Today, May 15, International Conscientious Objection Day. On this important day, we share with the public a critical development regarding the long‑standing violation of the right to conscientious objection in Turkey before international human rights mechanisms.
Despite the decisions of international human rights bodies and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Turkey still does not recognize the right to conscientious objection. Conscientious objectors are prosecuted solely for their beliefs, face prison sentences, and are subjected to severe human rights violations that paralyze their daily lives—violations the ECtHR has defined as “civil death.” The Constitutional Court has not ruled on a single conscientious objection application since 2015, clearly showing that there is no effective remedy in domestic law.
Against this backdrop, in June 2025, an application was filed with the ECtHR on behalf of conscientious objector İnan Mayıs Aru without exhausting domestic remedies, and the Court officially registered the case. Prepared in cooperation with lawyer Kerem Altıparmak from the Freedom of Expression Association, together with Conscientious Objection Watch, this application being accepted marks a significant step forward. It represents a turning point in holding Turkey accountable at the international level for its ongoing violations of the right to conscientious objection.
Conscientious objector İnan Mayıs Aru describes his experience as follows:
“For years the state has tried to break our will by suspending our lives with fines, lawsuits, detentions, prisons, travel and work bans, leaving us in uncertainty and exhaustion. With the imposition of ‘civil death,’ our lives are turned into an extended open‑air prison. As conscientious objectors, we reject not only military service but also the obedience, militarism, and culture of domination presented as the natural order of life. We stand on the side of life against a system that normalizes war and spreads violence into every aspect of daily existence. No state, no army, no court is greater than human conscience.”
Lawyer Kerem Altıparmak evaluates the importance of the process as follows:
“Through this application, the ECtHR will now examine whether the Constitutional Court can be considered an effective remedy for conscientious objectors. Before this case is decided, either the Constitutional Court will comply with ECtHR jurisprudence and recognize the right to conscientious objection domestically, or it will remain silent and the ECtHR will declare that the Constitutional Court is not an effective remedy in matters of conscientious objection. Either outcome carries critical significance for the struggle.”
As of 2025, despite 62 individual applications pending before the Constitutional Court, not a single decision has been issued. This clearly demonstrates that the Court does not provide an effective domestic remedy. Therefore, the ECtHR’s decision to proceed has brought this long‑silenced struggle back into the spotlight.
On this International Conscientious Objection Day, we remind once again:
Turkey must recognize the right to conscientious objection in line with the international treaties it has signed. The chain of human rights violations, endless prosecutions, punishments, and the practice of “civil death” imposed on conscientious objectors for years must come to an end immediately.
Because conscientious objection is a right!
Conscientious Objection Watch
15 May 2026
