WE CALL FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF ESRA IŞIK
AN URGENT APPEAL TO THE TURKISH AUTHORITIES
We, the undersigned organizations, networks, and individuals, call on the Turkish authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Esra Işık, a 25-year-old environmental human rights defender currently held in pre-trial detention for peacefully defending her community’s land, forest, and future.
WHO IS ESRA IŞIK?
Esra Işık is a woman from İkizköy, a small village in southwestern Turkey, where she has spent years standing alongside her community in defense of Akbelen Forest, olive groves, and agricultural lands threatened by lignite mining expansion. She is not an extremist. She is not a criminal. She is a daughter, a neighbor, and a defender of life—one of countless people around the world who are raising their voices against environmental destruction and the corporate interests behind it.
Since 2019, Esra and the İkizköy Environment Committee have resisted the destruction of their lands through lawsuits, peaceful protests, and public advocacy. Her mother, Necla Işık, who is one of the leaders of the resistance, has also been subjected to pressure. Her family’s home is among the properties now subject to forced expropriation by presidential decree. Their struggle is personal, local, and profoundly human—and it is exactly the kind of struggle that international human rights law exists to protect.
WHAT HAPPENED?
On the evening of March 30, 2026, a court delegation arrived at the expropriated land without any prior notice to landowners or their lawyers. They came in an unmarked civilian vehicle and were accompanied by gendarmerie officers. Seeing this, Esra Işık approached and voiced her objection. She used no force. She made no physical contact. She issued no threats. The gendarmerie standing at the scene saw no reason to intervene.
Within four hours, a criminal investigation had been opened. At midnight, Esra was arrested at her home. By the following morning, a court had ordered her pre-trial detention on charges of “Resisting to Prevent the Performance of Duty” under Article 265 of the Turkish Penal Code.
She was subsequently transferred to İzmir Şakran Women’s Closed Prison—300 kilometers from her family and community. Her objection to the detention has been rejected.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Esra Işık’s case is not an isolated incident. It is part of a broader and deeply troubling pattern: the use of criminal law and pre-trial detention to silence environmental defenders, intimidate affected communities, and clear the path for extractive industries.
Her own lawyer stated plainly: “The message being sent here is not about justice. It’s about silencing dissent.”
Human Rights Defenders, the ICCPR, and the ECHR—as well as binding European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence—affirm the right to defend the environment and protect communities from harm. Pre-trial detention must be used only as a last resort, and never to punish or intimidate.
Turkey is scheduled to host COP31. The Climate Conference, in Antalya in November 2026. A government that imprisons environmental defenders in the name of coal expansion while preparing to host a global climate negotiations sends a contradictory signal to the international community and to every frontline defender around the world.
OUR DEMANDS
By signing this letter, we call on the Turkish authorities—including the President of the Republic, the Minister of Justice, and the relevant judicial bodies—to:
- Immediately and unconditionally release Esra Işık from pre-trial detention
- Drop all charges against her that arise from her peaceful environmental advocacy
- Cease the criminalization of environmental human rights defenders in İkizköy-Akbelen region and across Turkey
- Cancel the urgent expropriation decree affecting 679 parcels of land, homes, and olive groves in İkizköy and surrounding neighborhoods
- Guarantee the rights of affected communities to be heard, to access justice, and to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their lands and lives
- Ensure that Turkey’s hosting of COP31 is matched by genuine respect for environmental rights defenders at home
Every signature is a message that the defense of forests, land, and community is not a crime.
#FreeEsraIşık #Akbelen #İkizköy #EnvironmentalJustice
SIGNATORIES
- ACPmidias (Brezilya – Brazil)
- Articulação Nacional de Movimentos e Práticas de Educação Popular em Saúde (Brezilya – Brazil)
- Associação da Comunidade Quilombola Indígena Gibão do São Lourenço (Brezilya – Brazil)
- Balkan Centre for the Rights of Nature (Bosna Hersek – Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- BARIKA Sira (Afrika – Africa)
- Calderdale Trades Council (İngiltere – United Kingdom)
- Comissão Pastoral da Terra (Endonezya – Indonesia)
- Comitê Chico Mendes (Brezilya – Brazil)
- Colectivo Agroecológico del Ecuador (Ekvador – Ecuador)
- Corfu Fight and Solidarity Initiative (Yunanistan – Greece)
- Don’t Dig Campaign
- FACILITATION FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT (Kenya – Kenya)
- Facilitation for Peace and Development (FAPAD) (Uganda – Uganda)
- Flasco (Latin Amerika ve Karayipler – Latin America and the Caribbean)
- Forum Against Disastrous Projects in Konkan (Hindistan – India)
- Global Climate Vision
- Global Climate Vision Gambia (Gambiya – Gambia)
- Grassroots to Global (İngiltere – United Kingdom)
- Green Gatherings (İngiltere – United Kingdom)
- Greening Africa Together (Kenya – Kenya)
- Internationalist Standpoint (Uluslararası – International)
- Instituto Zé Claudio e Maria (Brezilya – Brazil)
- İnsan Hakları ve Dayanışma Derneği (İsviçre – Switzerland)
- JPIC SVD of Brazil Amazon (Brezilya – Brazil)
- Jumu’eha Renda Kenhur – Centro de Formação Saberes Ka’apor (Brezilya – Brazil)
- MARBE SA (Yunanistan – Greece)
- Not1More (İngiltere – United Kingdom / Kamboçya – Cambodia)
- Nô Recursos – Our Resources (Gine-Bissau – Guinea-Bissau)
- Pan African Network for the Conservation of Africa’s Natural Resources (Afrika – Africa)
- Panxea SOC Coop Galega (İspanya – Spain)
- PED Cambodia (Partnership for Environment and Development) (Kamboçya – Cambodia)
- Program for Heritage for Ogiek and Mother Earth (Kenya – Kenya)
- Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research (PODER) (Ekvador – Ecuador / Latin Amerika – Latin America)
- Resguardo Indígena de Origen Colonial Cañamomo Lomaprieta (Kolombiya – Colombia)
- Skye Guides (İngiltere – United Kingdom – Scotland)
- Tuxa ta Pame – Conselho de Gestão Ka’apor (Brezilya – Brazil)
- Unite the Union (personal capacity) (İngiltere – United Kingdom)
- Winfridus Overbeek (Hollanda – Netherlands)
- workers.coop UK (İngiltere – United Kingdom)
- Xekinima – Internationalist Socialist Organisation Greece (Yunanistan – Greece)
