Turkey's human rights rollback

Turkey is undergoing a worrying rollback of human rights. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) under Tecep Tayyip Erdoǧan has shown increasing intolerance of political opposition, public protest, and critical media. Since the beginning of 2014, the government has sought to curb the independence of the judiciary and weaken the rule of law, in an effort to stifle corruption investigations that implicate government ministers and their families. The latest clampdown is part of a wider erosion of human rights including limitations on media freedom, clampdown on protest triggered by the 2013 Gezi demonstrations, and further loss of trust in Turkey's politicized criminal justice system. All of these developments have deepened political polarization in the country. A peace process with the Kurdish population at present offers the greatest possibility for improving Turkey's human rights record, but it may not be sustainable unless the government takes bold steps to address the major rollback on rights. Turkey's Human Rights Rollback identifies reforms needed to support the Kurdish peace process, strengthen the independence of the criminal justice system, combat violence against women and impunity for serious human rights abuses, and improve Turkey's record on free speech, media freedom, and the rights to assembly and association. -- back cover.