Cyprus

Northern part of Cyprus

The following three cases are pending against Turkey, concerning COs from the northern, Turkish-occupied, part of Cyprus (the self-styled “Turkish Republic of North Cyprus”):

The case of Halil Karapasaoglu v. Turkey (case number 40627/19) was accepted by the ECtHR on 10/01/2020. [1] On 05/07/2019 Halil Karapasaoglu submitted an application to the ECtHR against Turkey for violations of articles 5, 6 and 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights: (Art. 5) Right to liberty and security, (Art. 6) Right to a fair trial, (Art. 9) Freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

Haluk Selam Tufanli v. Turkey (case number 29367/15 [2]). The application concerns the refusal of the applicant, a conscientious objector, to attend reservist service for military mobilisation training in 2011. On 02/06/2015 Haluk Selam Tufanli submitted an application to the ECtHR against Turkey for violations of articles 5 §§ 1, 4 and 5, 9 and 13 of the European Convention of Human Rights: (Art. 5) Right to liberty and security, (Art. 9) Freedom of thought, conscience and religion, (Art. 13) Right to an effective remedy.

Murat Kanatli v. Turkey (case number 18382/15 [3]). The application concerns the refusal of the applicant, who is a conscientious objector and an activist, to attend reservist service when called to attend training for military mobilisation in 2009. On 06/04/2015 Murat Kanatli submitted an application to the ECtHR against Turkey for violations of articles 5 §§ 1, 4 and 5, 6, 9, 13 and 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights: (Art. 5) Right to liberty and security, (Art. 6) Right to a fair trial, (Art. 9) Freedom of thought, conscience and religion, (Art. 13) Right to an effective remedy, (Art. 14) Prohibition of discrimination.

Republic of Cyprus

There has been positive reaction following the most recent case of Halil Karapasaoglu in the Republic of Cyprus as well, and interest for informational meetings on the issue of conscientious objection.