INTRODUCTION This report has two main objectives. The first is to provide an understanding about the violations of the collective rights of workers during the State of Emergency, which was imposed in July 2016 and was officially lifted in July 2018. This section will also reflect on the fact that even after July 2018, collective rights continue to be violated by the emergency-like laws. This suggests the State of Emergency is de facto still in place. The second objective is to provide a perspective on the violations of these rights by European or Europe-affiliated companies based in Turkey. The report uses the following materials: press reviews, data from reports published by various institutions, summaries of court decisions reflecting on legislation and its implementation, and interviews conducted with trade union specialists, leaders, and workers whose rights have been violated. These materials are used to introduce the State of Emergency period and the national and international frameworks applicable in Turkey. The report then presents cases of collective labour rights violations. An overview of European investments in Turkey in relation to the country’s economy and employment situation is also included in the first section. The second section describes examples of recent rights violations in European/European-affiliated companies with regard to the freedom of association. A small section has been added on the preliminary observations of the effect of the Covid-19 epidemic on labour rights. THE CONDITION OF COLLECTIVE LABOUR RIGHTS IN TURKEY To claim that labour rights have been freely exercised throughout the history of the Republic of Turkey would be misleading. Since the enactment of the first labour law in the Republic’s history, namely Law No. 3008 in 1936, fundamental collective labour rights— consisting of freedom of 6 C O L L E C T I V E R I G H T S O F W O R K E R S U N D E R T U R K E Y ’ S C O N T I N U O U S S TAT E O F E M E R G E N C Y T R A D E U N I O N R I G H T S I N E U R O P E A N A N D E U R O P E A N - A F F I L I AT E D E N T E R P R I S E S THE CONDITION OF COLLECTIVE L ABOUR RIGHTS IN TURKE Y 7