Third-party groups flagrantly violate human rights often and regularly, limiting Türkiye’s score to 50. Türkiye has fully abolished the death penalty. Türkiye is in the midst of an active military campaign against the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). PKK insurgents regularly kill civilians with wanton disregard in their operations as well as partaking in deliberate killings and hostage-taking. The International Crisis Group estimated that 5539 civilians were killed in the fighting since 2015. The PKK have repeatedly planted bombs in or near civilian-populated areas and have repeatedly taken civilian hostages, often resulting in civilian casualties. The PKK also reportedly use child soldiers in their operations. The Turkish government reported 438 children fleeing the PKK since 2021. Kurdish communities have repeatedly accused the PKK of kidnapping their children to be used as child soldiers. Extrajudicial executions and torture of PKK POWs is tolerated by the government. Captured PKK terrorists are often executed en masse and dumped into mass graves. One such execution involved hours of torture before fighters were thrown out of a helicopter at high altitude. The government has been repeatedly accused of torturing captured PKK terrorists. Suspected PKK fighters were often disappeared. Turkish police generally had a very high impunity for brutality and investigations into police misconduct were rare and generally did not result in convictions. The Baran Tursun Foundation reported that 403 people were killed for disobeying stop orders since 2007. Detainees were often beaten during their detention. The government conducted a number of major purges after the 2016 coup d’etat attempt. Several prominent military and opposition leaders perceived as loyal to the coup were arrested or disappeared. The State of Emergency Powers imposed after the coup attempt resulted in civil servants terminated after the coup becoming completely unhireable. The State of Emergency Powers made it effectively illegal to hire civil servants dismissed during said powers, regardless of the reason. Several prisoners, especially suspected PKK fighters or political prisoners reported torture in custody. Torture was generally rare in Turkish custody but instances where it was used were covered up. Confessions obtained under duress were not thrown out of court. The government arbitrarily arrested and conducted sham trials for people arrested during the State of Emergency Powers. Those suspected of having ties with the Gulen movement were arrested without charge and were often held incommunicado for extended periods. Trials for those with suspected links to the Gulen movement were neither free nor fair and were not up to standards adhered to by other courts in the Turkish justice system. The trials of suspected terrorists were also neither free nor fair and were often run as kangaroo courts. Human rights groups accused the government of arresting political prisoners on terrorism charges or for alleged connections with the Gulen movement. Some 340,000 prisoners were arrested under the State of Emergency Powers or on charges of terrorism, potentially thousands of whom are political prisoners. The government pursued leaders of the Gulen movement living abroad. The government pressured the United States to arrest Fetullah Gulen, who currently resides in the United States. The government also placed pressure on foreign governments to extradite leaders of the Gulen movement to Türkiye without due process. Turkish intelligence agents operating abroad carried out operations to attempt to apprehend leaders of the Gulen movement, often without the permission of the countries they were operating in. The Turkish media environment is generally hostile and mainstream media in the country is closely controlled by the government. Independent media is under immense legal pressure and faces regular legal harassment. The government conducted major purges of universities after the 2016 coup attempt and most dissenting professors were arrested, terminated, or forced to flee the country. The government is accused of maintaining an extensive surveillance network and is known to closely monitor social media. Politically sensitive demonstrations are regularly denied permits. Religion is closely regulated in Türkiye. While Türkiye is officially a secular state, Sunni Islam plays an important role in Turkish society. Non-Sunni groups face difficulty operating and while Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Jews receive special status they still face difficulty operating. Trans Turks can obtain sex reassignment surgery but cannot change their legal gender. Constitutional discrimination protections have been drafted but were never implemented. Türkiye does not recognize same-sex relationships and any single person can adopt but Türkiye does not recognize same-sex joint adoption. Abortion is legal to twelve weeks.