Congressman Christopher H. Smith, District 4 | Official U.S. House headshot
Congressman Christopher H. Smith, District 4 | Official U.S. House headshot
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, led a congressional hearing today addressing the concerning human rights violations and transnational repression carried out by the Government of Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
During the hearing, Smith highlighted the alarming situation in Turkey, stating, “Since 2016, the government of Turkey has, according to the US Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, ‘arrested or imprisoned more than 95,000 citizens, and closed more than 1,500 nongovernmental organizations…primarily for alleged ties to the movement of cleric Fethullah Gulen.’”
Smith emphasized the Commission's support for the Turkish people, saying, “And when the Government of Turkey commits grave human rights violations against its own people, this friendship means that we stand with the people.”
Enes Kanter Freedom, a human rights activist and former professional basketball star, shared his harrowing experiences with Turkey's transnational repression during the hearing. Freedom revealed, “The Turkish government asked the US government to extradite me, canceled my passport, put my name on an Interpol list, imprisoned my father, and set a $500,000 bounty on my head.”
Abdulhamit Bilici, the former Editor in Chief of Zaman, also testified about his personal encounters with Turkey’s transnational repression, stating, “Facing serious threats, I had to leave the country for my safety.”
Nadine Maenza, the President of IRF Secretariat, highlighted Turkey’s violations of religious freedom, particularly its persecution of Christians. Maenza pointed out, “The government refuses to grant legal personality to many religious communities and continues to block the reopening of the Greek Orthodox Halki seminary.”
During the hearing, Smith urged his colleagues to support the Transnational Repression Policy Act (HR 3654) in response to the weak response of the Biden Administration towards foreign governments’ attempts to harm individuals in diaspora and exile communities within the US and other countries.
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