According to the ECHR 2023 report, Turkey leads in pending cases, with 23,400 applications out of a total of 68,450. This accounts for over a third of all applications to the court, highlighting a significant number of Turkish nationals seeking judgment from the continent’s highest court amidst repeated accusations of eroding the rule of law by Turkish authorities.
The report indicates that at least 72 out of 78 rulings regarding Turkey identified human rights violations. Only a third of the rulings found no violations committed by the state. Turkey was predominantly convicted for violations related to the “right to a fair trial” and “rights to security and freedom.”
Russia followed Turkey with 12,450 cases, while Ukraine came third with 8,750 cases. Romania had 4,150 cases, ranking fourth in the number of applications, with Italy following with 2,750 cases as the fifth country.
However, the authority of these rulings over Turkey remains unclear, as Turkish courts have previously ignored ECHR rulings, posing a challenge to the court’s authority without facing any reprimand.
The European Court of Human Rights, as the court of the Council of Europe, interprets the European Convention on Human Rights, a document signed by Turkey in 1950 aimed at establishing a baseline for basic human rights across Europe. Despite regular findings of Turkey being in violation of the convention and some violations being addressed, the highest-profile cases that have drawn the court’s ire remain unresolved, as indicated in the 2023 report.
Osman Kavala
Osman Kavala was arrested in late 2017 for his alleged involvement in 2013’s Gezi Park Protests, a major wave of demonstrations against then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly authoritarian rule. The investigation against Kavala, carried out in the aftermath of 2016’s failed coup d’etat attempt, charged the businessman and philanthropist with high treason and accused him of attempting to overthrow the Turkish government during the 2013 protests.
Kavala was then held for years in pre-trial detention, and his release was formally demanded by the European Court of Human Rights in 2020. In 2022, Kavala was sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment. His continued detention continues to be a major point of controversy between Turkey and its western allies. Despite the ruling by the ECHR, Kavala remains behind bars as the ruling was ignored by the lower court, constituting a clear violation of the hierarchy of the judiciary. The court’s demand even caused an international crisis in 2021 as President Erdoğan requested the expulsion of the ambassadors from 10 European countries over their demand for the release of Kavala.
Selahattin Demirtaş
Selahattin Demirtaş, a former political leader and Presidential candidate for the now defunct Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), has been prosecuted in multiple cases since his arrest in November 2016. Demirtaş, an ethnically Kurdish politician, was charged and convicted of leading a terrorist organization, promoting terrorism, and holding a prominent position within the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist organization that Turkey and several allied states designate as a terrorist organization. Despite being convicted on multiple occasions, two of Demirtaş’ verdicts have been overturned. However, the former candidate still faces a 142-year sentence. Despite the ECHR having identified Demirtaş as a political prisoner and ordering his release in 2022, much like Mr. Kavala, he remains behind bars as another example of the court’s ruling falling on deaf ears.
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