Turkey Systematically And Deliberately Jails Women As Part Of Fear And Intimidation Campaign


Date posted: April 27, 2017

Thousands of women, many with small children to take care of, were jailed in Turkey in an unprecedented crackdown and subjected to torture and ill-treatment in detention centers and prisons as part of the government’s systematic campaign of intimidation and persecution of critics and opponents, a new report titled “Jailing Women In Turkey: Systematic Campaign of Persecution and Fear” released by Stockholm Center for Freedom (SCF) has revealed.

The motivation behind Turkey’s deliberate policy of imprisoning women who, in some cases, have just delivered babies or are pregnant, appears to be creating a chill factor in Turkish society and muzzle dissenting and critical voices.

In several cases SCF has identified, women were detained in a hospital immediately after the delivery of her baby before they had a chance to recover. Many women were jailed as she was visiting her imprisoned husband, leaving the children stranded in the ensuing chaos in the criminal justice system that was abused by the government to punish critics.

In one case, a woman lost her sanity under torture while in police detention, yet she was thrown back into prison, despite a diagnosis to that effect. Another woman was jailed, because her husband, a journalist, remained at large. In many cases, the government has jailed the wives of businessman who are seen as supporting the opposition to Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in addition to seizing all their businesses and personal assets.

“This practice of deliberate targeting of women sends a warning message across the board that nobody would be safe from the wrath of President Erdoğan and his government,” Abdullah Bozkurt, the President of SCF, has said.

“This is clearly in breach of Turkish laws as well as rules and regulations that Turkey has committed itself to comply with as member of the various intergovernmental organizations,” he added.

The shameful practice of jailing of women from judges to journalists, from teachers to doctors in big numbers has added a new dimension to the massive government witch hunt that has been launched against critics, mainly targeting members of the civic group Gülen movement.

None of the women has any criminal record but now face criminal charges just because the government declared them to be terrorists and coup plotters overnight. They are not convicted yet, and in most cases, not even indicted, but were put in pre-trial detention as part of punishment.

In many cases SCF documented, the women’s physical and mental health deteriorated rapidly after they went through an abuse, isolation, poor diet and hygiene, lack of access to health care, and the psychic trauma of incarceration. The arbitrary detention of women in big numbers has taken a toll not only on jailed women but also on their children and family members.

The cases represented in this report is only a tip of the iceberg as many cases are not reported because of the fear of further persecution on the part of victims or their family members. Even the cases that were uncovered so far, some identified with full names and others only by initials to protect the identities, are enough to tell the horrifying picture in Turkey.

President Erdoğan who leads this witch-hunt campaign and his associates in the government must be held accountable for this appalling practice that result in devastating impact on the well-being of women and their children in Turkey.

 

Source: Stockholm Center for Freedom , April 27, 2017


Related News

Mother of 5 children abandoned in parking lot released on high bail

A Turkish court on Monday released a housewife, a mother of five whose children were abandoned in a parking lot after her detention, on TL 50,000 bail. This is a high figure in a country where the minimum wage is approximately TL 1,300. The woman will be put behind bars again if she fails to pay the bail within seven days.

The demise of Turkish democracy

A total of 84 American foreign policy experts have written a bipartisan letter to US President Barack Obama, expressing concern that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s autocratic actions and demagoguery are not only subverting Turkey’s political institutions and values but also endangering the US-Turkey relationship.

Ishak Alaton: Fethullah Gülen is the most “other” in Turkey

The AK Party government, which seems to be without an alternative and lacks an equally dominant opposition to check and balance it, is in big trouble, which they are not fully aware of, says Alarko Holding Chairman İshak Alaton.

Turkish authorities use charges of terrorism to silence free speech

Journalists in Turkey are being charged with “being involved in terrorist activities” and “endangering state security” to justify the current crackdown on the media, as this is the only legitimate way for Turkish leadership to silence and censor dissident voices while shielding themselves from being seen as infringers on the freedom of speech and expression, unambiguously protected under international law.

Fenerbahçe’s Yıldırım calls on fans to attend protest

“We consider the dissemination … of wiretaps of Fethullah Gülen Hocaefendi’s conversations an operation, and we condemn and refuse to accept these kinds of activities,” Yıldırım said. Gülen filed criminal complaints over the illegal wiretaps and against the media outlets and websites that published the distorted voice recordings in an attempt to defame the scholar.

What is wrong with the ‘Muslim’ world?

Many radical Islamists and Islamophobes are mirror images of each other. They want to divide the world into two diametrically opposing, antagonistic and constantly belligerent political camps: “dar al-Harb” and “dar al-Islam.” They hate co-existence. They hate interdependence…

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

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

In Case You Missed It

Lies in the “Research” by Der Spiegel

Pakistan’s Senate body to summon officials over missing Turkish family

Turkish schools holding Indonesia’s largest science olympiad

Islamic scholar Gülen rebukes ISIL over ‘brutal atrocities’

Kyrgyz President Atambayev: Sebat Turkish schools won’t be shut down

Astana says Gulen-linked schools to remain

In Conversation with Fethullah Gülen (Interview in Asharq Al-Awsat-I)

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News