ECtHR adds 947 post-coup terrorism convictions in Turkey to human-rights violations list

On Tuesday the European Court of Human Rights issued three unanimous rulings that identified violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in 947 further terrorism convictions handed down in Turkey after the failed July 2016 coup. The judgments addressed 591 applicants in Ünal and Others v. Türkiye, 11 in Korkmaz and Others v. Türkiye and 345 in Parun and Others v. Türkiye, finding breaches of the right to a fair trial (Article 6) and, in Korkmaz, of the principle of no punishment without law (Article 7).

The court reiterated systemic problems highlighted in its 2023 Grand Chamber decision in Yüksel Yalçınkaya v. Türkiye, which condemned the categorical reliance on alleged use of the encrypted messaging app ByLock as evidence of Gülen-movement membership. Turkish courts have treated ByLock usage as sufficient to establish terrorist organization membership without proving individual intent, a practice the ECtHR says violates individual criminal responsibility.

Justice Minister Akın Gürlek reported that more than 720,000 people have been investigated and over 127,000 convicted in the post-coup purge, with ongoing operations in 2026. Final ECtHR judgments are binding and their implementation is overseen by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, while Turkey remains the court’s largest source of pending cases.