Rights violations in Turkey have reached a peak with the Coronavirus pandemic, according to Fatin Kanat, president of the IHD Human Rights Association office in Ankara. The government is using the virus as a means of exercising power, Kanat told ANF in an assessment of 2020.

According to Kanat, the most serious rights violations are taking place in prisons in Turkey and Kurdistan: "Even basic human rights are ignored. People experience poor and degrading treatment. They are denied the right to social contact and correspondence."

Kanat pointed out that Turkey is still governed under the provisions of the state of emergency. "In Kurdistan, a very bad picture has emerged since the 2019 local elections. Almost all mayors have been replaced by trustees without legal justification. This signals to the Kurds that their right to vote is not recognized. Meetings and demonstrations are banned. The state of emergency declared in the coup attempt of July 15, 2016, is being continued with a new resolution after it was lifted," the human rights activist said.

Regarding the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, Kanat explained that the rights laid down in the constitution exist only on paper, saying: "Solitary confinement is a serious violation of rights. Isolation may be the result of the policy on F-type prisons, but even regarding this form of imprisonment, there are international agreements that have been ratified by Turkey. Since the government does not even recognize its own constitution, these agreements can also be violated with ease. Isolation has been extended to all prisons and the situation has been made worse by the pandemic. The pandemic is used as a justification. Since Europe ignores this situation and does not put pressure on Turkey, everything continues like this."