On 14 March 2025, 45 individuals, including relatives of victims of enforced disappearances in Türkiye who had faced prosecution since 2021 under the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations (Law No. 2911), were acquitted of the charge of “attending illegal meetings and marches without weapons and not dispersing despite warnings.” The prosecution, widely regarded as baseless and unjust, targeted individuals detained in August 2018 while peacefully gathering in Galatasaray Square to mark the 700th week of their vigil. The court’s ruling follows two separate Constitutional Court decisions in 2022 and 2023, both of which found that the applicants’ rights to freedom of peaceful assembly had been violated. It is now time to fully reopen Galatasaray Square and allow the Saturday Mothers/People to resume their weekly peaceful vigils without unlawful interference.
Index Number: EUR 44/9418/2025