Mustafa Bildircin
While the number of cases per judge and prosecutor in Türkiye has reached striking proportions, the number of cases against Türkiye at the European Court of Human has neared 20,000. It was observed that Türkiye is the country with the highest number of pending applications before the ECtHR among 47 nations.
During the terms of the AKP governments, the justice system sustained irreversible wounds. Due to the destruction created in the legal system by the hands of the government, trust in the law in Türkiye has also been completely demolished. According to international reports, Türkiye receded to 117th place among 142 countries in the rule of law index. Türkiye dropped into the same league as countries like Angola, Niger, and Guatemala in the rule of law index rankings of nations. The statistics of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) regarding Türkiye have once again revealed the state in which the judicial system finds itself.
TÜRKİYE AT THE SUMMIT
The number of pending applications before the ECtHR regarding 47 European countries, including Türkiye, reached 53,450 as of 1 January 2026. The number of pending applications at the ECtHR against Türkiye constituted 34.5 per cent of the total number of pending applications. Türkiye stood out as the country with the highest number of awaiting applications, with 18,045 applications that are not yet resolved and remain pending. It was established that the number of 18,045 pending applications against Türkiye is higher than the total number of pending applications against 42 countries combined.
RECORD YEAR 2010
The data on the number of violations by year reflected in the ECtHR figures also laid bare the striking picture. The number of violation judgments issued by the ECtHR against Türkiye peaked during the terms of the AKP governments in 2009 with 341 violation judgments. The year 2007 went down in the records as the second highest year for violation judgments in the 1995–2025 period, with 319 violation judgments. The total number of violation judgments issued by the ECtHR against Türkiye in the 2002–2025 period, which spans the terms of the AKP governments, was calculated as 3,363.
VIOLATION JUDGMENTS
The distribution of violation judgments delivered by the ECtHR against Türkiye according to their subjects also draws attention. The violation judgments against Türkiye, where the violation of the right to a fair trial ranks first, are listed as follows according to certain subjects and the numbers of violations:
Right to a fair trial: 24
Right to liberty and security: 21
Length of proceedings: 8
Right to respect for private and family life: 8
Prohibition of ill-treatment: 6
Freedom of expression: 5
Note: This article is translated from the original article titled AİHM'de Türkiye kuyruğu: 18 bin 45 derdest başvuru, published in BirGün newspaper on June 10, 2026.
