“At a time when the US and Europe are trying to…suppor[t] local NGOs and independent media organizations, Ankara is clearly trying to keep tabs on these activities and tighten its control over these institutions.”

“We really have no indication that there has been any mention of [the HDP closure case] or pressure on this in private from the US side. Hopefully, we will see more of that now that several senators in this hearing have raised this issue.”

“Many Kurdish outlets were among the first media outlets that were shut down by decree in the state of emergency. And we saw a lot of journalists, particularly Kurdish journalists but also liberal voices…get detained or sacked from their jobs.”

“For the Turkish government to so openly and blatantly try to ban this party right now is a real comment on how they see the future of electoral democracy and political pluralism in Turkey. It is just a clear aggression against a legitimate party.”

“[Turkey] has a human rights crisis. Its democracy is in crisis, and it’s not really fair to speak of any rule of law in the country given all these major problems.”

“[Erdogan] seems to understand that to get any kind of international investment to Turkey, he will need to project an image of positive relations with the U.S.”

“The more authoritarian Turkey becomes and the more it strays away from democratic values, it is only going to continue to play a spoiler role in multilateral institutions that are aimed at safeguarding democratic principles around the world.”