WASHINGTON — The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing, “Human Rights in Turkey Today,” on June 10, addressed the human rights situation in Turkey and featured panelists Enes Kanter Freedom, human rights activist and former NBA player, Alp Aslandogan, Executive Director of Alliance For Shared Values, and Dr. Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who discussed the government of Turkey’s human rights abuses, U.S. response, and recommendations for Congress.
Led by Co-Chairs Chris Smith (R-NJ) and James McGovern (D-MA), the Tom Lantos Commission hearing follows on the heels of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2025 Annual Report, that recommended the U.S. State Department “include Turkey on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.”
Smith indicated in his opening statement that he has chaired numerous hearings on this subject and also noted the hearings he held on the Armenian Genocide and also on Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing. In particular, Rep. Smith recalled the threats made by a Turkish official from the witness stand if Congress recognized the Armenian Genocide.
Raised in Turkey, Kanter Freedom’s citizenship was revoked when he actively voiced his concerns about the authoritarian rule under President Recep Erdogan, emphasizing that “his policies and rhetoric have weaponized religion for political gain and dismantled a democratic model,” while “supporting radical groups and assisting criminal networks with money laundering.”
Kanter Freedom expressed that in Turkey opposition parties, politicians and journalists “continue to face widespread prosecution under Erdogan’s authoritarian rule,” and despite clear rulings from European courts, these actions of silencing individuals by imprisonment “demonstrate the Turkish government’s blatant disregard for democratic norms and international human rights obligations.”
As a survivor of Erdogan’s repressive government, Kanter Freedom, who is a US citizen, has spoken out to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced, including 3 million people in Turkey who have been labeled as terrorists. He stated that he has 12 arrest warrants, a $500,000 bounty on his head, and narrowly escaped a kidnapping. The implications affected his family as well, as his father was imprisoned and his mother was recently detained in Turkey.
