Türkiye

The state of human rights in Türkiye continues to deteriorate, as the Turkish government continues to drift away from democracy and the rule of law. Academic freedom is being crushed under the increasingly authoritarian rule of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP), and a political regime organized around the personalized authority of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that centralizes and concentrates power in the executive branch. Since 2007, often treated as a turning point for the AKP’s drift towards authoritarianism, academic freedom protections in Türkiye have virtually collapsed. On the Academic Freedom Index (AFI), Türkiye’s score went from a historic high of 0.56 in 2007 to a historic low of 0.05 in 2017. Conditions have remained similar in the following years, with a current AFI score of 0.09.

In the decade since the failed military coup of July 15, 2016, which resulted in a two-year-long nationwide state of emergency rule, academic freedoms have been routinely violated, and university autonomy has been virtually eliminated. Following the arrest of hundreds of academics, who were signatories of the 2016 Academics for Peace statement condemning human rights violations by the Turkish state in the Kurdish provinces, on terrorism charges and the civil death of thousands of others who lost their jobs, passports, and livelihoods, the Turkish government has been restructuring higher education in a unilateral, anti-democratic manner through top-down appointments and presidential executive decrees. In the decade since, among the hundreds of academics who have lost their jobs, only four have been able to successfully sue for their reinstatement while many others’ cases have been rejected or are still waiting for a verdict.

In Türkiye, one of the biggest structural problems of academia is the lack of institutional autonomy stemming from the monopolization of all decision-making power on all issues related to higher education by the Office of the President, which exercises discretion over even the smallest detail. In recent years, one of the most contentious uses of presidential power over Turkish academia has been the presidential appointment of university rectors. The power to appoint university rectors was transferred to the President in 2018 via an emergency decree and by law in 2025 despite a 2024 verdict by the Constitutional Court that found the presidential appointment of rectors to be in violation of the principle of university autonomy enshrined in the Constitution. The pernicious effects of centralized presidential controls on higher education were demonstrated recently with the case of Bilgi University. On May 22, 2026, the educational license of the university was revoked overnight by presidential decree, meaning that the university would be forced to shut down immediately. The situation created immense uncertainty for the approximately 22,000 students and hundreds of faculty, who were preparing for final exams as the spring semester was still in session. Only two days later, following protests on campus as well as widespread backlash from civil society, another presidential decree annulled the prior decree that revoked Bilgi University’s license, allowing the university to continue operations. Despite the reversal of the decision, the Bilgi University incident exposed in clear terms the level of uncertainty that universities have to operate in Türkiye given the virtual absence of institutional autonomy.

The systematic violation of institutional autonomy for several years has caused protests by students and faculty at many institutions. Most famously, at Boğaziçi University in İstanbul, the appointment of a trustee rector from outside the university in January 2021 prompted weeks of protest on campus by faculty and students, eventually turning into an academic resistance that has lasted for more than 5 years by the time of writing this report. Many protesting academics have been fired or forced out via non-renewal of their contracts, and replaced by loyalists hired via personalized job listings.

In this period, Boğaziçi University has also become a locus of student activism, which is severely repressed by the AKP government. A recent major incident occurred on May 13, 2025, when 97 students protesting an event platforming an outspoken proponent of child marriage were detained by police on the university’s North Campus. 6 students were arrested on charges of preventing the fulfillment of official duty. During a February 2026 visit by President Erdoğan, a police blockade on campus intending to prevent any and all protest activity brought university life to a halt as students were forced to evacuate their student dorms, their rooms were subjected to searches, and campus access was restricted. Student activism and its repression can also be observed at other institutions. On March 19-20, 2025, at least 50 Middle East Technical University (METU) students were detained during protests in Ankara against the imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor and opposition figure Ekrem İmamoğlu. The students were also tear-gassed and beaten up by police. Universities are also not mere bystanders in this process and often participate in the repression of student activism. On August 6, 2026, the Ege University rectorate notified all university units that all protests, public statements, and marches on its campus are subject to prior approval by university administration, in violation of Article 34 of the Constitution of the Republic of Türkiye, which gives citizens the right to protest without seeking prior approval. According to the Association of University Professors in Türkiye, there have been at least 251 separate incidents of rights violation directed against students, faculty, and staff at universities.

Beyond activism and protest, faculty and student expression is also severely restricted under the authoritarian rule of the AKP, with mere expression regularly leading to detention and even imprisonment. Most frequently, academics are targeted for their views critical of the government. A history professor in February 2025 and an MA student in September 2025 were arrested on charges of “insulting the president” and “inciting the public to commit a crime,” respectively, for criticizing the government. In 2023, following a deadly earthquake that resulted in the death of more than 53,000 people, renowned geophysics professor Övgün Ahmet Ercan was detained by the police on charges of “inciting hatred” for having attributed the lack of adequate disaster response to the authoritarianism of the government. However, academics are also subjected to arrest based on the content of their research. In March 2025, sociologist Nükhet Sirman was detained and later released for having interviewed someone who was apparently under police surveillance.

Endangered Scholars Worldwide (ESW) remains concerned with the condition of academics and the future of higher education in Türkiye. The ongoing tensions in Türkiye have a profoundly unsettling effect on academic freedom and pose a grave threat to higher education on a national scale. We at ESW call for the full acquittal and reinstatement of those who were dismissed from their positions and/or imprisoned due to peaceful exercise of their freedom of expression and association, conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Türkiye is party. We invite the global community to join our call.

(Last updated August 26, 2026)

Please send appeals to the following:

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The Office of the President

Cumhurbaşkanlığı Blv., Cumhurbaşkanlığı Külliyesi

06560 Beştepe, Ankara

Türkiye

Fax: +90 312 525 58 31

Akın Gürlek

Minister of Justice

06659 Kızılay, Ankara

Türkiye