TÜRKIYE: ARBITRARY DETENTION OF A COMMANDER OF TURKISH AIR FORCE

The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Türkiye to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 33/2024 regarding Akin Öztürk, asking the Government of Türkiye to immediately and unconditionally release Akin Öztürk and to accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.

Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Mr. Öztürk (Turkiye): Opinion No. 33/2024.

ARREST AND DETENTION OF A TURKISH MILITARY COMMANDER

Mr. Öztürk is a Turkish national, born in 1952, and served as the Commander of the Turkish Air Force for two years. He was later appointed as a member of the High Military Consultative Council in a semi-retired position and was therefore not in command of anyone anymore.

In July 2016, after returning from holiday, Mr. Öztürk was made aware of an attack on the General Staff and was later contacted by the Commander of the Turkish Air Force. He was requested to go to the Akinci Air Base to bring the situation under control. However, upon his arrival, he was surrounded by masked military personnel who brought him to the commander of the base. He was requested to stop a coup attempt at the base. Mr. Öztürk, after many discussions, managed to stop the coup and was later asked to control the military personnel who attempted the coup for an hour before being picked up. However, no one came, and he decided to fly to the Office of the Prime Minister by helicopter, but it was shot at and injured Mr. Öztürk, which forced him to return to the base and found high-ranking officers being held hostage.

At that time, the media started to depict Mr. Öztürk as the leader of the coup, and he was later escorted out of the base, based on the official report, as a hostage, and his image in the media was redeemed.

The next day, on 17 July 2016, he was invited to present a witness statement. However, he was immediately detained in a closed gym where he was subjected to ill-treatment and forbidden to dress. On 18 July 2026, the Ankara Public Prosecutor filed an official request for Mr. Öztürk to be placed in pre-trial detention based on “evidence demonstrating that the suspect contributed to the criminal acts” without any more details. The request was accepted the same day, and he was transferred to Ankara Sincan F2-Type High Security Prison for more than ten months, where he was considered a dangerous detainee.

On 31 March 2017, he was indicted by the Ankara Prosecutor's Office along with 431 other defendants. During his trial, he faced impossible allegations ratione materiae, but was convicted on 20 June 2019 on 141 counts to aggravated life imprisonment and thousands of years of prison.

The Government was allowed to respond to those allegations, which it did after the extended deadline.

ARRESTED WITHOUT A WARRANT

The source submitted that Mr. Öztürk was arrested without being presented with an arrest warrant or any reasons for his arrest. The Working Group recalled that an arrest warrant is a necessity for the arrest and detention to have a legal basis. It then concluded that Mr. Öztürk was not arrested in flagrante delicto as he was arrested the next day, thus, his arrest and detention were in violation of article 9 (2) of the Covenant provides that anyone who is arrested is to be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for the arrest and is to be promptly informed of any charges.

In light of the above circumstances, the Working Group found that Mr. Öztürk’s detention was arbitrary under category I.

VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS AND SUBJECTED TO TORTURE

According to the source, Mr. Öztürk was in solitary confinement for seven years. The Working Group reminded that the Special Rapporteur on torture considered that solitary confinement for more than 15 days can amount to torture.

Furthermore, the source affirmed that Mr. Öztürk was denied access to his file, was unable to prepare his defence, and was not allowed a lawyer of his choice, which he was able to contact after five days in detention. In this regard, the Working Group found that article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 14 (3) (b) of the Covenant were violated as they protect the rights to due process.

Therefore, the Working Group classified Mr. Öztürk’s detention as arbitrary under category III.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION

In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Mr. Öztürk was arbitrary and fell under categories I and III because the deprivation of liberty of Mr. Öztürk was in contravention of articles 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Working Group recommended that the Government of Türkiye take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Öztürk without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be for the Government of Türkiye to accord Mr. Öztürk an enforceable right to compensation and reparations, in accordance with international law.