ECHR 2025 report: Turkey is once again the country with the most applications! Dismissal files stand out

Turkey finished 2025 as the country with the highest number of applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Annual statistics released by the Strasbourg-based court revealed a decline in the number of files coming from Turkey compared to the previous year.

GENERAL DECLINE IN APPLICATION NUMBERS

According to the balance sheet data shared by the ECHR with the public, 18,464 applications were made to the court from Turkey in 2025. This figure represents a decrease compared to the 21,600 applications recorded in 2024.

A similar picture emerged in the total number of applications. According to data compiled by Kayhan Karaca from DW Turkish, the court, which received 60,350 files from 46 European countries in 2024, reached 53,450 applications in 2025, with an 11 percent drop in the number of applications.

The majority of the files are linked to the processes following July 15

It is stated that more than 80 percent of the applications originating from Turkey are related to the detention, arrest, and judicial processes implemented after the coup attempt on July 15, 2016.

NEW AREA OF APPLICATION: DISMISSALS

ECHR sources reported that approximately 650 new applications against Turkey have been registered since the beginning of the year, bringing the total number to 19,110.

A significant portion of the new files consists of individuals who were removed from their positions after the coup attempt. Following the recent decisions made by the Constitutional Court on this matter, it is stated that around 30,000 new applications could reach the ECHR under this heading by the end of the year.

Following the coup attempt, approximately 125,000 applications were made from Turkey in three waves, and the court found the majority of these files inadmissible on the grounds that "domestic legal remedies had not been exhausted." Following this, an OHAL (State of Emergency) Commission was established in Turkey, and many applications were concluded within the domestic legal system without being taken to the ECHR.

Sports clubs' files on the agenda

In addition to dismissal applications, there is also an increase in files coming from sports clubs. There are approximately 60 applications before the ECHR, particularly regarding the independence of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Arbitration Board.

Among the clubs that have taken these files to the court are Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. In a decision it made at the beginning of the month, the ECHR announced that it did not find the level of independence of the Arbitration Board sufficient.

COUNTRIES FOLLOWING TURKEY

Following Turkey in the number of applications on the ECHR agenda, Russia, which was expelled from the Council of Europe, took second place with 7,177 files. Russia was followed by Ukraine (4,004), Poland (3,517), Italy (2,787), Greece (2,562), Romania (2,489), and Azerbaijan (2,180).

Highly populated countries such as France (703), Spain (186), the United Kingdom (139), and Germany (127) were in the middle ranks.

RATES BY POPULATION

When applications were evaluated according to population ratio, there were an average of 0.38 applications per 10,000 people in the 46 ECHR member countries.

The countries with the highest rates were San Marino (4.41), Monaco (2.89), Montenegro (2.76), Moldova (1.97), and Croatia (1.96). The lowest rates were recorded in the United Kingdom (0.04), Germany (0.07), and Ireland (0.07). Turkey was slightly above the average with a rate of 0.79.

FILES FOUND INADMISSIBLE ARE IN THE MAJORITY

The ECHR rejected 74.1 percent of the applications it handled last year, i.e., 28,589 files, by finding them inadmissible. 18.2 percent of the admissible applications (7,011 files) were concluded with a decision.

While the court announced a total of 1,102 decisions in 2024, it ruled on 914 cases in 2025, including group applications. In 814 of these cases, it was concluded that at least one article of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) had been violated. While it was decided that there was no violation in 80 cases, a friendly settlement was reached between the parties or the case was dropped from the agenda in 8 files.

MOST VIOLATION DECISIONS FROM THE FAIR TRIAL ARTICLE

In the violation decisions made regarding European countries, Article 6 of the ECHR, which regulates the right to a fair trial, took the first place. 428 decisions were made under this heading.

This was followed by Article 5 regarding the right to liberty and security (281), Article 3 on the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment (188), Article 13 regulating the right to an effective remedy (151), Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 regarding the right to property (128), and Article 2 regulating the right to life (42).

74 DECISIONS IN TURKEY FILES

The ECHR announced decisions in a total of 74 cases regarding Turkey in 2025. It was stated that in 66 of these files, at least one article of the convention was violated, in 6 there was no violation, and 2 were concluded through different methods.

The highest number of violation decisions regarding Turkey came from the fair trial right article with 24 files. The right to liberty and security article took second place with 21 cases.

INTER-STATE APPLICATIONS

There are 15 inter-state cases on the court's agenda. 12 of these consist of files concerning war or conflict.

In this context, there are four cases of Ukraine against Russia, one of the Netherlands against Russia, four of Armenia against Azerbaijan, one of Armenia against Turkey, and two of Azerbaijan against Armenia.

Approximately 8,300 individual files linked to inter-state applications are also waiting in line for examination.

News Source: 12punto