CYIL vol. 14 (2023)

CYIL 14 (2023) EARTHQUAKES IN TÜRKIYE AS A VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS… justice. In 2022, Türkiye was ranked 116th among 140 countries in the rule of law index published by the WJP, 51 with the rank on human rights at 32 out of 100 according to Freedom House. 52 Similarly, with a low human rights and rule of law index of value, using data from 2007 to 2022, Fund for Peace in 2022 placed Türkiye at the rank of 8.1 (low), whereas the world average in the same year was 5.37. 53 The constant human rights violations in Türkiye are reported by UN agencies and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, 54 Human Rights Watch, 55 and Freedom House. 56 In addition to state violations of human rights such as restrictions of freedom of expression, association, and assembly, the organizations report the discrimination and unlawful detainment of particular minority communities; gender based violence connected with the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention; prosecutions and convictions of human rights defenders, journalists, 57 lawyers, and opposing politicians; discriminatory rhetoric and consequent violations of rights of refugees and migrants; torture and ill treatment in custody; and even enforced disappearances. Besides the aforementioned, there are several reports from international organizations stating that the European Court’s decisions and rulings were ignored by Turkish authorities. That includes cases on the most sensitive parts of Turkish politics, such as violations on the territory of Northern Cyprus (“ Cyprus Cases ”), 58 in which the ECtHR took quite controversial decisions regarding the role of Türkiye, as well as violations regarding religious and national 51 WJP rule of law index. World Justice Project | Advancing the rule of law worldwide. 2022. https:// worldjusticeproject.org/rule-of-law-index/global/2022/Turkey/Open%20Government/. 52 Turkey: Freedom in the world 2022 country report. Freedom House. 2022. https://freedomhouse.org/country/ turkey/freedom-world/2022. 53 Countries and territories. Freedom House. 2019. https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores 54 Turkey archives. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/europe-and-central-asia/turkey/ report-turkey/. 55 World report 2022: Rights trends in Turkey. Human Rights Watch. 2022. https://www.hrw.org/world report/2022/country-chapters/turkey. 56 Turkey: Country profile. Freedom House. 2019. https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey ; Turkey: Freedom in the world 2022 country report. Freedom House. 2022. https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey/freedom world/2022. 57 Turkey: Reporters without borders. https://rsf.org/en/turkey. 58 See more on “Cyprus cases”: Grand Chamber of ECtHR judgments on Cyprus v. Turkey , 2001 – on merits, 2014 – on satisfaction, Application No. 25781/94, also related Loizidou v Turkey , 1996, Application No. 15318/89, or Xenides-Arestis v. Turkey , 2005, Application No. 46347/99. See on execution of the judgments: Turkey. Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights . CoE. https://www.coe.int/ en/web/execution/turkey; See also: Turkey to ignore court order to pay compensation to Cyprus , Reuters. 2014. www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/13/us-turkey-cyprus-davutoglu-idUSBREA4C0AX20140513?irpc=932; HOFFMEISTER, F. Cyprus v. Turkey. App. No. 25781/94. The American Journal of International Law , 2002, 96(2), 445–452. https://doi.org/10.2307/2693939; AKBULUT, O. Turkey’s Reaction to the Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Thought , 2015, 05(02) pp. 75–86, ISSN: 2156-6992; Cyprus / Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Foreign Affairs. https://www.mfa.gov.tr/the-cyprus-issue-overview.en.mfa.

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