Human Tragedies of Turkey’s Purge
Gokhan Acikkollu
High School Teacher
Gokhan was detained on July 23, 2016 as part of Turkey’s post-coup crackdown. Although he was suffering from sever diabetes, he was denied access to his medics for six days. After 13 days in custody, Gokhan was found dead in his prison cell on August 5.
Hacı İsa Sezek
83-year old civilian
83-year-old Hacı İsa Sezek, arrested on charges of “membership in an armed organization” on Jan.3, is being kept in the same holding cell with his 29-year-old grandchild Süleyman Sezek.
Mustafa Torer
Businessman
Mustafa was among 45 thousand people in Turkey’s massive post crackdown following the coup attempt. He was taken into Iskenderun jailhouse. Under sever stress and trauma, Mustafa, who had already been suffering of diabetes, died over a heart attack.
Bilal Konakçı
Bomb Disposal Expert
Bilal Konakçı, a former bomb disposal expert who was retired after he lost his right hand and both eyes while trying to dispose of a bomb in 2009, was detained on Dec. 20 over links to the Gülen movement.
Furkan D.
12-year-old cancer patient
12 year-old Furkan died of brain cancer several months after Turkish border agents seized his and his parents’ passports at İstanbul Atatürk Airport, causing the family to abandon their plans to receive cancer treatment in Cuba.
5 Kids
5 Kids
A video shared on Jan. 23 on social media showed five children left alone in tears in front of Sincan Prison in Ankara after their mother was detained while they were visiting their father in prison.
Filiz Y.
A 30-year-old civilian
Filiz Y., a 30-year-old woman who gave birth at Mersin City Hospital on Feb 6, was detained in the wee hours of Feb. 7 over alleged links to the Gulen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Yavuz Bölek
Jailed Police Chief
Yavuz Bölek, a police chief dismissed from profession following corruption probes implicating Erdoğan, has cancer, and will soon be struck with paralysis if he isn’t given medical attention. His pleas are ignored.
74-year-old dies of heart attack in prison, children in handcuffs during funeral
The 74-year-old businessman Recep Erdem, under arrest as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement, passed away after a heart attack while his two children, also in prison over similar charges, were allowed to attend funeral ceremony only in handcuffs....
Government cuts off funds for disabled child over father’s Gülen links
The Turkish government has cut off funds granted to Rafia Nur, a 12-year-old child whose father has been arrested over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by authorities of masterminding a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016. According to the...
![[VIDEO] Mother transferred to Gebze prison, baby left in care of lawyers](https://turkeypurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/C9IfZXTWAAAI_18-400x250.jpg)
[VIDEO] Mother transferred to Gebze prison, baby left in care of lawyers
A breastfeeding mother was separated from her eight-month-old baby when she was transferred from an İstanbul prison to another one in Gebze, the pro-Kurdish DİHA news agency reported on Tuesday. According to the agency, Gülistan Akbaba was transferred from İstanbul’s...
Paralyzed by ill-treatment in Sivas prison, Turkish police officer dies at 33
Kadir Eyce, a 33-year-old police officer who was jailed due to alleged links to the Gülen movement, has died several weeks after he was released from prison due to health problems. According to photos and tweets posted by family members on Twitter, Eyce had been...
Deputy says prosecutor in solitary confinement with broken arms
Under arrest as part of the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown, the arms of Muzaffer Bayram, a former prosecutor in Kütahya province, were broken in prison where he is being held in solitary confinement, according to Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Barış...
Autistic children left unattended as teacher parents under arrest over alleged coup links
Uz family has two children with autism who were left to fend for themselves after their parents were arrested as part of an investigation into the Gülen movement after the July 15 coup attempt. The movement stands accused of masterminding the coup bid despite the lack...
Veteran out of social security coverage after being dismissed in post-coup purge
Being a veteran is no relief from Turkey’s government witch hunt as M.E.Ç., a former police officer who lost his one ear and eye to clashes wıth the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) says he cannot benefit from a state-backed social security coverage to undergo...
Arrested vet diagnosed with cancer, not allowed for treatment at hospital
Turkish veterinary doctor Harun Vural was diagnosed with cancer during his term under pre-trial detention however, the prosecutor in charge denies him permission to stay at hospital before an upcoming surgery. Erzurum-based veterinarian has been under arrest as part...
Former warden at gov’t-closed dormitory says suffered sexual assault, beatings, asphyxiation in prison
M.E., a 34-year-old Turkish man who used to work at a student dormitory affiliated with the Gülen movement, has told the New York Times that he was subjected to sexual assault, beatings and asphyxiation in prison. In last part of State of Emergency article series,...
Turkey jails disabled teacher after dismissing him, wife from profession
Denizli-based teacher Raşit Uzantı has been arrested days after he was dismissed from his profession along with her wife who used to work at a state hospital in Denizli. According to Aktifhaber news portal and a Twitter account, believed to be in the know of similar...
Kids with Down syndrome suffer from major health problems in absence of jailed teacher father
M.O., a dismissed teacher and father of two kids with 92 and 98 percent disability ratings, has reportedly been kept in an Antalya prison for almost 4 months over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July...
Turkish academic seeks to enter university as student after post-coup dismissal
A former research assistant at Ankara University’s faculty of law, Cenk Yiğiter, found a way to get around a post-coup witch hunt, as he took a nationwide university entrance exam in order to get back to the grind. Yiğiter was sacked by a government decree along with...
Teacher turned street vendor selling rice to passersby after dismissal in post-coup purge
Mehtap Yörük, a teacher who was dismissed as part of a government purge against dissidents in the aftermath of the July 15 coup attempt, has now been selling rice and chickpea in order to earn her living, at a central spot in the eastern part of Diyarbakır. Yörük’s...
Turkish doctor jailed over Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison
Ali Özer, a 48-year-old doctor who was jailed due to his alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, has died of a heart attack in Çorum Prison. Özer had been the deputy chief physician at Ankara Nallıhan State Hospital. The doctor died at the Çorum Teaching and...
Baby with Down syndrome suffers major health problems in absence of jailed parents
A 15-month-old baby with Down syndrome, Ayşe Sena Bunlu, has been suffering from serious health problems ever since her parents, both of whom are police officers, were purged from their posts and jailed in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15,...
Turkey’s jailed NASA scientist now sees the sun just one hour a day
Serkan Gölge, a Turkish-born NASA scientist who was arrested as part of Turkey’s post-coup crackdown against perceived enemies, is now allowed to see the sun only for an hour a day, as he is being kept in pre-trial detention in an Istanbul prison. He is expected to...
65-year-old grandmother looking after twin babies as mother, father in jail for 5 months
Twin daughters of the Istanbul-based Şengün family were handed over to their 65-year-old grandmother as both E. Şengün and his wife F. were arrested after being kept under detention for 30 days, on Nov. 2, 2016. The children were only 7-months-old when their parents...
Police officers detained over coup charges after detaining other police officers with same accusations
Turkey’s post-coup witch hunt has reached a new level with even police officers who are tasked to go after perceived coup plotters are not sure about their own fate. A Twitter account, famous for releasing tips from purge victims, tweeted on Monday a short passage...
![[VIDEO] 86-year-old Isparta man in prison for months over alleged coup involvement](https://turkeypurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/New_Bitmap_Image-3-400x250.jpg)
[VIDEO] 86-year-old Isparta man in prison for months over alleged coup involvement
Ali Osman Karahan, an 86-year-old Turkish man with walking and speaking difficulties has been kept in an Isparta prison for almost eight months over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which Turkish authorities accuse of being behind a failed coup attempt in July of...
Dismissed professor asks for prayers for elderly father, uncle, brother in prison
Nephrology professor Süleyman Türk has been asking for prayers for his elderly relatives who were imprisoned as part of the government’s post-coup witch hunt. Türk is, too, a victim of the relentless purge as he was dismissed as a professor from the Konya-based Selçuk...
![[VIDEO] ‘I have cancer and I need my husband,’ begs woman suffering from cancer](https://turkeypurge.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/nurdansahnn-696x398-400x250.jpg)
[VIDEO] ‘I have cancer and I need my husband,’ begs woman suffering from cancer
“I go to the prosecutor’s office every week and beg them, ‘Please I need my husband.’ I tell them, ‘Please, he can come [to the police station] every day to check in, he has no place to escape, he is not even guilty.’ He can sign in every day. But I just want him...
70-year-old man kept in solitary confinement for 7 months over alleged coup involvement
Seventy-year-old Ahmet Akdoğan has been kept in solitary confinement for almost seven months over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which Turkish authorities accuse of being behind a failed coup attempt in July of last year. According to the Aktif Haber news...
Turkey’s teachers, police officers join unskilled labor force after coup purge
Dismissed following decrees issued by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, many public servants, including police officers and teachers, found themselves working at unskilled jobs in the labor market. Turkey Purge managed to...
Turkey’s purge turns math teacher into construction worker
Y.E. a math teacher of ten years, now works as a construction worker in order to make his living. According to a Facebook post on March 6, Y.E. was dismissed from profession with a decree issued by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July 15,...
Dismissed under post-coup purge, court clerk works at transport store to earn living
Y.A. a court clerk of 5 years now works at a transport store in Mersin in order to make his living. According to a Facebook post on March 6, Y.A. was dismissed from profession with a decree issued by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July...
Father jailed over Gülen links, 6-months-old paralyzed baby left in intensive care
Y., the father of a 6-month-old disabled baby, was reportedly arrested almost three months ago over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15. According to the TR724 news portal, Y. had been performing...
Woman goes mad after police intervene in protest against husband’s dismissal
An İstanbul woman reacted angrily to police officers who tried to intervened in their protest against husband’s dismissal as part of Turkish government’s post-coup witch-hunt. In a video footage released on social media on March 6, a group of police officers in plain...
Injured during PKK attack, veteran sergeant being denied surgery after post-coup dismissal
Dismissed as part of the government’s post-coup witch hunt, Sgt. Aziz Demir, who was injured amid clashes between the military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is being denied surgery as he was stripped of social security benefits. Demir was targeted in...
With husband already in jail, woman along with two children detained in post-coup investigation
Nearly seven months after former public worker B.K. was arrested, his wife and two children were also detained as part of a government witch hunt against the Gülen movement, accused to be behind the coup attempt on July 15. Diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary...
Mother with disabled son, daughter detained over alleged coup involvement
Hatice Kökoğlu, the mother of a disabled son and daughter, has reportedly been detained in Kütahya province over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15. According to the Twitter account...
Teacher who lost sanity under detention remains in jail despite doctors’ reports
Tuğba Y., a teacher who lost her sanity due to alleged torture during weeks of interrogation, was arrested and has been kept in prison since late January despite doctors’ reports showing her deteriorating mental condition. According to the TR724 news website, Tuğba Y....
Dismissed police chief left to die of colorectal cancer in İzmir prison: Wife
Yavuz Bölek, a former police chief who was dismissed from profession following corruption probes implicating Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has colorectal cancer (CRC), and will soon be struck with paralysis if he is not given medical attention. His pleas are...
Mother with 6-month-old baby detained in Balıkesir, sent to Tekirdağ for interrogation
Ayşe Büyükgezici, the mother of a six-month-old baby boy, was reportedly detained in Balıkesir over alleged links to the Gülen movement and sent to Tekirdağ for interrogation, a city located some 200 kilometers from where she was detained. According to the TR724 news...
Doctor commits suicide after suspension from post due to Gülen links
A doctor who was removed from his post at the İzmir-based Katip Çelebi University’s hospital last Friday as part of an ongoing crackdown on the followers of the Gülen movement, committed suicide on Sunday by jumping from the 10th floor of the hospital. Doctor Orhan...
Arrested man with dislocated jaw being denied surgery for 11 days
M.K., a retired police officer under arrest at Silivri prison for some time, had his jaw broken after he, all of a sudden, fainted and fell to the ground on Feb. 2. Yet, he is yet to have a surgery despite experts warning of further ramifications. Already a high-blood...
Teacher detained while visiting imprisoned husband
N.A., a Turkish literature teacher who was left unemployed after her school was shuttered as part of the post-coup emergency rule, was detained when he stopped by Konya’s Ereğli prison to visit her imprisoned husband, İ.A, on Thursday. İ.A., a former accountant at the...