Thousands to rally in Strasbourg to demand action over Turkey’s failure to enforce ECtHR rulings
Strasbourg Justice Gathering: Time for Action
Thousands of people from across Europe will gather in Strasbourg on June 24 to demand action over Turkey’s failure to enforce ECtHR judgments.
STRASBOURG, FRANCE, June 22, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Human rights groups say thousands of people from across Europe will gather in Strasbourg on June 24 to demand action over Turkey’s failure to enforce European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments.
The Peaceful Actions Platform will organize the fifth Justice Gathering outside the Council of Europe headquarters with support from 17 civil society groups operating across Europe.
The organizers will call on Turkey to enforce binding court judgments and on the Council of Europe to use its powers to secure compliance.
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers supervises how member states enforce final ECtHR judgments. The Peaceful Actions Platform said millions of people in Turkey have suffered from injustice for years while authorities have ignored ECtHR rulings.
“Our demand this year is simple: justice for everyone,” the platform said.
The organizers cited Turkey’s failure to enforce judgments involving jailed civil society leader Osman Kavala, imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş and former teacher Yüksel Yalçınkaya.
The ECtHR found that Kavala was detained without reasonable evidence and that Demirtaş was imprisoned to restrict political debate. Turkey has not released either man despite binding judgments.
The organizers will also highlight the Yalçınkaya judgment, which concerns Turkey’s mass prosecution of people accused of links to the Gülen movement. Following the failed coup attempt of July 2016, Turkish authorities prosecuted hundreds of thousands of people over alleged links to the movement. Prosecutors have used legal activities such as working at movement-affiliated schools, depositing money at the now-closed Bank Asya, joining legal associations and allegedly using the ByLock messaging application as evidence of terrorism.
In September 2023, the ECtHR Grand Chamber ruled that Turkey violated Yalçınkaya’s rights by convicting him without establishing individual criminal conduct. The court found a systemic problem affecting thousands of similar cases and required broader corrective measures.
The platform said Turkey has not enforced the judgment and continues to prosecute people on the basis of activities that were legal when they took place.
The organizers will also cite the Grand Chamber’s May 2026 judgment in the case of Şaban Yasak. The court reaffirmed that authorities cannot treat conduct that was not itself a crime as proof of membership in a terrorist organization.
According to the platform, the Yalçınkaya and Yasak judgments show that Turkey cannot retroactively turn ordinary and legal activities into terrorism evidence. Despite those rulings, detentions and prosecutions continue.
The organizers said the prosecutions push families into poverty, force children to grow up under social stigma and leave many prisoners facing inadequate medical care and prolonged isolation.
“This is not justice,” the platform said. “This is the normalization of injustice, and it must end.”
The Strasbourg gathering will also demand a functioning democracy in Turkey. The organizers said judicial independence has been weakened and meaningful checks between the executive, legislative and judicial branches have eroded.
The platform said opposition-run municipalities face dismissals, administrative intervention and criminal investigations. Organizers argue that elected officials and political activists are increasingly treated as security threats rather than participants in democratic life.
İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main political rival, is being held pending trial in a case that he and his party describe as politically motivated. The government denies interfering in judicial matters.
The organizers will also demand an end to the prosecution of journalists for their reporting and public comments. Reporters Without Borders ranked Turkey 163rd among 180 countries in its 2026 World Press Freedom Index.
The platform said Turkish prosecutors routinely use provisions of the Penal Code against journalists, political opponents and social media users. “Without freedom of expression, an informed society and democratic accountability are not possible,” the platform said.
The organizers said Turkey’s rule of law crisis affects civil society leaders, Kurdish politicians, opposition mayors, journalists, students, teachers, Gülen movement followers and many others subjected to arbitrary state action.
The platform called on the Council of Europe to defend the authority of the ECtHR and ensure Turkey fully implements binding judgments without delay.
“Turkey is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights,” the platform said. “Binding judgments must be implemented.”
The event is supported by 17 human rights and civil society organizations from across Europe.
Mustafa Medya
Itep Pictures GmbH
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Turkey's Rule of Law Crisis: The June 24 Justice Gathering in Strasbourg
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