organizations that should monitor the situation with violence and provide assistance to impacted women. Such organizations actively help women if they are in difficult situations. However, despite the government’s efforts to protect the female part of society, most women’s rights are still not respected (Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey, 2022). Women can be killed by their husbands, and this crime is Turkey’s most common form of violence (Panti, 2021). In particular, the problem arises because the courts forbid and announce that men do not have the opportunity even to approach women if they are not their wives. However, the court does not have the possibility to control this process (Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey, 2022). In particular, such a case occurred in 2021, when the husband shot his young wife after the quarrel, although she should have survived under police protection (Tailassane, 2019). After that, the sentence for the men who hurt or killed their own wives was raised.
Another significant problem for women in Turkey is the departure from the Istanbul Convention. In particular, the government argued that various organizations could provide and provide many opportunities for women, in particular, to provide high-quality protection services (Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey, 2022). It is worth saying that many of the courts were on the side of women and condemned the offenders. However, some men have understood their partial impunity due to the insignificant role of women in Muslimism (Vicini, 2018). That is why there are problems with the harassment of women and domestic violence (Tailassane, 2019). The country’s main problem is that the government cannot fully ensure the absence of domestic violence despite its promises and proposals to introduce an inclusive approach to the fight for women’s rights and protection.
Turkish Kurdistan, the country’s southeastern part, is the most problematic in observing women’s rights. This region has the highest number of murders and rapes of women, and women’s liberties are significantly worse than in other parts of Turkey (Combatting Domestic Violence in Turkey, 2022). Local legal communities do not have much influence in changing this situation. Additionally, women often experience significant discrimination when seeking employment and in society (Al‐Ali & Tas, 2018). Individual communities openly ignore the pressing need to address women’s safety and male violence.
Although the tough situation, numerous local authorities are trying to promote and solve such issues. Many non-governmental organizations create many initiatives which are primarily aimed at helping women when they are treated violently (Çetin, 2017). At the same time, multiple laws are being passed that should deal effectively with men and their violent actions against women. To date, the Turkish government has developed a plan until 2025, during which the critical goal is to reduce the frequency of problems arising from domestic violence (Kardam, 2017). In particular, this plan is not the first but society has adopted it as previous similar actions have yielded positive results.
Conclusion
Regardless of all the possible means of fighting the violation of human rights in Turkey, there are still substantial problems with it. Freedom of speech and political imprisonment remain the main issues, along with women’s rights lack. Suppose the first principle is directly dependent on the government and laws, which openly partially censor and filter what enters the society. In that case, it is difficult to fight for women’s and overall human rights in Turkey. Due to poor legislation, violent acts against people are prevalent in some parts of Turkish society, and some laws have a direct effect on preventing people from free speech. Based on all the information studied and provided, Turkey’s level of respect for human rights is still insufficient and in the process of development.
References
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