From 2 to 4 November 2026, a delegation of rapporteurs from three European institutions of the Council of Europe and the European Union visited Türkiye. At the end of the visit, they made the following statement:

“We, Marc Cools (Belgium, ILDG) and Bryony Rudkin (United Kingdom, SOC/G/PD), co-rapporteurs on local democracy in Türkiye of the Congress of local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe, Jelena Drenjanin (Sweden, EPP) Chair of the EU Working Group on Türkiye of the European Committee of the Regions and Nacho Sánchez Amor (Spain, S&D), European Parliament’s Standing rapporteur on Türkiye, deeply regret that our joint delegation was denied access to local elected representatives held in prolonged pretrial detention, and that a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Interior could not take place. We greatly appreciated the opportunity to exchange views with Nuri Aslan, Acting Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul on strengthening local democracy and local self-government, while he ensures the continuity of local  services.

“Direct dialogue with democratically elected representatives, including those deprived of their liberty, is essential to the work of our European institutions and to an informed assessment of the situation of local democracy in Türkiye. It is crucial that we are able to maintain direct contacts with our colleagues who are currently detained in jail or under house arrest, in particular Tunç Soyer (former Vice-President of the Congress and former Mayor of Izmir), Hasan Akgün (member of the Congress and Mayor of Büyükçekmece), Sinem Dedetaş  (Vice-President of the Congress, and Mayor of Üsküdar) and Ekrem İmamoğlu (Mayor of Istanbul and President of the Union of the Municipalities of Türkiye). As Mayor İmamoğlu is not only a long-standing partner of our European institutions but also the recipient of the 2025 Mayor Paweł Adamowicz Award, we observed his hearing in person at the Court on Tuesday 3 November.

“We are also concerned about recent developments affecting the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons and welcomed the opportunity to exchange views with representatives of civil society organisations working to protect their fundamental rights and freedoms.  We recall that freedoms of expression, and of assembly and association are fundamental human rights protected under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and that those exercising their fundamental freedoms peacefully must not face intimidation, discrimination or criminalisation.

“As we highlighted in our open letter addressed on 27 April 2026 to the Minister of Interior of Türkiye, on the situation of local democracy in the country, we reiterate that as one of the oldest member States of the Council of Europe and a candidate country to the European Union, Türkiye is a key partner in achieving our common commitment to democracy, justice and human rights.

“We call for the early resumption of a constructive dialogue with Turkish national authorities to revisit the issue of the prolonged pretrial detention of local elected representatives and members of their administrations, and to discuss an end to the practice of appointing trustees where local elected representatives are prevented from exercising their mandate. We also expect these issues to be duly highlighted in the European Commission Enlargement Package being released today.

“We remain deeply concerned about the situation of local elected representatives who are prevented from exercising the mandate conferred on them by the Turkish people in democratic elections. We stand ready to jointly engage in dialogue with the Turkish national authorities, in a constructive and open spirit, guided by the principles of democratic governance, the rule of law and human rights.”