(Istanbul, February 4, 2025) - The Turkish government deepened its assault on the main opposition party during 2025, while at the same time pursuing an end to the four-decade conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2026.
"The Erdoan government has spent the past year attempting to remove political opponents and rivals and pursuing a barrage of lawsuits against the main opposition party," said Benjamin Ward, acting Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This clear assault on democracy and political participation undermines the moves to end the conflict with the PKK."
In the 529-page World Report 2026, its 36th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Philippe Bolopion writes that breaking the authoritarian wave sweeping the world is the challenge of a generation. With the human rights system under unprecedented threat from the Trump administration and other global powers, Bolopion calls on rights-respecting democracies and civil society to build a strategic alliance to defend fundamental freedoms.
Source: Human Rights Watch
