Turkey Arrests Youth Activist After Council of Europe Speech

Turkish authorities arrested Enes Hocaogullari, a 23-year-old LGBTQ+ youth activist and Turkey’s youth delegate to the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, after he criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government for democratic backsliding and police violence during a speech in Strasbourg. He faces charges of publicly disseminating misleading information and inciting hatred, related to his remarks condemning police brutality and the imprisonment of opposition mayors, notably Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a leading Erdogan rival. Hocaogullari was detained upon arriving at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport and is currently held in Sincan prison, with his lawyer describing the arrest as politically motivated. The Council of Europe condemned the arrest as a violation of free expression and called for his immediate release, highlighting concerns about Turkey’s declining democratic standards and ongoing crackdown on opposition voices. Over 500 opposition members have been detained in the past nine months amid widespread protests following the imprisonment of opposition figures, which critics say are politically motivated, though the Turkish government cites anti-corruption efforts. Turkey has not officially commented on the arrest but often rejects Western criticism, accusing European bodies of bias and interference.