III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 418 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Government of Turkey’s 

crackdown on dissent related to its incursion into northeast Syria, and 

broader human rights violations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 12, 2019 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. KAINE, 

Mr. WYDEN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the Government of Turkey’s crackdown on dissent related to its 

incursion into northeast Syria, and broader human rights 

violations. 

Whereas Turkey is a constitutional, secular state with an ethnically, religiously, and culturally diverse population; 

Whereas Turkey has been a modern democracy and a major 

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally to the 

United States; 

Whereas Turkey is a signatory to the International Covenant 

on Civil and Political Rights and is therefore obligated to 

uphold the freedom of its people to peacefully express 

criticism of their government; 


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•SRES 418 IS 

Whereas, immediately following the incursion by the Turkish 

Armed Forces into northeast Syria on October 9, 2019, 

the Government of Turkey began a coordinated crackdown on online dissent; 

Whereas, on October 9, 2019, Turkey’s National Security Directorate made a statement that criminal investigations 

had been initiated against 78 people for ‘‘inciting enmity 

and hatred through black propaganda [smear campaign] 

against [Turkey] over Operation Peace Spring; sharing 

unsourced and false social media postings intended to destroy the reputation of [Turkey’s] security forces and 

making propaganda for a terrorist organization’’; 

Whereas expression of opposition views through social media 

posts, social media reposts, and shared online articles has 

led to the investigation and detention of individuals in 

the region; 

Whereas the shared content targeted by Turkish authorities 

was largely authored by Western and United States 

sources and outlets; 

Whereas Turkey has over 120 journalists and media workers 

in jail, more than in any other country, with most of 

them detained under propaganda charges; 

Whereas, on October 10, 2019, the digital services manager 

of the Birgun daily newspaper was detained in his home 

in Istanbul and questioned in relation to a news article 

and a tweet said to have incited enmity or hatred under 

the Article 216/1 of Turkish Penal Code; 

Whereas, on October 11, 2019, Minister of the Interior 

Suleyman Soylu stated during a speech that 121 people 

had been detained for their social media posts ‘‘insulting 


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•SRES 418 IS 

‘Operation Peace Spring’, describing [our] country as an 

invader and insulating the unity of our nation’’; 

Whereas, on October 14, 2019, military police carried out a 

countrywide operation with the aim of ‘‘preventing and 

deterring sympathizers of the terrorist organization from 

[engaging in provocations related to] Operation Peace 

Spring’’ in which over 500,000 people were interrogated 

and 152 people were detained, according to Amnesty 

International; 

Whereas, as of October 16, 2019, authorities have identified 

839 social media accounts under investigation and 186 

individuals taken into police custody since October 9, 

2019, related to ‘‘shared criminal content’’; 

Whereas, on October 19, 2019, police raided several homes 

of human rights defenders and journalists on counts of 

‘‘inciting enmity or hatred’’ through social media posts; 

Whereas, on October 25, 2019, criminal complaints were 

made against the French weekly journal Le Point for its 

coverage of the military offensive; 

Whereas the style and scale of the social media crackdown 

specific to Turkish operations in Syria has recent precedent in the aftermath of the Turkish Armed Forces’ Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, in which— 

(1) 1,719 social media accounts were investigated; 

(2) 845 people were detained for social media posts; 

and 

(3) 643 people were subject to judicial proceedings; 

including 11 physician members of the Turkish Medical 

Association’s Central Council, who were sentenced to 


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•SRES 418 IS 

terms up to 3 years and three months for calling to an 

end to the Afrin military operation; 

Whereas Turkish authorities have targeted more than a thousand criminal defense lawyers as part of the ongoing 

crackdown on dissent; 

Whereas more than 265 academics have been prosecuted in 

Turkey for signing an appeal for peace between the Government of Turkey and Kurdish insurgents; 

Whereas human rights violations have been a defining aspect 

of President Erdogan’s authoritarian rule, including— 

(1) the removal of at least 88 of the pro-Kurdish 

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) mayors from office in 

the last three years and their replacement with state-appointed trustees; 

(2) the detention of HDP members of parliament; 

and 

(3) the detention of Turkish employees of United 

States diplomatic facilities in Turkey; 

Whereas blanket bans on peaceful protests of any form have 

been implemented by local governors across Turkey; and 

Whereas these bans have resulted in the arrest and detention 

of many people and represent clear violations to the right 

to peaceful assembly as protected by international human 

rights conventions to which Turkey is a party and by the 

Constitution of Turkey: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the position of the United States 

3 that peaceful dissent should be protected under the 

4 right of freedom of expression in Turkey; 


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•SRES 418 IS 

1 (2) condemns policies and efforts by the Gov2 ernment of Turkey to suppress peaceful protesters, 

3 including those expressing dissent against military 

4 operations by the Turkish Armed Forces or policies 

5 instituted by the Government of Turkey; 

6 (3) stands with the defenders of free speech and 

7 human rights in Turkey; 

8 (4) encourages senior United States administra9 tion officials to raise the issue of suppression of free 

10 speech and media in Turkey at the highest levels, 

11 both bilaterally and multilaterally; 

12 (5) encourages United States embassy and con13 sular staff to attend politically motivated trials; and 

14 (6) calls on the Government of Turkey to— 

15 (A) immediately lift restrictions on free16 dom of expression, including expression online 

17 or in social media; 

18 (B) ensure that criticism of the Turkish 

19 Armed Forces’ military operations or calling for 

20 peace—through media, social media, peaceful 

21 assembly, or other peaceful means—is not 

22 criminalized; 

23 (C) drop all charges and end prosecution 

24 of individuals or groups for peaceful expression 


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1 of their opposition to Turkey’s military oper2 ations in Syria; 

3 (D) ensure that people can gather and pro4 test peacefully, including by lifting blanket pro5 test bans across the country; 

6 (E) release all political prisoners, including 

7 journalists and Turkish employees of United 

8 States diplomatic missions; and 

9 (F) respect the rights of Turkish citizens 

10 to elect their leaders through a democratic proc11 ess. 

Æ 


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