Turkey: Police Operation Against Civil Society and Academics

On 17 November 2018, Yiğit Aksakoğlu, a human rights defender who serves as the Turkey Country Director for the Bernard van Leer Foundation, was arrested on the allegation of “attempting to overthrow the government or to avoid, partially or entirely, its performance”. In the early morning of 16 November 2018, police carried out simultaneous raids at various addresses in İstanbul, Adana, Antalya and Muğla. 13 human rights defenders, including academics and prominent civil society actors, were taken into custody while the arrest warrant was issued against 20 people. Following their questioning, on 16 and 17 November 2018, all human rights defenders, except for Yiğit Aksakoğlu, were released from police custody on judicial control. Read more here.

Source: Frontline Defenders