Council of Europe urges Turkey to free imprisoned Kurdish opposition leaders
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has demanded that Turkey immediately release Kurdish politicians Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu, citing binding European Court of Human Rights rulings.
At a Strasbourg human-rights session on September 15-16, the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers reiterated a demand that Turkey free Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ Şenoğlu, two former heads of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party. The committee urged Ankara to apply any available legal mechanisms, notably the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration passed in August, to secure their release.
Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ have been incarcerated since November 2016 and received sentences of 42 and 30 years respectively in May 2024 for protests during the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani’s siege. Their appeals before a regional appeals court and complaints to Turkey’s Constitutional Court are still unresolved. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that their detention lacks reasonable grounds and serves to suppress political pluralism, ordering Turkey to act promptly. The Committee will review Turkey’s compliance in December and assess broader measures in March 2027.
