HRW: Corona pandemic enabled Erdogan to deepen his authoritarian rule

In its 2021 global report, the organization stated that the Corona virus pandemic "enabled Erdogan to deepen his authoritarian rule by issuing new restrictive laws in order to silence his opponents and critics."

The organization explained "the Turkish authorities, in 2020, used the epidemic as an excuse to prohibit and target opposition demonstrations."

Totalitarian rule

The 761-page report stated that the Turkish regime has deliberately excluded thousands of prisoners from a program for early release of inmates, due to the spread of the epidemic and overcrowding in prisons.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has become an excuse for Erdogan's government to strengthen authoritarian rule at the expense of unifying the country during a public health crisis," said Hugh Williamson, director of the organization's Europe and Central Asia division.

Restriction of freedoms

The report pointed out that the Turkish regime issued new laws that deepen control over communication platforms and limit the powers of lawyers.

At the end of 2020, the government passed a new law that permits arbitrary restrictions on civil society organizations and threatens the right to freedom of association.

Williamson stressed the importance of "not allowing the international focus on Turkey's foreign policy to overshadow the attack on democratic guarantees at home, which accelerated during the year 2020," according to the report.

Last year, the Erdogan government's main tensions with the European Union centered on immigration, gas reserves, and the disputed maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean, rather than Turkey's internal human rights record.

J.O