The IRF Community and Middle East Working Group circulated a letter addressing the case of fifteen young girls, aged 13 to 17, who are being coerced to testify against their families in a politically motivated trial at Istanbul’s 24th Criminal Court. Their families have been unjustly accused of terrorism due to their association with the Hizmet Movement; a peaceful social initiative focused on education and humanitarian work. Since the failed coup attempt in 2016, the Turkish government has systematically targeted Hizmet members, leading to widespread arrests, detentions, and severe human rights violations, including arbitrary imprisonment, forced interrogations, and the suppression of religious freedoms. The letter highlights the trauma these young girls are facing, the baseless accusations against their families, and the broader pattern of repression against Hizmet followers.

Informative Sources:

• Amnesty International, Turkey: Weaponizing Counterterrorism

• Human Rights Council, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Opinion No. 84/2020 concerning Osman Karaca (Cambodia and Turkey)

• Solidarity with Others, May 7 Operation: An Attack on the Future

• Solidarity with Others, Deadly Threat to Human Rights: Turkey’s Definition of ‘Terrorism’

• Stockholm Center for Freedom, New Low in Erdoğan’s Crackdown: Minors Prosecuted as Terrorists for Socializing With Peers