Ten years after the events of 15 July 2016, Türkiye presents one of the clearest contemporary examples of how the destruction of judicial independence can lead to the erosion of democratic governance, fundamental rights, and the rule of law. What occurred after 2016 was not a temporary state response to an exceptional security crisis. It became a systematic transformation of the judiciary and, ultimately, of the constitutional order itself. More than 4,500 judges and prosecutors were dismissed through collective measures lacking individualized evidence and effective judicial safeguards. Thousands were detained, prosecuted, or forced into exile. The purge of the judiciary was accompanied by a structural reconfiguration of judicial governance.
What is at stake is far more than the independence of a single institution. An independent judiciary is the mechanism through which democratic choices, constitutional guarantees, and fundamental rights are protected. Once courts cease to operate independently, elections alone cannot preserve democracy. Rights exist only on paper, constitutional limitations lose practical significance, and law becomes an instrument for exercising power rather than constraining it.
We therefore call for:
- the immediate and full implementation of all judgments of the European Court of Human Rights;
- effective remedies for dismissed judges and prosecutors, including reinstatement wherever possible;
- the release of individuals detained in violation of fundamental rights and binding judicial decisions;
- the restoration of an independent and politically impartial system of judicial governance;
- the re-establishment of merit-based judicial recruitment and promotion;
- concrete action by European institutions against persistent non-compliance with fundamental rule-of-law obligations.
