SENATE RESOLUTION 418--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY'S CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT RELATED TO ITS INCURSION INTO NORTHEAST SYRIA, AND BROADER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

<!-- -->

SENATE RESOLUTION 418--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE

GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY'S CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT RELATED TO ITS INCURSION

INTO NORTHEAST SYRIA, AND BROADER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Kaine,

Mr. Wyden, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. Markey, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Blumenthal)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Relations:

\[S. Res. 418\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/418)

Whereas Turkey is a constitutional, secular state with an

ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse population;

Whereas Turkey has been a modern democracy and a major

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally to the United

States;

Whereas Turkey is a signatory to the International Covenant

on Civil and Political Rights and is therefore obligated to

uphold the freedom of its people to peacefully express

criticism of their government;

Whereas, immediately following the incursion by the Turkish

Armed Forces into northeast Syria on October 9, 2019, the

Government of Turkey began a coordinated crackdown on online

dissent;

Whereas, on October 9, 2019, Turkey's National Security

Directorate made a statement that criminal investigations had

been initiated against 78 people for \\\`\\\`inciting enmity and

hatred through black propaganda \\\[smear campaign\\\] against

\\\[Turkey\\\] over Operation Peace Spring; sharing unsourced and

false social media postings intended to destroy the

reputation of \\\[Turkey's\\\] security forces and making

propaganda for a terrorist organization'';

Whereas expression of opposition views through social media

posts, social media reposts, and shared online articles has

led to the investigation and detention of individuals in the

region;

Whereas the shared content targeted by Turkish authorities

was largely authored by Western and United States sources and

outlets;

Whereas Turkey has over 120 journalists and media workers

in jail, more than in any other country, with most of them

detained under propaganda charges;

Whereas, on October 10, 2019, the digital services manager

of the Birgun daily newspaper was detained in his home in

Istanbul and questioned in relation to a news article and a

tweet said to have incited enmity or hatred under the Article

216/1 of Turkish Penal Code;

Whereas, on October 11, 2019, Minister of the Interior

Suleyman Soylu stated during a speech that 121 people had

been detained for their social media posts \\\`\\\`insulting

\\\`Operation Peace Spring', describing \\\[our\\\] country as an

invader and insulating the unity of our nation'';

Whereas, on October 14, 2019, military police carried out a

countrywide operation with the aim of \\\`\\\`preventing and

deterring sympathizers of the terrorist organization from

\\\[engaging in provocations related to\\\] Operation Peace

Spring'' in which over 500,000 people were interrogated and

152 people were detained, according to Amnesty International;

Whereas, as of October 16, 2019, authorities have

identified 839 social media accounts under investigation, and

186 individuals taken into police custody since October 9,

2019, related to \\\`\\\`shared criminal content'';

Whereas, on October 19, 2019, police raided several homes

of human rights defenders and journalists on counts of

\\\`\\\`inciting enmity or hatred'' through social media posts;

Whereas, on October 25, 2019, criminal complaints were made

against the French weekly journal Le Point for its coverage

of the military offensive;

Whereas the style and scale of the social media crackdown

specific to Turkish operations in Syria has recent precedent

in the aftermath of the Turkish Armed Forces' Operation Olive

Branch in Afrin, in which--

(1) 1,719 social media accounts were investigated;

(2) 845 people were detained for social media posts; and

(3) 643 people were subject to judicial proceedings;

including 11 physician members of the Turkish Medical

Association's Central Council, who were sentenced to terms up

to 3 years and three months for calling to an end to the

Afrin military operation;

Whereas Turkish authorities have targeted more than a

thousand criminal defense lawyers as part of the ongoing

crackdown on dissent;

Whereas more than 265 academics have been prosecuted in

Turkey for signing an appeal for peace between the Government

of Turkey and Kurdish insurgents;

Whereas human rights violations have been a defining aspect

of President Erdogan's authoritarian rule, including--

(1) the removal of at least 88 of the pro-Kurdish Peoples'

Democratic Party (HDP) mayors from office in the last three

years and their replacement with state-appointed trustees;

(2) the detention of HDP members of parliament; and

(3) the detention of Turkish employees of United States

diplomatic facilities in Turkey;

Whereas blanket bans on peaceful protests of any form have

been implemented by local governors across Turkey; and

Whereas these bans have resulted in the arrest and

detention of many people and represent clear violations to

the right to peaceful assembly as protected by international

human rights conventions to which Turkey is a party and by

the Constitution of Turkey: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate--

(1) reaffirms the position of the United States that

peaceful dissent should be protected under the right of

freedom of expression in Turkey;

(2) condemns policies and efforts by the Government of

Turkey to suppress peaceful protesters, including those

expressing dissent against military operations by the Turkish

Armed Forces or policies instituted by the Government of

Turkey;

(3) stands with the defenders of free speech and human

rights in Turkey;

(4) encourages senior United States administration

officials to raise the issue of suppression of free speech

and media in Turkey at the highest levels, both bilaterally

and multilaterally;

(5) encourages United States embassy and consular staff to

attend politically motivated trials; and

(6) calls on the Government of Turkey to--

(A) immediately lift restrictions on freedom of expression,

including expression online or in social media;

(B) ensure that criticism of the Turkish Armed Forces'

military operations or calling for peace--through media,

social media, peaceful assembly, or other peaceful means--is

not criminalized;

(C) drop all charges and end prosecution of individuals or

groups for peaceful expression of their opposition to

Turkey's military operations in Syria;

(D) ensure that people can gather and protest peacefully,

including by lifting blanket protest bans across the country;

(E) release all political prisoners, including journalists

and Turkish employees of United States diplomatic missions;

and

(F) respect the rights of Turkish citizens to elect their

leaders through a democratic process.

&nbsp;