In a statement released on Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Turkish authorities to end what it described as a "crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly following the reports of a drone strike attack resulting in the killing of Cihan Bilgin and Nazım Daştan, two Kurdish journalists from Turkey in north-east Syria on 19 December." 

The statement said: "Since the killings, protests have been banned, participants detained and criminal investigations launched against those who have expressed their opinions in statements and on social media. On 20 December, law enforcement officials prevented protesters from gathering and at least 55 people, including 10 journalists, were detained in the eastern province but later released the same day.

On 21 December, riot police detained 59 people during protests in Istanbul, of whom nine people, including seven journalists, were remanded in pre-trial detention. Criminal investigations against the Istanbul Bar Association and other groups and individuals were reportedly opened because of their statements and social media posts calling for an investigation into the reported killings and the release of the detained individuals."

Amnesty added that "the crackdown against lawyers, journalists and protesters amounts to a misuse of the criminal justice system to intimidate, harass and silence peaceful dissent, and, as such, is in violation of Turkey's obligations under international human rights law."

Amnesty said that "Turkish authorities must immediately release all those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights. Authorities must promptly, thoroughly, independently, impartially, transparently and effectively investigate the allegations of human rights violations and other actions of law enforcement officials on journalists and other protesters and bring to justice in fair trials those suspected to be responsible, as well as ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims."

Amnesty continued: "The authorities must uphold the human rights of everyone in the country including by immediately ending the arbitrary detention and prosecution of journalists and others solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Authorities must stop weaponizing the criminal justice system against the Istanbul Bar Association and others simply for exercising their rights and discharging their professional duties and immediately drop the ongoing criminal investigations launched against them."