Human Tragedies of Turkey’s Purge
Woman, 5-month-old son under custody after visiting husband in prison
Derya Gökten, the wife of an arrestee in Bursa prison was detained along with her 5-month-old son after visiting her husband in jail. According to a Twitter message seeking help from the Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the woman visited her...
Former university employee dies in traffic accident while working as farmer
Tevfik Bodur, a former employee at the government-closed Canik Basarı University, passed away after a traffic accident in the western province of Aydın. According to Turkish media on Friday, Bodur started working as a farmer in Aydın after the Samsun-based Canik...
‘My 5-month old son is slowly going blind in prison,’ says jailed mother
Betül Selçuk, a physics teacher who has been held in pretrial detention for almost 11 months over alleged links to the Gülen movement, has told her lawyer that her 5-month-old son, Mehmet Selim, is slowly going blind in prison due to overheating and unhygienic...
Body of history teacher, died under custody, not allowed in Istanbul cemeteries: father
Gökhan Açıkkollu, a history teacher who died under custody after being detained as part of a post-coup investigation into the Gulen movement, was not allowed to be buried in Istanbul, according to his father Ayhan Açıkkollu. A video interview with the father on Aug 5,...
Dismissed academic tweets mother of four under detention for months on coup charges
A tweet posted by Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, an academic and a columnist for the t24 news website, revealed that a Turkish woman with four children has been kept in pre-trial detention for nine months on alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group. The group is accused by the...
Dismissed primary school teacher sets up bakery to get by
A primary school teacher with at least 6 years of experience in education, Fecri Aydin was dismissed from his job under a post-coup emergency decree before establishing a bakery shop to earn his living. According to pro-Kurdish Dihaber, Aydin was sacked from his job...
Arrested police officer not allowed to attend son’s funeral
Put in pre-trial arrest after he was dismissed from his job, Mugla-based police officer, identified as A., was not allowed to attend his son’s funeral, according to a recent tip submitted to magduriyet.com. Magduriyetler.com is an online blog page that publishes tips...
Police detain another woman shortly after delivery, bringing total to 16
Ayşe Kaya, 30-year-old woman who gave birth to a baby at Eslife Private Hospital in İstanbul's Esenyurt district early on Tuesday, was reportedly detained by police with her newborn baby later the same day as part of an investigation into Turkey’s Gülen group. Turkish...
Father says wife, 11-month-old son under arrest despite medical problems
Cengiz Zaza Akbaba, the husband of Gulistan Diken Akbaba said in a recent video that his wife and 11-month-old son have been under arrest despite the babies medical problems. “This child is only one of 560 children. Now, 560 children are not allowed to touch the soil,...
Disabled teacher, husband removed from job as brothers under arrest
Fatma Koyun, a teacher with an 82 percent physical disability who was dismissed from his job as part of a post-coup investigation, says her husband as well her brothers have been under arrest for months. In a video recording of herself that was widely shared on social...
Woman briefly detained just hours after delivering baby at hospital
A group of police officers waited outside of private Hizmet Hospital in Istanbul’s Bahcelievler district in order to detain Yasemin Özkul, who gave birth to her third child just several hours ago, according to Turkish media. Police left Hizmet Hospital only after main...
Arrested hunger striker says prison guards check at night to see if she’s dead or alive
Academic Nuriye Gülmen, who has been on a hunger strike for 127 days to protest her dismissal under state of emergency decree-laws, has said prison guards check at night to see if she is dead or alive, the Bianet news website reported on Wednesday. Gülmen sent her...
Teacher with 35.5 years of experience working as farmer after dismissal
An unidentified teacher, with 35.5 years of experience in education according to his own telling, has been working as a farmer at an olive grove since he was dismissed from his job under a post-coup emergency rule. A video that has recently emerged on social media...
Bride, groom detained in bridal car while on way to wedding venue
Emine Cetik and Aykut Kutlu, a soon-to-be-married couple, were stopped by police in a bridal car and detained over links to the Gulen movement while they were on their way to the wedding venue in Usak. Set to be officially married in just hours, the couple hit the...
Teacher detained just after giving birth, handcuffed to bed at hospital
Turkish teacher Fatma Ozturk was detained just after she gave birth to her baby at Ege Umut Hospital in Manisa’s Turgutlu district while police handcuffed her to a bed she is resting on. Police detained Ozturk over her alleged links to the Gulen movement, which the...
67-year-old paralysed man under arrest for 11 months over donation to student dormitory
Detained as part of an investigation into Gulen movement in mid-Aug, 2016, I.B. has been under arrest for 11 months. A 67-year-old shopkeeper in Balikesir’s Dursunbey district. I.B. was detained at around Aug 15, 2016 for having donated a land he inherited from his...
9-month-pregnant woman under custody for 5 days despite labor pains
Zara Koc, a cardiac patient who is expecting her new baby anytime was detained on July 3 and has been under police custody since then, according to Turkish media. 9-month-pregnant Koc was detained along with 12 others in police operations in Izmir and Mardin...
Pregnant with twins, Kocaeli woman detained during control at hospital
Nuriye Yalcin, a Kocaeli woman who is expected to deliver twin babies in 4.5 months was detained during a regular medical control at Izmit Medical Park Hospital on Tuesday. Accused of having links to the Gulen movement, Yalcin was held under police custody for 5 hours...
March of Justice: 60-year old man covers 309 km in 17 days to protest son’s arrest on coup charges
A 60-year-old Turkish man whose son has been kept in İstanbul Silivri Prison for over 10 months on coup charges, has walked a total of 309 km in 17 days as part of a “March of Justice” kicked off by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on June 15....
Wife dies of heart attack on way to prison to visit husband in jail: report
A 29 year-old woman died of heart attack on Monday while on her way to visit her husband who has been imprisoned over links to Turkey’s Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding a failed coup last summer. According to a local news outlet, Pınar...
86-year-old Isparta man in 11th month of his arrest on coup charges
Ali Osman Karahan, an 86-year-old Turkish man with walking and speaking difficulties has been kept in an Isparta prison for almost 12 months over alleged links to Turkey's Gülen group, which Turkish authorities accuse of being behind a failed coup attempt in July of...
History teacher gives birth to her third child in prison
Under arrest as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement since Nov 3, 2016, history teacher Özlem Meci gave birth to her third child in prison. A mother of two, Özlem delivered her third child, named Murat, on Feb 15, 2017 but her requests for trial without...
Turkey allegedly keeps mother with infant under arrest until husband surrenders self
Dilek Sağlam, a teacher and mother of a 10-month-old baby, has been under arrest since June 12 because her husband could not be found by the police, TR724 reported on Tuesday. Sağlam has a 5-year-old daughter who is unable to continue her treatment for shortness of...
![[VIDEO] Mother asks for help in finding abducted son](../../wp-content/uploads/2017/06/murat_okumus-1080x675-1-400x250.jpg)
[VIDEO] Mother asks for help in finding abducted son
Upon Turkish authorities’ reluctance to start an investigation into the abduction of Murat Okumus, a 40-year-old accountant who was a manager at the government-closed Sifa University Hospital in Izmir, his mother is now asking for help from the government officials....
Yet another new mother detained just after delivery
Hatice Avan, who gave birth to a baby in the western Turkish province of Denizli on Thursday, was detained on Friday, despite her doctor’s objection, over alleged links to the Gülen movement, which is accused by the Turkish government of masterminding a failed coup...
Woman miscarried twins in prison, dead bodies not returned to family
The 28-year-old Nurhayat Yildiz miscarried her twins in prison and the dead bodies of her babies were not returned to any of her family members. Arrested following her detention on Aug 29, 2016 over ByLock mobile app, Yildiz lost her twins in 19th week of her...
Teacher handcuffed behind back; police pinched wife’s cheek during raid
Once an inspiring educator to his pupils, a Batman teacher was detained with her hands cuffed behind back as a perceived enemy of the state, his wife said in a letter to Turkish media on With the names of both the teacher and his wife remaining anonymous, the details...
69-year-old dies of heart attack during Justice March against post-coup violations
The 69-year-old Hasan Tatli passed away after a heart attack he suffered during the ‘March of Justice’, a 250-mile walk the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) started against the government’s post-coup rights violations five days ago. Started a day after...
Policeman, teacher wife and premature baby under arrest over Gülen links
Fatma Cetin, an Erzurum teacher who was earlier dismissed from public school as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown against the Gülen movement, has been under arrest along with her premature baby, Sozcu columnist Emin Colasan revealed. Cetin’s husband, who...
Woman accused of being Gülenist by ex-husband in prison for 10 months
Tuba Kaya, a 27-year-old reporter from the now-closed Zaman daily, was arrested on Sept. 19 after her ex-husband lodged a complaint claiming that she was a member of Turkey’s Gülen group, which the Turkish government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15,...
Wife of veteran who lost hand, eyes in bomb attack under custody over Gülen links
Özlem Konakçı, the wife of former bomb disposal expert Bilal Konakçı, was detained over her alleged links to the Gülen movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the July 15 2016 coup attempt, on June 9. Bilal was retired from his position at İzmir Police...
Woman detained along with 40-day-old baby while visiting jailed husband
Zehra Elbir, a former court clerk who was earlier dismissed from her job in the government’s post-coup purge of state institutions, was detained only 40 days after she gave birth to her second child during a visit to her husband in prison. Eril Elbir, Zehra’s husband...
Jailed journalist’s daughter: My father needs urgent medical care
R. G. Çetinkaya, the daughter of jailed Turkish journalist Tuncer Çetinkaya, has written a letter to Turkish Minute in which she explained the deteriorating health of her father, who suffers from a serious kidney problem as well as other ailments and called on Turkish...
Lawyer: Imprisoned hunger strikers Gülmen and Özakça facing heart failure
Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça, two dismissed educators who have been on a hunger strike for 102 days, are now faced with heart failure, the t24 news website reported on Friday. Gülmen and Özakça were on a hunger strike when they were arrested on terror charges on May...
60-year old man attends “March of Justice,” sleeps outside to protest son’s arrest on coup charges
A 60-year-old Turkish man whose son has been kept in İstanbul Silivri Prison for over 10 months on coup charges, attended a “March of Justice” kicked off by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Thursday in order to demand his son’s release, Sözcü...
Another woman faces detention at hospital just after giving birth
Elif Coşkun, who just gave birth on Monday night in Turkey’s western province of İzmir, will reportedly be taken into custody at the hospital due to her links to the Gülen movement, according to an opposition deputy. Raising concerns about the situation of Coşkun from...