Human Tragedies of Turkey’s Purge
Teacher, diagnosed with cancer after dismissal, dies: report
An Adana-based taecher who was removed from her job as part of the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown, has died of cancer, according to media. Hatice Ezgi Orçan was diagnosed with cancer after she was dismissed from the post with an emergency decree. The...
Businessmen who spent over a year in pre-trial detention dies of cancer: report
Ali Hocaoğlu, a Turkish businessmen who had spent a year in pre-trial detention over his alleged links to the Gulen movement, has died of gastric cancer, according to media. Izmir-based businessman was jailed as part of an investigation into the Gulen followers in...
Wife died in exile in Greece, brother detained in midnight raid in Turkey
Mehmet Ali Uludağ, a Turkish refugee in Germany who lost his wife to cerebral hemorrhage last week, said that his elder brother has been detained in a midnight raid back home. “My pain has been multiplied now. I have two brothers. One is Veli Uludağ who died as a...
Public accountant loses 52 kg due to lack of medical care in pre-trial detention
Savaş Uyar, a 41-year-old public accountant in Turkey’s Giresun province has lost 52 kilograms during months-long pre-trial detention as he is suffering from several medical problems, according to several sources. Uyar was briefly jailed due to his accounting contract...
4-year-old disabled girl unable to receive treatment in Germany as parents face travel ban due to emergency rule
A 4-year-old girl from Turkey’s Mersin province who has been suffering from microcephaly, a rare medical condition in which the newborn’s skull is much smaller than expected, is unable to leave Turkey as her parents face travel ban due to post-coup emergency rule. In...
Escaped Turkey’s post-coup crackdown to Greece, woman dies of cerebral hemorrhage in exile
A 35-year old Turkish woman, named Esma Uludağ, who fled Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown to Greece, passed away on Saturday night due to a heart attack. Esma Uludağ, mother of three children, aged 3, 7 and 10 years old, worked as a civil servant in a...
Autopsy report confirms: 32-year-old woman with SLE dies in Mersin prison
Halime Gülsu, a teacher who was arrested on Feb. 20, 2018 for alleged links to the Turkey’s Gülen group, died on Saturday in a Mersin prison, an autopsy report of her death confirmed. Gülsu reportedly suffered from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a...
Teacher dies of cancer in pre-trial detention: report
An Elazig teacher identified as Cemal Gürer has died of cancer, according to online news portal Akfifhaber. Jailed over his links to the Gulen movement, Gürer was in pre-trial detention for some time, Aktifhaber said Wednesday. “His cancer problem relapsed while in...
70-year-old retired teacher in pre-trial detention for 19 months in Denizli — claim
Mehmet Yavaş, a retired teacher has been held in a prison in Denizli province for almost nineteen months over his alleged links to the Gülen group, which accused of masterminding a coup attempt in 2016. According to a social media user named Kaya Tunca, Yavaş is 70...
27-year-old teacher infected with HIV virus while in prison: lawyer
A 27-year-old Turkish teacher who was earlier jailed as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown against the Gulen movement, was infected with HIV virus while he was in prison, according to his lawyer. Lawyer Salih Koçak told Cumhuriyet newspaper on March 31 that...
Ankara man missing for 111 days as wife finds his car abandoned with deflated tire
Ümit Horzum, a former public servant who was removed from his job at Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK) in a government’s post-coup emergency decree, has been missing for 111 days while his wife has found his car abandoned with a deflated tire in Ankara. “WITH MY...
Mother of this baby put in pre-trial detention on coup charges in İstanbul — claim
Serap Öztürk, a Turkish woman and the mother of a 2-month-old baby (pictured above) has been arrested by a Turkish court over alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group, which is accused of masterminding a coup attempt in 2016. According to a twitter account named...
Under pretrial detention for 20 months, academic Sedat Laciner says ‘miss my home, children, wife, friends, students and books’
Renowned Turkish academic and political scientist Prof. Dr. Sedat Laçiner, who was arrested in the wake of a military coup on July 15, 2016, has stated that “I respond to what is said about me, and I don’t run from either prosecution or debate. But the accusations...
Hours after being released, man pictured sitting near graves of family members who died in traffic accident after visiting him in prison
On March 2, 2018, four members of a Turkish family were killed in a car crash while driving back from an Erzurum prison where another member of the family is being held as a post-coup prisoner. Today, that prisoner was released for a day to pay a visit to the graves...
Police officer suspended in post-coup crackdown dies of heart attack
Şahabettin Erdoğan, a 45-year-old former police officer who was suspended over his alleged ties to the Gulen movement, has passed away following a heart attack, according to media. Erdoğan headed to Ortaca State Hospital in Mugla after he felt a strong pain in his...
Mother of this child gets 7.5 years in prison for working at Gulen-affilated student dorm in Ankara
Suna Uslu, 29-year old Turkish woman and the mother of 1.5-year-old Asım Uslu (pictured above) has been sentenced to 7,5 years in prison for working at a now-closed student dormitory affiliated with the Gülen group, which is accused of masterminding a coup attempt in...
Purged computer teacher commits suicide days after his release from prison
Mehmet Kosar, a father of two and a 38-year-old computer teacher in Mugla’s Fethiye who was dismissed from his job over links to the Gulen movement, has killed himself days after he was released from prison pending trial over connections to Gulenists. Local...
Pregnant teacher, husband reportedly under police custody for 7 days
A Sinop teacher, pregnant to her second child, as well as her husband have been under police custody for the past 7 days, according to a social media account. @Magduriyet_TR1 , a Twitter account claimed to have knowledge on the matter, said Monday that the teacher,...
Cellmate of deceased teacher: They kneed him in the back. He held his chest until the day he died due to severe pain
An expert in forensic medicine who shared a cell with Gökhan Açıkkollu, a teacher who was tortured to death while under detention in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, has said the teacher was hurt more by the insults than the physical...
Purged, forced to flee, dead: The tragic story of Turkish family that drowned off the shores of Turkey
Ayşe Abdurrezzak, a 37-year-old teacher who was dismissed from her job after a coup attempt in July 126, and her children Abdulkadir Enes Abdurrezzak (11) and Halil Munir Abdurrezzak (3) died on Feb. 13, 2018 after a boat carrying a group of eight capsized in the...
Dismissed, jailed, tortured to death, exonerated: The tragic story of Turkish teacher who died in police custody
Gökhan Açıkkollu was a history teacher in İstanbul. What makes him memorable is that he is one of the hunreds of thousands of people who have been victimized by an ongoing purge carried out by the Turkish government since a coup attempt on July 15, 2016....
4 died, 1 injured in traffic accident following visit to family member in prison: report
Four members of a Turkish family were killed in a car crash while driving back from an Erzurum prison where another member of the family is being held as a post-coup prisoner, Aktif Haber online news portal said Thursday. Four members of the Aydin family died while a...
History teacher, died of torture in police custody, reinstated to job 19 months after his death
Gökhan Açıkkollu, a history teacher who was tortured to death while in police custody in the wake of a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 over alleged membership in the Gülen group, was found innocent one-and-a-half years later and “reinstated” to his job. The...
5-months pregnant woman detained as police fail to locate husband: report
A Samsun woman, identified as B.D. was detained after police failed to locate her husband as part an investigation in to the Gulen movement, media reported Saturday. According to Grihat online news portal, B.D., already a mother of three, was detained after a police...
Teacher with 25 years of experience working as hotel receptionist after dismissal
Ismet Sözen, an elementary school teacher until he was dismissed by a government decree issued under post-coup emergency rule in 2016, is now earning his keep by working as a night-shift receptionist at a hotel in Bursa province. According to Cumhuriyet newspaper,...
Teacher couple jailed as newborn twins under grandmother’s care: report
An Izmir couple, both teachers, were put in pretrial detention over their links to the Gulen movement as grand family members are now parenting their newborn twins and 7-year-old daughter, according to media. The physics teacher, identified as O.K. was detained along...
17-year-old disabled boy shot dead by mother as father under arrest in post-coup crackdown
Eyüp Öztürk, a 17-year-old boy with 99-percent disability was shot dead by his mother S.B., media said Friday. Denizli mother killed herself after shooting her son in the head who had cerebral palsy –permanent movement disorder caused by damaged brain...
UK-educated computer science professor, jailed for 13 months, dies of liver cancer
Ahmet Turan Özcerit, a UK-educated computer science professor who spent as long as 13 months under arrest as part of the government’s post-coup witch hunt, has passed away of liver cancer. The academic’s son Sinan Özcerit said Monday that his father died at hospital....
Another ‘Gülenist’ dies of heart attack in prison: report
Vahyettin Yahya Bayat, a 65-year-old Turkish businessman under arrest as part of an investigation into the Gulen group, passed away after a heart attack on Friday morning, the TR724 news portal reported. Bayat lost his life in his cell in Diyarbakır Prison following a...
Dismissed police officer dies of heart attack in German refugee camp: report
Ali Ünlü, a 42-year-old former police officer who was earlier dismissed from his job as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown, died of heart attack in a refugee camp in Stuttgart, according to media and people with knowledge of the incident. Ünlü, one of over...
Post-coup victim dies following explosion at firework company: report
A Nigde man who was left unemployed as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown has died following an explosion at a fireworks factory, according to media. Dogan news agency said an explosion at a fireworks plant in Nigde’s Kemerhisar neighborhood killed two...
Soldiers wait outside delivery room to take woman back to prison after birth: deputy
A group of soldiers from the Turkish army are reportedly waiting outside the delivery room in İzmir’s Çiğli state hospital in order to take ‘Gülenist’ Ayşe Ateş back to prison after giving birth, according to main opposition Republican People’s Party...
Purge-victim dies of multiple sclerosis weeks after being released from prison
Mesut Dinçer, a former court clerk dismissed and later arrested by the Turkish government over coup charges, has died of multiple sclerosis (MS) several weeks after he was released from prison pending trial, the TR724 news portal reported. Dinçer was dismissed from...
Jailed father allowed to attend son’s funeral in handcuffs
Jailed father of Berk Görmez, a 14-year-old boy who died of intestinel cancer last week, could attend his son’s funeral only with his hands cuffed during the ceremony. “They did not take off Bekir Gormez’s handcuffs during the funeral for his son Berk Gormez who died...
Lawyer put behind bars along with 3-month-old baby: report
An Istanbul lawyer, identified with her initials O.E.H., was put in pretrial detention along with her three-month-old baby as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement, media said. According to TR724 online news portal, O.E.H. stopped by the Tokat police...
Mother with 25-day-old baby allegedly jailed on coup charges in İstanbul
Halime Kaman, a Turkish national who gave birth some 25 days ago at an İstanbul hospital, was reportedly arrested by an İstanbul court on Friday, according to several Turkish media outlets and Twitter accounts. According to the @magduriyetlertr, Kaman gave birth...