The undersigned international legal and human rights non-governmental organizations strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan, defence counsel to detained Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the intensifying reprisals against members of the legal profession in Türkiye. These measures, targeting lawyers for their professional activity and for exercising their right to freedom of expression, constitute a direct attack on human rights and the rule of law and they impede access to justice.
