Retired on disability, former bomb disposal expert kept in jail for a month over Gülen links


Date posted: January 25, 2017

Bilal Konakçı, a former bomb disposal expert for the İzmir Police Department 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 faith-based Gülen movement, and his wife is worried about his health as authorities refuse to allow the family to contact him.

Konakçı’s wife Özlem, in a letter to Yeni Çağ daily columnist Ahmet Takan on Tuesday, said that her husband cannot see to his daily needs as he lost two eyes and a hand in a bomb explosion, a disability that was confirmed in a state hospital report.

After 21 days in detention, Konakçı was arrested by a court in İzmir on Jan. 10 and has been kept in a prison in İzmir’s Menemen district since then.

“During his hearing on Jan. 10, lawyer who was appointed by the İzmir Bar Association didn’t come to defend my husband. After the court appointed another lawyer who had no information about his defense, he was arrested,” wife said.

Asking for Takan’s help in reaching the relevant authorities to get her husband out of prison, Özlem Konakçı said that their 13-year-old daughter doesn’t speak to anyone and their 3-year-old daughter waits for her father to return.

“I worked hard to bring my elder daughter and my husband out of depression after he lost his hand and eyes in the bomb explosion in 2009. Everything was just getting back to normal; however, he was imprisoned on allegations of things he was never involved in,” she said.

“How can a man who is blind, cannot use his hands and has difficulty walking eat and go to the toilet alone? How can he take care of his daily needs? How can he wash his clothes?” she added.

Source: Turkey Purge , January 25, 2017

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Gülen: purge of public officials seems ‘arbitrary’

The Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who has inspired the popular civic and social Hizmet (Service) movement, has said that the reassignment of thousands of public officials from their posts without any disciplinary procedures following the Dec. 17, 2013 corruption scandal seems to have been conducted on an arbitrary basis.

Toward the ‘Mubarak model’

As Turkey’s all-inclusive civil society organization, the Hizmet movement, which has always advocated human rights and freedom, adopted democracy, worked to make the state more transparent and accountable, supported Turkey’s accession to the EU and its integration into the world, has become a target.

Family, friends losing hope as Calgary imam arrested in Turkey remains imprisoned

For a year, Calgary imam Davud Hanci has spent most of his days in solitary confinement in Turkey, accused of being a terrorist linked to failed 2016 coup attempt. “They’re just holding him there and they don’t want to release him because they don’t have any real evidence,” said Malik Muradov, executive director of Calgary’s Intercultural Dialogue Institute and a friend of Hanci.

Cyber attacks on news websites threaten freedom of press, expression

Starting mid-February, the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) has been severely penalizing a number of news TV channels known for their anti-government broadcasts. Those channels, which include Samanyolu Haber TV and Bugün TV, were mostly penalized on the grounds that their programs were biased. The channels have been broadcasting reports about claims of corruption and bribery that have implicated some government members.

Turkey’s Changing Freedom Deficit

Erdoğan’s government is by no means the first to compel Turkish citizens to hide their preferences and beliefs. Under the secular governments that ruled Turkey from the 1920s to 1950, and to some extent until 2002, pious Turks seeking advancement in government, the military, and even commerce had to downplay their religiosity and avoid signaling approval of political Islam.

Children from all over the world embarked on Turkish voyage

Around 22 years ago, Fethullah Gülen said, “The day will come when you will no longer fit into the stadiums.” In fact, it turned out to be true. The Turkish Olympiad, which began in 2003 with young people from 17 different countries, has grown to the point that this year we hosted 2,000 students from 140 countries. The Olympiad came to an end in Istanbul with a magnificent final ceremony.

Latest News

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

University refuses admission to woman jailed over Gülen links

In Case You Missed It

Nigerian students win at global contests

Kurds, Turkey and growing with Öcalan’s help?

Turkish PM admits did not know identity of putschists when he blamed Gülen movement

Closing down prep schools and calling it ‘transformation’

Islamic scholar gave Buddhist point to ponder

Fethullah Gulen — A view from Israel

Wife of Calgary imam held in Turkey on coup allegations, says he still has no lawyer

Copyright 2022 Hizmet News