,,iii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session 
,s4 ,,res4 #dah  ,,in ,,the ,,senate    
,,of ,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november 
#ab1 #bjai,mrs4 ,blackburn 7for herself1
 ,mr4 ,van ,hollen1 ,mr4 ,leahy1 ,mr4   
,kaine1 ,mr4 ,wyden1 ,ms4 ,duckworth1   
,mr4 ,markey1 ,mr4 ,rubio1 and ,mr4     
,blumenthal7 submitted the following    
resolution2 which was referred to the   
,committee on ,foreign ,relations       
,,resolution  ,expressing the sense of  
the ,senate regarding the ,government of
 ,turkey's crackdown on dissent related 
to its incursion into northeast ,syria1 
and broader human rights violations4    
,whereas ,turkey is a constitutional1   
secular state with an ethnically1       
religiously1 and culturally diverse     
population2 ,whereas ,turkey has been a 
modern democracy and a major ,north     
,atlantic ,treaty ,organization 7,,nato7
 ally to the ,united ,states2 ,whereas  
,turkey is a signatory to the           
,international ,covenant on ,civil and  
,political ,rights and is therefore     

obligated to uphold the freedom of its  
people to peacefully express criticism  
of their government2 ,whereas1          
immediately following the incursion by  
the ,turkish ,armed ,forces into        
northeast ,syria on ,october #i1 #bjai1 
the ,government of ,turkey began a      
coordinated crackdown on online dissent2
 ,whereas1 on ,october #i1 #bjai1       
,turkey's ,national ,security           
,directorate made a statement that      
criminal investigations had been        
initiated against #gh people for        
inciting enmity and hatred through black
 propaganda smear campaign against      
,turkey over ,operation ,peace ,spring2 
sharing unsourced and false social media
 postings intended to destroy the       
reputation of ,turkey's security forces 
and making propaganda for a terrorist   
organization2 ,whereas expression of    
opposition views through social media   
posts1 social media reposts1 and shared 
online articles has led to the          
investigation and detention of          

individuals in the region2 ,whereas the 
shared content targeted by ,turkish     
authorities was largely authored by     
,western and ,united ,states sources and
 outlets2 ,whereas ,turkey has over #abj
 journalists and media workers in jail1 
more than in any other country1 with    
most of them detained under propaganda  
charges2 ,whereas1 on ,october #aj1     
#bjai1 the digital services manager of  
the ,birgun daily newspaper was detained
 in his home in ,istanbul and questioned
 in relation to a news article and a    
tweet said to have incited enmity or    
hatred under the ,article #baf_/a of    
,turkish ,penal ,code2 ,whereas1 on     
,october #aa1 #bjai1 ,minister of the   
,interior ,suleyman ,soylu stated during
 a speech that #aba people had been     
detained for their social media posts   
insulting ,operation ,peace ,spring1    
describing our country as an invader and
 insulating the unity of our nation2    
,whereas1 on ,october #ad1 #bjai1       
military police carried out a           

countrywide operation with the aim of   
preventing and deterring sympathizers of
 the terrorist organization from        
engaging in provocations related to     
,operation ,peace ,spring in which over 
#ejj1jjj people were interrogated and   
#aeb people were detained1 according to 
,amnesty ,international2 ,whereas1 as of
 ,october #af1 #bjai1 authorities have  
identified #hci social media accounts   
under investigation and #ahf individuals
 taken into police custody since        
,october #i1 #bjai1 related to shared   
criminal content2 ,whereas1 on ,october 
#ai1 #bjai1 police raided several homes 
of human rights defenders and           
journalists on counts of inciting enmity
 or hatred through social media posts2  
,whereas1 on ,october #be1 #bjai1       
criminal complaints were made against   
the ,french weekly journal ,le ,point   
for its coverage of the military        
offensive2 ,whereas the style and scale 
of the social media crackdown specific  
to ,turkish operations in ,syria has    

recent precedent in the aftermath of the
 ,turkish ,armed ,forces' ,operation    
,olive ,branch in ,afrin1 in which--    
7#a7 #a1gai social media accounts were  
investigated2  7#b7 #hde people were    
detained for social media posts2 and    
7#c7 #fdc people were subject to        
judicial proceedings2 including #aa     
physician members of the ,turkish       
,medical ,association's ,central        
,council1 who were sentenced to terms up
 to #c years and three months for       
calling to an end to the ,afrin military
 operation2  ,whereas ,turkish          
authorities have targeted more than a   
thousand criminal defense lawyers as    
part of the ongoing crackdown on        
dissent2 ,whereas more than #bfe        
academics have been prosecuted in       
,turkey for signing an appeal for peace 
between the ,government of ,turkey and  
,kurdish insurgents2 ,whereas human     
rights violations have been a defining  
aspect of ,president ,erdogan's         
authoritarian rule1 including--  7#a7   

the removal of at least #hh of the      
pro-,kurdish ,peoples' ,democratic      
,party 7,,hdp7 mayors from office in the
 last three years and their replacement 
with state-appointed trustees2  7#b7 the
 detention of ,,hdp members of          
parliament2 and  7#c7 the detention of  
,turkish employees of ,united ,states   
diplomatic facilities in ,turkey2       
,whereas blanket bans on peaceful       
protests of any form have been          
implemented by local governors across   
,turkey2 and ,whereas these bans have   
resulted in the arrest and detention of 
many people and represent clear         
violations to the right to peaceful     
assembly as protected by international  
human rights conventions to which       
,turkey is a party and by the           
,constitution of ,turkey3 ,now1         
therefore1 be it  ,that the ,senate--   
7#a7 reaffirms the position of the      
,united ,states that peaceful dissent   
should be protected under the right of  
freedom of expression in ,turkey2  7#b7 

condemns policies and efforts by the    
,government of ,turkey to suppress      
peaceful protesters1 including those    
expressing dissent against military     
operations by the ,turkish ,armed       
,forces or policies instituted by the   
,government of ,turkey2  7#c7 stands    
with the defenders of free speech and   
human rights in ,turkey2  7#d7          
encourages senior ,united ,states       
administration officials to raise the   
issue of suppression of free speech and 
media in ,turkey at the highest levels1 
both bilaterally and multilaterally2    
7#e7 encourages ,united ,states embassy 
and consular staff to attend politically
 motivated trials2 and  7#f7 calls on   
the ,government of ,turkey to--  7,a7   
immediately lift restrictions on freedom
 of expression1 including expression    
online or in social media2  7,b7 ensure 
that criticism of the ,turkish ,armed   
,forces' military operations or calling 
for peace--through media1 social media1 
peaceful assembly1 or other peaceful    

means--is not criminalized2  7,c7 drop  
all charges and end prosecution of      
individuals or groups for peaceful      
expression of their opposition to       
,turkey's military operations in ,syria2
  7,d7 ensure that people can gather and
 protest peacefully1 including by       
lifting blanket protest bans across the 
country2  7,e7 release all political    
prisoners1 including journalists and    
,turkish employees of ,united ,states   
diplomatic missions2 and  7,f7 respect  
the rights of ,turkish citizens to elect
 their leaders through a democratic     
process4