What Happened?

London, 18 November 2025 – The Centre for Hizmet Studies (CHS) has been closely monitoring developments surrounding Turkey’s forthcoming general amnesty legislation. Recent media commentary and public statements suggest that the amnesty law may be designed to apply only to members of the PKK, with explicit legal mechanisms potentially excluding participants of the Hizmet (Gülen) Movement.

Of particular concern are reports that the law could be restricted to “organizations that have dissolved themselves,” raising alarm among Hizmet-affiliated individuals and families already facing uncertainty and hardship.

What Does This Mean?

A selectively and discriminatorily framed amnesty law would deepen social divisions and perpetuate legal inequality in Turkey. Such practices undermine the rule of law and diminish the nation’s hopes for genuine societal normalisation and reconciliation.

This shows the blatant discrimination against the Hizmet Movement, continuing even nine years after the 2016 coup attempt and violating the principles of justice and equal treatment that must be respected in any democratic society. Excluding specific groups from legal remedies sets a dangerous precedent for the future treatment of civil society movements in Turkey and signals persistent, targeted repression.

Call for Action

To the Turkish Government, Judiciary, and Political Leadership:

• We call on the Turkish government and legislative authorities to ensure any amnesty law is genuinely inclusive, upholds the principles of equality and justice, and avoids arbitrary or politically motivated exclusions.
  The judiciary must resist unlawful or discriminatory interpretations of the law, protecting the rights and dignity of all individuals regardless of group affiliation.
• The current regime holds a responsibility to advance societal normalization, not deepen divides—every action taken in this process will have profound consequences for justice and social harmony in Turkey.

To Human Rights Organisations and International Media:

• We urge all global and Turkish human rights organisations to monitor, report, and campaign against any discriminatory application of the amnesty law.
• We invite international media outlets to highlight concerns over this proposed legislation and its potential human rights implications, ensuring the issue receives the attention it deserves among global policymakers, advocates, and the public.

To Hizmet Leadership and Institutions:

• The leadership of the Hizmet Movement—particularly bodies such as the Alliance for Shared Values (AfSV) should promptly assess these developments, and take steps to ensure that a prospective general amnesty in Turkey is applied to all without any discrimination.

To Hizmet Participants and Supporters:

• We call on all Hizmet participants and supporters to actively engage at this critical juncture.
• Please contact AfSV and your local Hizmet institutions to share concerns and encourage them to take decisive, coordinated action.
• Your advocacy is essential for representative bodies to fulfill their responsibilities and secure a fair, inclusive outcome for all affected.

Dr Ismail Mesut Sezgin, Director of the Centre for Hizmet Studies, said:

“What is significant about this current debate is the potential for serious, systematic discrimination against Hizmet participants. If realised, exclusion from amnesty would reinforce existing hardships and violate basic principles of equality and justice. We urge all representative Hizmet institutions to act decisively and publicly encourage meaningful dialogue toward normalisation in Turkey.”

About the Centre for Hizmet Studies

Founded in 2014, the Centre for Hizmet Studies is a London-based non-profit organisation that provides information, research, analysis, and critique on Hizmet, a civil society grassroots movement originating from Turkey and now active in over 160 countries through education, dialogue, relief work, and media.

For press enquiries, please contact: info@hizmetstudies.org
#ENDS