Human Tragedies of Turkey’s Purge
Mentally disabled man put in pre-trial detention in Malatya: report
Yusuf Akkuş, a Turkish man wih 70 percent disability rating, has been put in pre-trial detention in Malatya prison on terror charges. According to a Twitter account run by Akkuş's brother, he had a stroke in 2016 in Syria. When he was brought back to Turkey by his...
Public relations specialist given 19 years in jail on coup charges, put in solitary confinement in Çorum prison
Mehmet Keleş, a 44-year-old Turkish man who used to work as a public relations specialist at a Gülen-affiliated high school in Eskişehir, has been given 19 years in prison on terror and coup charges. According to a twitter account, Keleş is currently being held in...
Psychiatrist seeking cancer treatment abroad denied passport due to post-coup dismissal
Psychiatry professor Haluk Savaş said he was denied passport due to the fact that he had been dismissed as part of the Turkish government’s post-coup crackdown. Savaş was earlier held under arrest for months over his alleged links to the Gülen movement before he was...
It is time to do a reality check and see how the mother’s of Turkey’s purge are doing
As the world celebrates The Mother's Day today, more than 17,000 women, many of them with babies, have been deprived of enjoying the day as they are obliged to spend it in prisons across Turkey. Especially after a coup attempt on July 15, prisons in Turkey turned into...
[VIDEO] Turkish philosophy teacher says wife had to give birth at home due to Erdogan’s witch-hunt
A Turkish philosophy teacher, named Yasin, has said in a video documentary that his wife had to give birth to their 4th child at home due to an arrest warrant the government issued against them over their suspected ties to the Gulen movement. Advocates for Silenced...
Kütahya parent in pre-trial detention for 3 months on coup charges, 3-year old daughter left in care of relatives: report
Sümeyra Öztürk and Fatih Öztürk, two Turkish citizens and the parent of a three-year old child, have been held in pre-trial detention for over three months over alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a coup...
Jailed prosecutor’s wife died on way to visit husband in prison
Firdevs Pekgüzel, the wife of the former prosecutor Mehmet Ali Pekgüzel who was jailed as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s post-coup crackdown, passed away following a traffic accident, according to sources. “People are dying on the way to visit their spouses...
Biology teacher who fled Erdogan’s crackdown to Argentina dies while working to make a living as deliveryman
Ebubekir Altay, a 34-year-old biology teacher from Turkey who sought refuge in Argentina in the face of the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s post-coup crackdown, passed away following a traffic accident. Altay picked up ice-cream from a store in Buenos Aires with his...
Turkish educator who inspired 2015 movie with her volunteer work behind bars for 31 months: report
A Turkish woman whose story inspired a blockbuster movie in 2015 has developed serious health problems during her 31 months in prison and solitary confinement, the tr724 news website reported on Thursday. According to the report Karyağdı has developed advanced-stage...
Green Card lottery winner from Turkey loses chance to enter US due to post-coup arrest warrant
Mehdi Başoğlu, a 22-year-old recent university graduate from Istanbul, lost his chance to enter US with the Green Card Diversity program due to an arrest warrant Turkish government issued against him as part of the post-coup crackdown. Bold online news portal reported...
Physics teacher, dismissed in post-coup purge, dies of cancer at 43
A physics teacher at a high school in Turkey's Bursa province until he was dismissed, Gökşin Öz died of cancer at the age of 43, several sources reported. Oz spent some time in prison as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement's followers in the aftermath of...
[VIDEO] Purge Museum visits Brussels with Turkey’s post-coup victims telling of their tragedies
Purge Museum, an initiative that collects and exhibits items belonging to individuals who survived Turkey’s massive crackdown on the Gülen movement, opened for a four-day run in Brussels on Tuesday evening, presenting a selection of articles and their heart-wrenching...
Purge-victim engineer dies of brain cancer weeks after being released from prison: HDP deputy
Mustafa Çelikbilek, a purge-victim Turkish engineer, died of brain cancer on Tuesday, according to Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a human rights activist and a deputy of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Gergerlioğlu frequently brings up the plight of victims of the...
‘Gulenist’ purge-victim receiving cancer treatment in Manisa prison: HDP deputy
Ahmet Karakuş, a Turkish man who was imprisoned over his links to Turkey's Gülen movement, has been receiving chemotherapy treatment for cancer in prison and has not been released, according to a member of the Turkish parliament. Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a human...
[VIDEO] Turkish gov’t removes 3-year-old adopted child from foster family over Gülen links
A 3-year-old boy was separated from his foster family as the adoptive parents were removed from their public jobs over his alleged links to the Gulen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the July 15, 2016 failed coup attempt. Euronews spoke with a...
29-year-old purge-victim lawyer commits suicide in Turkey’s Zonguldak: report
Emir Said İnam, a Turkish lawyer from Zonguldak's Devrek district, killed himself at his home April 16, Turkish police said. According to the Cumhuriyet daily, his family members called for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead....
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...
1-year-old baby with cancer held in Mardin prison with mother: former HDP deputy
Avşin Usanmaz, a one-year-old baby with brain cancer, has been held in a prison in Mardin province with his imprisoned mother. According to a tweet posted by Mehmet Ali Aslan, a former Turkish deputy, the baby is diagnosed with a brain tumor which causes red and...
Turkish computer science student missing in Evros following failed attempt to escape to Greece
21-year-old university student Mahir Mete Kul was found dead days after the boat he used to cross Evros river between Greece and Turkey capsized on March 24. A computer science student at Istanbul’s Beykent University, Kul spent 10 months in prison on charges of...
Primary school teacher, dismissed in post-coup purge, dies of cancer
Bekir Gürcan, a primary school teacher from the western province of Manisa who was dismissed as part of the Turkish government's post-coup purge of state institutions, died of cancer. Gürcan was diagnosed with colon cancer in December, 2018. Bold Medya reported...
Dismissed geography teacher dies as construction worker in Turkey’s Duzce
Kazım Kurnaz, a high-school geography teacher who was dismissed by a decree issued by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, died on Feb 1 in a construction accident in Duzce province, MedyaBold reported this week. According to the...
Man, 2 sons drown in the Aegean Sea off Turkey: report
A man and his two children died on Thursday after attempting to reach Greece in a boat that probably sank off the Aegean island of Samos close to Turkey’s coast, Reuters reported, citing a Greek official. The Greek coast guard was alerted about a boat in distress in...
Purge victim judge dies of cancer –claim
Mehmet Tosun, a Turkish judge who was dismissed from his job after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, died of cancer on Thursday, according to a twitter account believed to be managed by another purged judge claimed. The claim has neither been confirmed nor denied by...
Bedridden man stands trial on terror, coup charges in Şanlıurfa
A Turkish man identified as Veysi Demir is standing trial over his alleged links to Turkey's Gülen group, which is accused of masterminding a coup attempt in 2016. The group denies any involvement. According to a twitter account managed by Demir's family members,...
Computer technician, died of cancer after dismissal, reinstated to job 3 months after his death
Ömer Faruk Aksoy, a computer technician who died of skin cancer after he was dismissed from job, was found innocent 2.5 years later and “reinstated” to his job. Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a rights activist and a lawmaker from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) tweeted...
Turkish man abducted by gunmen at toll station in Edirne: wife
Salim Zeybek, a Turkish businessman, was abducted by a group of gunmen in Edirne province on the night of February 21, 2019, according to several tweets posted by a twitter account claiming to be his wife. "I am Fatma Betül Zeybek. My husband, Salim Zeybek was...
Purge-victim teacher dies of cancer: report
Habibe Çınar, a 31-year-old purge-victim Turkish teacher, has died of cancer, the pro-Gulen news portal TR724 reported on Thursday. According to the news portal, Çınar, a mother of two children aged 1 and 5, was initially fired from her job by the Turkish government...
[VIDEO] Joy after journalist Ece Sevim Ozturk was released from prison
Turkish journalist Ece Sevim Öztürk, who produced investigative reports on the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, on Tuesday was sentenced to three years, one month and 15 days in prison on charges of supporting a terrorist organization. Öztürk was released pending appeal...
Purge-victim teacher dies of cancer months after being dismissed from his job
A Turkish teacher who was fired from his job at Manisa-based Şehzade Mehmet Ali College with a gov't decree issued after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, died of cancer on Sunday, a Twitter user under pseudonym @supermenlikzor wrote. "He was my teacher...
Sisters killed, mother seriously injured in traffic accident following visit to ‘Gülenist’ father in prison
Two girls were killed Saturday, while their mother was seriously injured in a car crash while driving back home from a Kırıkkale prison where their father is being held as a post-coup prisoner. According to a tweet by Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a deputy of the...
Greek man moved by Turkish refugees who left 10 euros for wood they took to stay warm
A group of Turkish asylum seekers in Greece has become a sensation after they left 10 euros for the wood they took from a café to stay warm, local media reported Tuesday. “Last night a group of people we came from Turkey. Because of the cold weather we had to make...
Journalist tells story of Turkey’s post-coup detainees tortured in Ankara building
Turkish journalist Cevheri Guven has claimed in a video footage that post-coup detainees are being taken to a specially-equipped building in Ankara where they are subject to torture . In a recent video recording published by the online news portal Bold Medya, Guven...
4.5-month pregnant woman hospitalized weeks after she was jailed
Emine Ay, a 4.5-months pregnant woman who was jailed last month, has been hospitalized due to risk of a potential miscarriage. “I have just talked with the chief physician at the Bitlis State Hospital. She was hospitalized because she had a risk of miscarriage. She is...
Jailed political scientist Türköne seen with daughter in first photo from Turkish prison
Sıla Türköne, the daughter of jailed Turkish journalist Mümtazer Türköne, has said her father will celebrate yet a third birthday in Silivri Prison, sharing a photo with her father taken during a prison visit. The İstanbul 13th High Criminal Court on July 6 sentenced...
Body of second child of purge-victim Akçabay family found in Evros River: report
The body of five-year-old Mesut Akçabay, who went missing along with his mother and two other siblings on July 19 when the boat carrying them capsized, was found in the Evros River on Thursday. The Akçabay family — father Murat, mother Hatice (36), children Ahmet Esat...
20-year-old university student in pre-trial detention for 14 months in Manisa — claim
Nuran Gelen, a 20-year-old Celal Bayar University student has been held in a prison in Manisa province for almost fourteen months over his alleged links to the Gülen group, which accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a coup attempt in 2016. According to a...