Turkey under the microscope of the US Congress: Severe criticism for authoritarianism, persecution and rights violations

The hearing, titled “Can Turkey Find Its Way Back to Freedom? The Consolidation of Authoritarianism vs. the Defense of Turkish Democracy,” highlighted how Turkey’s trajectory is viewed in Washington not only as a human rights issue, but also as a matter of judicial independence, free elections, regional stability and the credibility of a NATO ally.

Concerns over the Imamoglu case
In this context, a series of issues were examined, ranging from the deterioration of the rule of law and political persecution, such as the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, to censorship cases and systemic restrictions on religious minorities.

According to the Commission’s introductory material, Turkey has been classified by Freedom House as a “Not Free” country since 2018, and the situation is described as deteriorating. Particular reference is made to the arrest of Mr. Imamoglu in March 2025, shortly before his expected presidential candidacy, which has raised serious concerns about judicial independence and the integrity of future elections.

Henry Barkey, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argued that the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul and the indictment of hundreds of his associates in the municipality mark “the most aggressive use of prosecutorial power against electoral competition in the history of the Republic.”

Mr. Barkey described Turkey as a personal regime, arguing that after 2016 the country has transformed into an illiberal state. As he stated in his testimony, the institutions of the Turkish state, from the courts and prosecutors to the election commission and the central bank, have been reshaped to function as tools of President Erdogan’s political survival.

Particular reference was also made to the interventions in the Republican People’s Party. Mr. Barki argued that the annulment of the results of the 2023 party congress was aimed at causing an internal crisis in the opposition and distracting it from the electoral process.

Accusations of instrumentalization of Justice
The discussion also expanded to the instrumentalization of justice. Mr. Barki focused on Ankara's refusal to comply with decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, citing the cases of Osman Kavala and Can Atalay as typical examples. As he stated, at the end of 2025, Turkey was violating more than eighty unexecuted decisions of the ECHR, as well as a comparable number of decisions of its own Constitutional Court.

The issue of freedom of the press was also raised during the hearing. Mr. Barki said that Turkey ranks 159th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index, and argued that the disinformation law has become a tool to persecute journalists and limit public criticism.

The Committee also focused on political prisoners and the targeting of Kurdish politicians. According to the hearing materials, human rights defenders estimate that more than 15,000 political prisoners remain imprisoned in Turkey, including journalists, lawyers, elected officials, academics, civil society leaders and pro-democracy activists.

Mr. Barki’s testimony states that the Turkish state systematically accuses opposition leaders, especially those defending Kurdish rights, of undermining the unity of the state. In this context, reference was also made to the imprisoned former HDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş.

Rubin: Erdogan believes there will be no consequences
The sharpest political position was made by Michael Rubin, director of Policy Analysis at the Middle East Forum think tank and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Rubin argued that the human rights situation in Turkey has deteriorated in the last year and due to Washington’s stance. In his assessment, President Donald Trump and his close advisors have created the impression in Erdogan that he will not face consequences for human rights violations.

Mr. Rubin also criticized the US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, arguing that his public stance is being interpreted in Ankara as a sign of tolerance. At the same time, he linked the internal repression in Turkey to issues of historical revisionism, genocide denial and the protection of religious minorities.

The references to Greece, the Patriarchate and Halki
Showing particular interest in Greece, Mr. Rubin referred to the Armenian and Pontic Greek genocides, the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Hagia Sophia, and the Halki Theological School. He argued that if Turkey does not allow the Greek community to appoint its own clergy without interference or arbitrary restrictions on entry visas, the United States should respond with sanctions.

The human dimension was highlighted by Serkan Gölge, a former political prisoner in Turkey and a scientist who worked on NASA programs. Describing his arrest after the 2016 coup attempt, he said that his case began with an anonymous tip-off that presented him as being affiliated with a terrorist organization and implied that he was not actually working for NASA, but for the CIA.

“In my case, the accusation came first. The so-called evidence followed,” Mr. Golge said, presenting his case as an example of a system in which, he said, collective guilt replaced individual proof.

Serkan Golge also argued that his case was political in nature and was linked to diplomatic negotiations between Ankara and Washington. “I do not use the phrase hostage diplomacy lightly,” he said, adding that “a court case became a diplomatic dossier.”

The Commission’s introductory material also speaks of growing concerns about transnational repression against critics of the Turkish government living outside Turkey, as well as restrictions affecting the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Halki Theological Seminary.

The hearing was not limited to documenting the violations, but also raised the question of what policy options the US and Congress have in order to support democracy and human rights in Turkey. As you specifically point out, this is no longer an internal issue that concerns Turkey exclusively, but an issue related to the cohesion of the West, as it is an ally that is accused of steadily moving away from the democratic principles advocated by the NATO alliance.