Turkey Continues Its Witch Hunt Against Gülen Followers
Photos of the individuals arrested and detained. Source: Turkish Minute.
Date posted: September 3, 2016
MICHAEL VAN DER GALIEN
The purges continue unabated in Turkey. On Friday, 218 individuals were arrested on charges of being members of a terrorist organization. Another 421 were detained.
These arrests and detentions took place more than 6 weeks after the Turkish military staged a failed coup. In the meantime, not only the military officers responsible for the coup have been arrested, but the same goes for many others: people who had absolutely nothing to do with the coup, but who are simply accused of sympathizing with Fethullah Gülen, the Islamic scholar Turkey says masterminded the coup.
In what’s becoming a repetitive story, a host of journalists, lawyers, teachers and civil servants were among those arrested by the authorities.
All in all, more than 41,000 people have been detained in recent weeks, and more than 22,000 individuals were arrested. According to the latest reports, a sum total of 130,000 people have lost their jobs.
Turkey has asked Pakistan to crack down on institutions run by US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara believes was behind the failed coup against President Erdogan. But many Pakistanis do not want to follow along.
Turks Fleeing To Greece Find Mostly Warm Welcome, Despite History
Now, at least 1,000 Turkish citizens are seeking refuge in Greece, according to the refugee support nonprofit SolidarityNOW. It’s hard to pin down an exact number because not many have applied for asylum, says Antonis Spathis, a human rights lawyer in Thessaloniki. The Greek Asylum Service told NPR that 186 Turkish citizens applied for asylum in 2016 and noted there has been a “significant” increase in 2017.
Erdogan’s persecution: 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. Sağlam has a 5-year-old daughter who is unable to continue her treatment due to her mother’s arrest. Sağlam’s father was told that his daughter would be released only if his son-in-law surrenders to the police.
Turkey tries to trap Obama with extradition demand [of Mr. Gülen]
But while U.S. agency spokesmen are trying to be cautious in what they say, skepticism about Turkey’s claims that Gulen directed the plot are widespread in Washington. Last week, in comments that likely burned a few ears in Ankara, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told The Washington Post that he did not believe Turkey had yet offered enough proof to implicate Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania’s Poconos region for years.
Torture – Turkish prisoner says tied to chair, pushed into sea while under custody
A Turkish man, identified with his initials D.G., was bound to a chair and pushed into sea on multiple times as police officers tortured him while under custody. Detained as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement in October 2016, D.G. was put in pre-trial detention after days of torture, he told his brother during latter’s recent visit to the prison.
Post-coup purge in Turkey leaves children parentless after mother and father are put behind bars
Turkey’s post-coup purge is continuing to hit children, leaving them parentless in myriad cases, shattering their families, disrupting their education and upending their emotional life.
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