Turkey excluded from Biden's upcoming Summit for Democracy

U.S. President Joe Biden has not invited Turkey to his upcoming Summit for Democracy.

“Some countries, such as Turkey and Hungary, have not been invited because their leaders have been undermining their democratic systems for years,” the report said.

While some details have leaked about the invitees, the U.S. administration hasn’t officially published a full list, the report said.

In one memo seen by POLITICO, some civil society groups urge the U.S. administration to “stress to participating governments the importance of consulting civil society and other stakeholders on their commitments in ways that are inclusive and timely.”

The Summit  for Democracy will be hosted by Biden on Dec. 9-10. It will be a virtual gathering of leaders from what the White House calls “a diverse group” of the world’s democracies. The event itself is highly anticipated. Yet just as anticipated is the invitation list.

Turkey is known to be marked by its serious violations of human rights against citizens. In its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the United States listed a very extensive list of such abuses occurring in Turkey.

The report released earlier this year by the U.S. State Department highlighted arbitrary killings, suspicious deaths of persons in custody, forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrest and continued detention of tens of thousands of persons, interference with the judiciary, severe restrictions on freedom of expression, criminal prosecution of journalists and violence against women and LGBTI community as some of the most significant human rights issues in Turkey.