Inter­na­tio­nal Support of Conscien­tious Objec­tors and Deserters

Turkey: Clear call from the Council of Europe for recognition of conscientious objection

(26.06.2023) 17 years after the first ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in favor of a Turkish conscientious objector, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe now took a surprisingly straightforward stance (H46-36 Ülke group v. Turkey). It strongly urged the Turkish authorities to provide an “action plan” that includes concrete proposals for legislative amendments to address the Court’s findings in this group as well as political and practical measures regarding the recognition of the right to conscientious objection to military service. At the same time, the Committee of Ministers announced that otherwise, it would adopt a resolution for an interim solution in a year’s time.

Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe urges Turkey to recognize the right of conscientious objection

(07.06.2023) The Deputies in view of the longstanding issues examined in these cases and the lack of progress achieved so far, decided to resume consideration of these cases at their DH meeting in June 2024 at the latest and, in the absence of concrete information allowing for a positive assessment of the general measures, instructed the Secretariat to prepare a draft interim resolution for examination at that meeting.

Video published about conscientious objector Onur Erden

16 years of persecution in Turkey - still no asylum

(08.09.2022) „If I would have completed my military service and would have participated in an operation in East, I would have killed women, childs and people of Kurds, Armenians and other nationalities, they would have rewarded me, declared me a hero. But because I refused to play the dirty game, refused to be a soldier, refused to fight, they accused me of being a terrorist.“

Today Connection e.V. published a video film about Onur Erden, conscientious objector from Turkey. For 16 years now, he has been subject to unending persecution and has therefore sought asylum in Germany. 

Watch video on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/OVceFBhZ_dU

8:20 min, Turkish with German and English undertitles

Onur Erden’le Weismain’da - Türkiye’den bir vicdani retçi

Onur Erden ile video

(08.09.2022) Vicdani retçi Onur Erden, 2006 yılında Türkiye’de askere çağrılmıştı, ancak çok geçmeden vicdani reddini orduya açıklamış ve emirleri reddetmişti. Birkaç ay sonra firar etti. Videoda vicdani retçi olarak yıllarca süren zulmü, hiç bitmeyen bir tutuklama ve kovuşturma döngüsünü anlatıyor. 2020’de sığınma talebinde bulunmak için Almanya’ya kaçtı. Başvurusu reddedildi.