U.S. State Department Releases Annual Human Rights Report

The Department of State prepared this report using information from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, foreign government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, jurists and legal experts, journalists, academics, labor activists, and published reports. U.S. diplomatic missions abroad prepared the initial drafts of the individual country reports.

Secretary General Rex Tillerson stated " Our values are our interests when it comes to human rights. The production of these reports underscores our commitment to freedom, democracy, and the human rights guaranteed to all individuals around the world. " on the report.

There are many facts on human rights violation and abuses. As an recent examples of the followings: There are approximately 27 million people are currently enslaved in the human trafficking trade around the world.More than 300,000 children under the age of 18 are being exploited as child soldiers in armed conflicts worldwide. Armed conflict has killed 2 million children, disabled 4 to 5 million, left 12 million homeless, and orphaned more than 1 million in the past decade. There are approximately 246 million child laborers worldwide.

State Department Report on Turkey: Highlights on July 15th Coup Attempt

"On July 15, elements of the military staged an unsuccessful coup attempt that killed more than 240 citizens and injured more than 2,100. The government asserted that cleric Fethullah Gulen and his supporters masterminded the coup attempt and engaged in a pattern of subversion of the judiciary and state institutions."

Highlights on PKK

"The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and groups linked to it declared autonomy in some cities in the Southeast and undertook attacks on security forces, sparking government responses. Clashes resulted in the death of more than 600 security forces, at least 200 civilians, and an unknown number of PKK terrorists."

*** PKK is recognized as terrorist organization since 1997 by United States. There is big concern on US support on PYD in Syria since Turkey acknowledges PYD as one of PKK's branches.

Critics on Freedom of  Expression and Minority Problems: "Government interference with freedom of expression: The government restricted freedom of expression, media, and the internet, intensifying pressure on the media following the failed coup attempt. Minority groups, including Alevis, Christians, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) individuals, continued to face threats, discrimination, and violence and reported that the government took insufficient steps to protect them."

Turkey Calls 2016 U.S. Human Rights Report Unacceptable

Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs released an statement after Human Rights report was published. Turkey was very disappointed on U.S Human Rights Report on the lack of information and recognition of  FETO and PKK.

"The parts of the latest report regarding Turkey, as released on 3 March 2017, comprise unacceptable allegations, misrepresentations and interpretations that do not reflect reality. In this period, when we are faced with unprecedented threats of terrorism posed against the survival of our nation and state, misrepresentation of our legitimate struggle against terrorist organizations, in particular FETO, PKK, DHKP-C and DAESH, in a way that do not reflect the realities have caused deep disappointment. In this context, it is denotative that the report makes no reference to the role of FETO elements in the 15th July coup attempt as well as the fact that FETO leadership resides in the US. On the other hand, description of our fight against the PKK terrorist organization as "internal conflict" is totally unacceptable.

*** Turkey is hosting over 3.2 million refugees and  has been fighting terrorist organizations including (FETO, PKK) or abroad, in Syria and Iraq (ISIS and PYD ).

Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu will be attending Global Coalition to Counter ISIS Meeting that will be held on March 22nd by State Department. There is an expectation that Minister Cavusoglu will talk about the U.S Human Rights reports with his U.S Counterpart.

Full U.S State Department

Report: https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2016&dlid=265482#wrapper