HouseH.R. 10008119th Congress
Turkey Human Rights Promotion Act of 2026
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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10008 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10008
To promote democracy, defend human rights, and impose accountability on
the Government of Turkey for systemic political repression, censorship,
transnational repression, and violations of international law.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 30, 2026
Ms. Titus introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on
Financial Services, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To promote democracy, defend human rights, and impose accountability on
the Government of Turkey for systemic political repression, censorship,
transnational repression, and violations of international law.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Turkey Human
Rights Promotion Act of 2026''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Statement of policy.
Sec. 5. Sense of Congress on press freedom.
Sec. 6. Sense of Congress on internet freedom.
Sec. 7. Sense of Congress on protecting lawyers and promoting fair
trials.
Sec. 8. Sense of Congress on accountability for human rights
violations.
Sec. 9. Limitations on certain security assistance.
Sec. 10. Political prisoners assistance.
Sec. 11. Annual report.
Sec. 12. Support for civil society and independent media.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The United States values its longstanding alliance with
the Republic of Turkey, its friendship with the Turkish people,
and remains committed to supporting a healthy Turkish
democracy.
(2) Articles I and II of the North Atlantic Treaty require
Member States of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
to conduct themselves in a manner that promotes peace abroad
and strengthens democratic institutions at home, affirming that
the NATO alliance is founded on shared democratic principles.
(3) The Republic of Turkey joined NATO in 1952, the first
nation--along with Greece--to join the alliance after its
founding.
(4) Since the attempted coup of July 2016, the Government
of Turkey has intensified its crackdown on freedoms of
expression, peaceful assembly, and association. In its World
2026 assessment, Freedom House rated Turkey to be ``Not Free''.
(5) In the years following the coup attempt, the Government
of Turkey has pursued a sweeping and systematic campaign of
domestic and transnational repression targeting journalists,
academics, students, lawyers, opposition politicians, Kurds,
Alevis, and individuals associated with the Hizmet (Gulen)
Movement.
(6) Since 2016, Turkish authorities have used vague and
overly broad anti-terrorism laws to investigate over 3,000,000
individuals for alleged terrorism-related offenses and to
detain or arrest large numbers of people for peaceful civic or
religious activities, according to the Stockholm Center for
Freedom.
(7) The Government of Turkey has used the failed 2016 coup
as justification for a sweeping crackdown. In the immediate
aftermath, authorities detained tens of thousands of people
accused of aiding the coup or supporting terrorism and
dismissed thousands of public employees. At least 4,156 judges
and prosecutors and more than 5,800 academics were dismissed on
terrorism-related grounds.
(8) The April 2017 constitutional referendum, advanced by
the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and held under a
state of emergency, shifted Turkey from a parliamentary to a
presidential system, concentrating sweeping powers in the
presidency. The Venice Commission warned that the amendments
``represent a dangerous step backwards'' and risk the country's
degeneration into an authoritarian presidential system.
Although the state of emergency formally ended in 2018, many
emergency-era measures remain in force, and restrictions on
fundamental freedoms persist.
(9) According to the United States Department of State's
2022 Human Rights Report, President Erdogan's 2018 anti-terror
legislation continues to restrict basic freedoms and undermine
judicial independence. Since 2016, Turkish authorities have
dismissed or suspended more than 60,000 police and military
personnel, removed roughly 125,000 civil servants, purged
approximately one-third of the judiciary, arrested or
imprisoned more than 95,000 people, and closed over 1,500
nongovernmental organizations on terrorism-related grounds.
(10) A 2020 Human Rights Watch report found that the
Government of Turkey continues to arbitrarily detain and
prosecute lawyers, in violation of its obligations under the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the
European Convention on Human Rights. According to the
International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute and the
Arrested Lawyers Initiative, more than 1,700 lawyers have been
prosecuted, over 700 placed in pretrial detention, and at least
553 collectively sentenced to more than 3,380 years in prison.
(11) Turkey ranks 163 out of 180 countries in the 2026
World Press Freedom Index. The European Court of Human Rights
has repeatedly found that Turkey unlawfully detains and
prosecutes journalists. At least 314 journalists were tried
between 2022 and 2023, and several, including Hatice Duman,
Mustafa Gok, and Erdal Susem, remain imprisoned for life. In
the second quarter of 2025 alone, authorities arrested 10
journalists and tried 103 journalists in 73 cases, resulting in
10 convictions.
(12) An estimated 43,000 political prisoners remain
incarcerated in Turkey, according to Prison Insider.
(13) Arbitrary arrests and unfair trials persist as
Turkey's judiciary remains vulnerable to executive
interference, with inconsistent and contradictory rulings from
high courts. The case of civil society leader Osman Kavala,
arrested in 2017 on unfounded charges, exemplifies this
deterioration. Despite a 2019 binding ruling by the European
Court of Human Rights ordering his release, Turkish courts have
refused to comply. After briefly being acquitted, Kavala was
rearrested on espionage charges and, in April 2022, sentenced
to life imprisonment without parole, prompting Council of
Europe infringement proceedings.
(14) The Government of Turkey continues to detain
Selahattin Demirtas, a leading Kurdish politician arrested in
2016. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly ruled
that his detention is unlawful and ordered his immediate
release, yet domestic courts have failed to enforce these
judgments. In May 2024, Demirtas was sentenced to 42 years in
prison on politically motivated charges related to the 2014
Kobani protests.
(15) The Government of Turkey continues to detain political
opposition leaders like Ekrem Imamoglu, the Mayor of Istanbul
and President Erdogan's primary political opponent, on bogus
corruption, bribery, and money laundering charges. Since March
2025, President Erdogan's administration has escalated a
crackdown on political opposition, resulting in the arrest of
over 500 people.
(16) The Government of Turkey continues to censor online
expression, prosecuting thousands for social media activity,
including for liking or sharing posts. Authorities routinely
block online content and have restricted access to major
platforms during periods of political unrest. In 2024 alone,
Turkey blocked more than 311,000 web addresses, contributing to
a total of over 1,264,000 websites and domains blocked since
2007.
(17) President Erdogan's 2023 reelection extended more than
two decades of AKP dominance characterized by restrictions on
assembly, association, expression, and electoral interference,
as documented by the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe. Between 2021 and 2023, the Constitutional Court
considered a case seeking to ban a major pro-Kurdish party,
sharply limiting its ability to campaign. Authorities continue
to use disinformation and anti-terrorism laws to target
political opponents, and ahead of the 2023 elections, courts
compelled X (formerly Twitter) to remove numerous accounts and
hundreds of posts.
(18) In October 2022, the Government of Turkey amended its
internet, press, and penal code laws to create a vague new
offense, ``public dissemination of misleading information'',
and expanded state authority over online speech. Social media
companies that do not comply with government demands face
severe fines and bandwidth throttling. These amendments enable
prison sentences of up to three years and have resulted in
arrests, including the detention of 78 individuals in February
2023, for criticizing the government's earthquake response.
(19) Following the February 2023 earthquake, authorities
restricted access to X and other major platforms for as many as
12 hours, hindering rescue coordination and humanitarian
response. Similar restrictions followed the 2022 Istanbul
bombing, demonstrating the Government's readiness to impose
information controls during crises.
(20) The Radio and Television Supreme Council continues to
impose arbitrary fines and broadcast suspensions on critical
media outlets. Foreign outlets, including Deutsche Welle and
Voice of America, had their Turkish-language websites blocked
after refusing to comply with restrictive licensing and
censorship requirements.
(21) The October 2022 amendments also threaten the security
of private messaging services. Regulations issued by the
Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK)
require providers to allow government access to user
communications, undermining cybersecurity safeguards and
expanding surveillance authorities.
(22) The Government of Turkey continues to target LGBTQIA+
people and restrict peaceful demonstrations. According to
ILGA--Europe's 2026 Rainbow Map, Turkey ranks 47 out of 50,
among the worst in Europe for LGBTQIA+ equality. Turkey also
has the highest recorded number of murdered transgender people
in Europe. Authorities enforce nationwide bans on pride events
and have used violent tactics and mass detentions to suppress
them. A draft bill introduced in October 2025 would criminalize
``behavior contrary to biological sex,'' raise the age for
gender-affirming surgery, and impose prison terms of up to four
years for same-sex marriage or civil-union ceremonies.
(23) In March 2021, Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul
Convention, a landmark treaty on preventing violence against
women. Legal experts state that the withdrawal violates both
domestic and international law and reflects broader efforts to
roll back protections for women, LGBTQIA+ people, and
fundamental freedoms.
(24) Since 2014, the Government of Turkey has increasingly
targeted critics beyond its borders, including in the United
States. Freedom House reports that Turkish authorities have
pursued opponents in more than 31 countries and secured the
rendition of at least 58 individuals without due process.
(25) Following the 2016 coup attempt, the Government of
Turkey escalated its campaign of transnational repression,
forcibly returning or abducting more than 100 individuals,
primarily educators linked to Hizmet-affiliated schools.
Turkish authorities have pressured foreign governments to
transfer or close these schools and have repeatedly abused
INTERPOL Red Notices and diffusions to pursue dissidents
abroad.
(26) Turkish-Americans and lawful permanent residents in
the United States have reported threats, intimidation, and
harassment linked to politicized Turkish government blacklists.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the
Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the
Committee on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives.
(2) Political prisoner.--The term ``political prisoner''
means a person who has been deprived of his or her personal
liberty if--
(A) the detention has been imposed in violation of
one of the fundamental guarantees set out in the
European Convention on Human Rights, particularly--
(i) freedom of thought, conscience, and
religion;
(ii) freedom of expression and information;
and
(iii) freedom of assembly and association;
(B) the detention has been imposed for purely
political reasons without connection to any offense;
(C) for political motives, the length of the
detention or its conditions are clearly out of
proportion to the offense of which the person has been
found guilty or is suspected;
(D) for political motives, he or she is detained in
a discriminatory manner as compared to other persons;
or
(E) the detention is the result of proceedings
which were clearly unfair and appear to be connected
with political motives of the authorities.
(3) Prisoner of conscience.--The term ``prisoner of
conscience'' means any person who--
(A) is imprisoned or otherwise physically
restricted solely for the peaceful exercise of the
individual's human rights; and
(B) has not used violence or advocated violence or
hatred.
SEC. 4. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to support democracy, peace, and human rights in
Turkey, and to press the Government of Turkey to comply with
its obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty;
(2) to oppose the abuse of counterterrorism laws and
authorities, including targeting journalists, political
opponents, dissidents, recognized and unrecognized ethnic and
religious minorities, and others engaged in exercising their
right to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, or
association;
(3) to consider those detained or imprisoned under
counterterrorism authorities on politically motivated grounds
to be prisoners of conscience or political prisoners, as
appropriate, unless there is probative evidence of specific
criminal misconduct presented in proceedings that comply with
international fair trial standards;
(4) to use all diplomatic tools to advocate that all
prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Turkey
should be unconditionally released and charges expunged;
(5) to press the Government of Turkey to repeal or amend--
(A) all anti-terrorism laws and regulations that
allow the government to unjustly target journalists,
political opponents, dissidents, and minorities;
(B) all laws and regulations that violate the right
to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, or
association in a manner not permitted by international
legal standards, including laws and regulations that
seek to punish those who insult political figures or
denigrate the Turkish nation or state institutions; and
(C) all laws and regulations that violate the right
to a fair trial;
(6) to oppose the export to Turkey by any country of
surveillance technologies, including software, that could be
used to monitor the activities of journalists, political
opponents, dissidents, or minority communities;
(7) to condemn the Government of Turkey's use of
transnational repression, including the abuse of INTERPOL
notices, renditions, and other extraterritorial measures to
target critics abroad;
(8) to protect United States persons and lawful permanent
residents from harassment, intimidation, and other forms of
foreign political retaliation by or on behalf of the Government
of Turkey; and
(9) to condition United States security cooperation and
assistance, as appropriate, on measurable improvements in
respect for human rights, rule of law, and compliance with
binding international human rights judgments.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PRESS FREEDOM.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Government of Turkey must take steps to
significantly improve the dire climate for journalists and
those supporting the journalism profession, including--
(A) ending the enforcement of draconian laws and
regulations that restrict freedom of expression; and
(B) unconditionally releasing all journalists and
media workers who have been imprisoned for fulfilling
their professional responsibilities;
(2) the Department of State should provide assistance and
warnings of impending politically motivated detention or harm
to journalists and media workers in danger in Turkey,
regardless of citizenship status, including journalists working
for Kurdish media organizations;
(3) United States Government officials should prioritize
demands to release unfairly detained journalists and media
workers in their communications with Turkish officials; and
(4) press freedom and the freedom of expression are
fundamental human rights and should be upheld and protected in
Turkey and everywhere where those rights are under threat.
SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNET FREEDOM.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Government of Turkey must cease its ongoing
crackdown on free expression on the internet, including by
repealing or amending laws that allow the government to block a
website or remove content from the website if there is
sufficient suspicion that the site is insulting political
figures;
(2) the Department of State should support and pressure the
Government of Turkey--
(A) to halt its frequent requests that social media
companies block accounts and content of journalists and
media outlets; and
(B) to ensure that the Radio and Television Supreme
Council does not arbitrarily restrict online streaming
services through a costly and opaque licensing regime;
and
(3) escalating controls regulating internet use are an
attempt by the Government of Turkey to silence one of the last
platforms for independent journalism in the country.
SEC. 7. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON PROTECTING LAWYERS AND PROMOTING FAIR
TRIALS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the Government of Turkey must--
(A) halt its indiscriminate detention and
prosecution of lawyers, judges, prosecutors, and court
officials, and its targeting of lawyers' associations;
(B) repeal laws restricting the right of lawyers to
discharge their professional duties, the rights of
suspects to legal counsel, and the right of lawyer-
client privileged communication;
(C) ensure that lawyers can visit detainees in
police custody, and remind police and prosecutors of
the protected role of lawyers under Article 14 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on Human
Rights, and the United Nations Basic Principles on the
Role of Lawyers; and
(D) end the practice of prosecuting lawyers based
on whom they have represented as clients;
(2) the Department of State should pressure the Government
of Turkey--
(A) to abolish extended pretrial detention,
consistent with Turkey's Judicial Reform Strategy;
(B) to reverse the April 2017 amendment to Article
159 of the Constitution of Turkey, which allows for
political control over the nomination procedures to the
Council of Judges and Prosecutors; and
(C) to ensure the independence of judges and of the
judiciary system, with particular focus on the Ministry
of Justice; and
(3) the independence of any country's judicial system
suffers when lawyers--
(A) are subject to intimidation and harassment in
their work; and
(B) are identified with the causes of their
clients.
SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS.
It is the sense of Congress that if the Government of Turkey does
not promptly take effective steps to address the human rights
violations described in this Act--
(1) the President of the United States should impose
sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights
Accountability Act (subtitle F of title XII of Public Law 114-
328; 22 U.S.C. 2656 note) with respect to officials of the
Government of Turkey determined to be responsible for or
complicit in, or to have directly or indirectly engaged in--
(A) the detention of prisoners of conscience and
political prisoners;
(B) the politically motivated detention of
journalists;
(C) restricting of freedom of free expression
through social media; and
(D) other gross violations of internationally
recognized human rights;
(2) the President should confirm that United States
security assistance provided to the Government of Turkey is
fully consistent with the conditions mandated in section 36 of
the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 2776) and the human
rights provisions contained in section 620M of the Foreign
Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d);
(3) the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the
United States executive director of each international
financial institution to oppose any loan, grant, policy, or
strategy determined to be directly enabling the Government of
Turkey to violate the human rights of its citizens; and
(4) the Secretary of State should impose visa restrictions
under the announced ``Khashoggi Ban'', pursuant to section
212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C.
1182(a)(3)(C)) on--
(A) individuals who, acting on behalf of the
government, are believed to have been directly engaged
in serious, extraterritorial counter-dissident
activities, including those who--
(i) suppress, harass, surveil, threaten, or
harm journalists, activists, or other persons
perceived to be dissidents for their work; or
(ii) engage in such activities with respect
to the families or other close associates of
such persons; and
(B) family members of individuals described in
subparagraph (A), as appropriate.
SEC. 9. LIMITATIONS ON CERTAIN SECURITY ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.--No funds authorized to be appropriated or
otherwise made available for Foreign Military Financing, Foreign
Military Sales, or other security assistance programs for the
Government of Turkey may be obligated or expended unless the Secretary
of State certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that the
Government of Turkey--
(1) has taken demonstrable and sustained steps to reduce
the number of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners,
including by releasing individuals detained solely for the
peaceful exercise of their human rights;
(2) has ceased the misuse of counterterrorism and
disinformation laws to criminalize peaceful expression,
association, and political participation;
(3) is taking concrete steps to comply with binding
judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, including in
cases concerning Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtas; and
(4) has ceased, or is no longer systematically engaging in,
acts of transnational repression targeting individuals abroad
for exercising their fundamental freedoms.
(b) Waiver.--The Secretary of State may waive the application of
subsection (a) on a case-by-case basis if the Secretary determines and
reports to the appropriate congressional committees that such waiver is
in the vital national security interest of the United States, and
includes a justification for the waiver and a description of efforts to
promote the reforms described in subsection (a).
SEC. 10. POLITICAL PRISONERS ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary of State shall provide assistance to civil society
organizations in Turkey that work to secure the release of prisoners of
conscience and political prisoners in Turkey, and to current and former
prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Turkey, including--
(1) support for the documentation of human rights
violations with respect to prisoners of conscience and
politically motivated prisoners;
(2) support for advocacy in Turkey to raise awareness of
issues relating to prisoners of conscience and political
prisoners;
(3) support for efforts to repeal or amend laws or
regulations that are used to imprison individuals as prisoners
of conscience or political prisoners; and
(4) the delegation of specific United States mission staff
who will observe trials in politically motivated cases,
including in Southeast Turkey.
SEC. 11. ANNUAL REPORT.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for 5 years, the
Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on the implementation of this Act.
(b) Matters To Be Included.--Each report required under subsection
(a) shall include--
(1) an assessment of the number, conditions, and legal
status of prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in
Turkey;
(2) a description of restrictions on freedom of expression,
association, assembly, and the press, including online
censorship and blocking of social media platforms and websites;
(3) a description of incidents of transnational repression,
including renditions, attempted abductions, physical attacks,
or misuse of INTERPOL notices targeting individuals in other
countries, including the United States;
(4) an assessment of any use by the Government of Turkey of
United States-origin goods, services, or technologies to
facilitate surveillance, censorship, or other serious human
rights abuses;
(5) a description of efforts by the Government of Turkey to
restrict and repress political opposition parties and leaders,
including attempts to eliminate meaningful political
disagreement and debate;
(6) a description of efforts by the Government of Turkey to
amend the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey to marginalize
political opposition and consolidate power around one political
party or politician; and
(7) a description of the sanctions, visa restrictions, and
other measures taken pursuant to this Act and other applicable
authorities.
SEC. 12. SUPPORT FOR CIVIL SOCIETY AND INDEPENDENT MEDIA.
The Secretary of State and the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, as appropriate, shall expand
support for--
(1) independent journalists and media outlets in Turkey,
including those operating in exile;
(2) civil society organizations documenting human rights
violations or providing assistance to victims of politically
motivated persecution;
(3) digital rights advocates and organizations working to
enhance secure communications, privacy, and cybersecurity for
at-risk communities; and
(4) initiatives promoting human rights education, legal
literacy, and public awareness regarding fundamental freedoms
in Turkey.
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