WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 12, 2025 – In June 10 testimony before a congressional hearing at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (video; prepared transcript), Michael Rubin, director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum, called for the U.S. to counter alarming human rights abuses in Turkey. The hearing, co-chaired by Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and James McGovern (D-MA), presented a bipartisan display of the growing frustration in Washington of the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasing authoritarianism and human rights abuses.
Rubin was joined by human rights activist and former NBA basketball star Enes Kanter Freedom and Alp Aslandogan, executive director of the Alliance for Shared Values. All three witnesses are branded as “terrorists” in Turkey for criticizing Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Policymakers should consider “an intelligence audit” to reassess official U.S. designations of Turkey in light of its support for terrorist activity, Rubin said. He also called for the State Department to reconsider its designation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization, especially as the action was taken under political duress and after the PKK ended its armed insurgency.
Warning of the “slow motion eradication” of Orthodox Christian priests living in Turkey, Rubin cautioned against the Turkish government’s attempts to rewrite history concerning the Armenian Genocide, adding that “genocide denial perpetrates genocide.” He described how “antisemitism permeates Turkey” and Erdoğan’s transformation of the country into a “hub for Hamas,” for which it should be labeled a “state sponsor of terror.”
Rubin also urged Congress to demand the Government Accountability Office or the Congressional Research Service issue a report on how Turkey’s education curriculum depicts Kurds, Armenians, Greeks, and Jews.
Tuesday’s hearings were held after the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2025 Annual Report recommended including Turkey on the "Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom." Furthermore, the U.S. State Department’s 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices documented the Turkish government’s role in perpetrating arbitrary arrests and detentions; restrictions on media expression, including violence against journalists; serious limitations on internet freedoms; and violence aimed at national, ethnic, and religious minorities.
“Turkey’s undermining of democratic institutions, persistent human rights abuses, and slide toward authoritarian rule demand a reckoning,” said Gregg Roman, MEF’s executive director. “American policymakers must impose tangible costs to hold Ankara accountable and restore democratic principles.”
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