Turkey’s post-coup crackdown
dismissed*
investigated**
arrested
schools, dormitories and universities shut down
academics lost jobs****
judges, prosecutors dismissed*****
media outlets shut down
journalists arrested***
since July 15, 2016 as of January 26, 2022
*This number includes (1) state officials, teachers, bureaucrats, and academics who were dismissed by gov’t decrees, No.668 issued on July 25, 2016, No.669 issued on July 31, 2016, No. 670/71 issued on August 17, 2016, No. 672/673/674 issued on Sept. 1, 2016, No.675/676 issued on Oct. 29, 2016, No. 677/678 issued on Nov. 22, 2016, No.679/680/681 issued on Jan. 6, 2017, No.682/683/684/685 issued on Jan. 23, 2017, No.686/687 issued on Feb. 7, 2017, No.689 issued on April 29, 2017, No.692 issued on July 14, 2017, No.693/694 issued on August 25, 2017, No.701 issued on July 8, 2018; and (2) academics who lost their jobs by gov’t decrees, No. 672/673/674 issued on Sept. 1, 2016, No.675/676 issued on Oct. 29, 2016, No. 677/678 issued on Nov. 22, 2016, No.679/680/681 issued on Jan. 6, 2017, No.686/687 issued on Feb. 7, 2017, No.689 issued on April 29, No.692 issued on July 14, 2017, No.693/694 issued on August 25, 2017, No.701 issued on July 8, 2018; (3) and dismissed military personnel [17,844 officers and 16,409 cadets]. For detailed information, please visit: https://turkeypurge.com/purge-in-numbers-2 and turkeypurge.com/academics-sacked-from-positions.
**According to an official statement by the Turkish Justice Minister on June 15, 2020 . See https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2020/gundem/bakan-soylu-feto-bilancosunu-acikladi-99-bin-066-operasyon-5931900/.
***Data compiled from PEN International, Expression Interrupted, Platform for Independent Journalism (P24), Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF), Journalists’ Union of Turkey (TGS), Progressive Journalists Association (ÇGD), and Bianet online news portal. This number includes all journalists who were arrested in the aftermath of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt. Some 50 of them are still kept under arrest with the remaining released pending trial or cleared of charges. For detailed information, please visit: https://turkeypurge.com/journalism-in-jail
****This number includes only the ones dismissed by gov’t decrees, No. 672/673/674 issued on Sept. 1, 2016, No.675/676 issued on Oct. 29, 2016, No. 677/678 issued on Nov. 22, 2016, No.679/680/681 issued on Jan. 6, 2017, No.686/687 issued on Feb. 7, 2017, No.689 issued on April 29, No.692 issued on July 14, 2017, No.693/694 issued on August 25, 2017; and not the ones who lost jobs when the Turkish government passed a decree ordering the closure of 15 universities on July 23, 2016. For detailed information, please visit: https://turkeypurge.com/academics-sacked-from-positions-2
*****Constitutional Court general assembly resolution 2016/49158 on June 26, 2017, paragraph 19.
23-year-old Kurdish youngster shot to death by police after driving without license
Erhan Eser, a 23-year-old Kurdish youngster, was shot to death by the Turkish police after driving without a license, the Dokuz8 news portal reported. Eser reportedly skipped a police checkpoint in İstanbul's Beylikdüzü district on Tuesday, which reportedly ended up...
8-month pregnant woman in police custody over Gulen links
Büşra Erdoğan, an eight-month pregnant woman, has been taken into police custody in Ayvalık district over her alleged links to Turkey's Gulen group, which the government of accused of masterminding a coup attempt in 2016. The group denies any involvement. According to...
Purge-victim police officer dies of cancer 9 days after release from prison
Abdulvahit Tunçay, a police officer who was dismissed from his job by the government after a coup attempt in 2016, died of cancer only nine days after being released from prison on bail. Posting a series of tweets on Thursday, Tunçay's daughter said he was denied...
63-year-old man placed in solitary confinement due to Covid-19
Üneys Özcan Öztürk, a 63-year old Turkish man, has reportedly been put in solitary confinement in Denizli T Type Prison after "contacting" with prisoners who suffer from COVID-19 symptoms. According to Bold news portal, Öztürk is blind in one eye and suffers from a...
Father of imprisoned military cadet dies of heart attack following visit to son in prison
Father of one of the military cadets who were imprisoned in the aftermath of a failed military coup in July 2016, died of heart attack hours after visiting his son in Turkey's notorious Silivri Prison in İstanbul. According to a Twitter account managed by family...
72-year-old man denied bail despite suffering from cardiac dysfunction, COVID-19 symptoms in prison: report
A 72-year-old Turkish man has repeatedly been denied bail by a court despite suffering from a series of cardiac issues, hypertension, Covid-19 symptoms as well as diabetes. According to the Bold news portal, Bekir Bayram, who lost around 40 kg in prison, has recently...
Take Action: Sign petition to call on Kyrgyz authorities to prevent illegal deportation of Turkish educator to Turkey
An online petition has been launched by Amnesty International to call on Kyrgyz authorities to prevent the illegal deportation of a Turkish citizen abducted by Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) as part of Erdogan government’s intense crackdown on...
9 international human rights groups call on Turkish gov’t to release political prisoners in face of COVID-19 outbreak
9 international human rights groups have called on governments aroud the world, NGOs and the UN to push the Turkish government to release political prisoners and "condemn its use of the pandemic to further target human rights defenders." The right groups -- Raoul...
U.S. House Committee Chair calls on Turkish President Erdogan to release purge-victim prisoners in face of COVID-19 outbreak
Eliot L. Engel, Democrat of New York and the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a letter last week calling on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to release journalists, civil society activists, and members of the political opposition "who do...
Documentary “Crossing Maritsa” is set for release on Youtube this Sunday
Crossin Maritsa, a documentary exploring the life of those who fled the post-coup purge in Turkey via illegal means, is set for release on Youtube this upcoming Sunday. "Finally!!! It was a long, difficult and touching journey we had while producing our documentary...
HRW, EP officials call on Turkish gov’t to release political prisoners to stem COVID-19
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and several EP officialls have called on the Turkish government to release all political prisoners to stem COVID-19 spread. Nacho Sánchez Amor, the European Parliament’s standing rapporteur on Turkey, and Sergey Lagodinsky and the chair of the...
Chronology of Turkey’s Purge:
Video purportedly shows Turkish soldiers torturing Kurdish villager in Afrin
A graphic video that has recently emerged on social media purportedly shows a group of soldiers with uniforms bearing Turkish flag beating a Kurdish villager in Afrin, a town in northern Syria. Turkey Purge cannot authenticate the newly surfaced video, which was...
Turkey’s main opposition leader attacked at military funeral in Ankara
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has been attacked by a group of people at the funeral of 26-year-old Turkish infantryman who was killed on Friday during an operation against Kurdish militants on Turkey’s border...
Turkish lawyer beaten by President Erdoğan’s bodyguards in İstanbul: report
Sertuğ Sürenoğlu, a Turkish citizen and an İstanbul-based lawyer, was beaten by the bodyguards of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after he objected to the president’s security detail holding up traffic, the Sözcü daily reported. Erdoğan on Sunday attended the wedding...
WATCH: Emotional reunion of 7-year-old son, father after almost 2 years in Turkish prison
When a 7-year-old boy finally got to see his imprisoned father again, cameras were rolling, and so were the tears. According to a video footage posted by a twitter account, a Turkish man who was put in pre-trial detention on terror and coup charges in early 2017, has...
For Immediate Release:
“We’re concerned about the fate of people in Turkish prisons”
Witnessed abuse? Report here
