A Prayer for the victims of Turkey from Nigeria


Date posted: June 1, 2017

Joshua Ocheja

God in heaven, I pray for the hundreds of thousands of Kurds, Alevis, Hizmet movement participants and minority Christians languishing in Turkish prisons for no justifiable reason.

I also pray for their families and loved ones that have continued to live in fear on a daily basis. I pray for those outside Turkey who fear for their lives on a daily basis due to the threat of abduction and forcible deportation to Turkey.

I also pray for those whose businesses have been either shut down or seized by the government. God in heaven, comfort them and let your light and glory be their pathway. Amen.

In the confinement of the four walls of my room, I sat in absolute bewilderment with the happenings in Turkey. I imagined the hardship, the physical and emotional torture of innocent people that have been clamped in prison in Turkey on unsubstantiated allegations of plotting a coup. I was left with no choice but to pray for the victims of Turkey. I encourage you reading to say a word of prayer for them too.

Turkey has been in the news since the unfortunate coup attempt of July 15, 2016. In my opinion, the country has drifted from a democracy into autocracy. I say this because, since the coup attempt, the state of an emergency rule introduced by the president provided him the long-awaited opportunity to be of disservice to the people of Turkey.

Also, the massive purges carried out by the government have led to a remarkable dearth in the health and educational institutions in Turkey. Those that were fortunate were able to leave the country in droves. Those that were not lucky were rounded up and thrown into prison.

We are talking about professors, doctors, teachers, and other highly resourceful people other countries would wish to have.

As a fact, Turkey is now the number one country for applications from under-threat scholars seeking safety in Western universities, according to Scholar Rescue Fund and Council for At-Risk Academics, two of the world’s leading charities that help at-risk academics.

As at the last count, close to 1300 schools have been shut down, 15 universities also closed. 54 hospitals closed down. 8,271 academics have lost their jobs. This is aside from other scary figures of the number of media outlets and charity organizations that have been shut down by the government. This is quite frightening.

I will give one sad example: Kim Se Yokmu (KYM) Foundation is one of the biggest charity organizations in the world. KYM is involved in many projects all over the world to bring relief to disaster-stricken areas, provide essential resources to areas in need, and establish schools and medical facilities in areas that lack such vital services. The KYM has been shut down by the Turkish authorities. Can you believe that?

In Turkey today, the fastest way to prison is to call the name Fethullah Gulen only. If you commit murder, you won’t be sent to prison because the jail spaces are meant for critics and perceived enemies of the president.

Interestingly I learned the government is planning to build additional 174 prisons over the space of five years to accommodate more people.

For some of us who have devoted time and energy to research on the Hizmet movement, it smacks of nothing but evil intent to label the Hizmet movement a terrorist organization. Little wonder why Mr. Bruno Karl, head of German Intelligence Agency (BND) said the BND could not find a direct link between what Turkey calls the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the coup attempt.

Similarly, Congressman Devin Nunes, chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the US Congress, said he hadn’t seen evidence that suggests Fethullah Gulen was involved in failed coup.

Hear Fethullah Gulen: “Ever since I was a child, I have believed that the greatest service to humanity has to go through education, that all of the humanity has to be embraced, that pursuing tolerance and dialog are critical, and that everyone must be accepted just as they are.

I believe in being tolerant and approving of everyone, as these are necessary ingredients for preventing internal social divisions and strong barriers against the outbreak of conflict.” I am afraid that for such a personality and the people he inspires through his teachings to be labelled as terrorists or behind a coup attempt can best be described as absurd.

What is happening in Turkey is perhaps the largest clampdown in modern Turkish history. Else how do you explain the closure of hospitals including dialysis centers? How do you also account for the closure of schools, universities, and dormitories? What is the relationship between a coup and a hospital or school? How can you also explain the arrest and imprisonment of teachers, doctors, nurses, professors, journalists, judges, and prosecutors, etc.? It doesn’t add up to me and likewise many others.

At times I imagine the academic and health resources languishing in Turkish prisons that I very much fear for Turkey. That is not all; there is also an aggressive drive to annihilate participants of the Hizmet movement in Turkey and outside Turkey.

For the ones doing legitimate businesses outside Turkey, there is an ongoing campaign to pressure countries to close down their firms that consist of mainly schools and hospitals, and in some instances, the Turkish authorities are demanding the transfer of these institutions to a government organization called Maarif foundation. This is another absurdity.

They didn’t stop there. There have been cases of kidnaps and deportation of Turkish nationals from some countries to Turkey. It happened in Malaysia, Georgia, Myanmar and Thailand.

Only recently, the United Nations Human Rights office expressed grave concern over the deportation of a Turkish teacher in Myanmar Muhammet Furkan Sokmen by Myanmar. The United Nations Human Rights office said the extradition to Turkey of Muhammet Furkan Sokmen, was one of an increasing number of cases of Turkish nationals singled out by Turkish authorities over suspected links to the U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

This terror is also rearing its ugly head in some African countries including Nigeria. The case of Nigeria almost denigrated into a diplomatic row between both countries when the Nigerian government rejected the request for the closure of Turkish schools in Nigeria for lacking in merit.

In retaliation, the Turkish authorities detained and deported Nigerian students studying in Turkey. Till date, the quest to ensure that these schools and hospitals are either closed down or ruined has not relented. Why? Some secret service agents from Turkey have been profiling Hizmet movement participants in Nigeria.

I cannot categorically comment on the possibility of an abduction and forcible deportation, but the threat is real, and I think it is something the relevant security agencies in Nigeria have to look into carefully.

I also think the international community must rise to the occasion and demand respect for the rights and privileges of those detained in Turkey.

They must take a collective action towards calling President Recep Erdogan to discontinue the repression of his people, especially participants of the Hizmet movement. Hundreds of thousands of lives and businesses have been ruined already.

Fethullah Gulen recently penned an emotional article titled “The Turkey I no longer Know” in the article you could sense his disappointment and pain.

He said “ Since July 15, following a deplorable coup attempt, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has systematically persecuted innocent people — arresting, detaining, firing and otherwise ruining the lives of more than 300,000 Turkish citizens, be they Kurds, Alevis, secularists, leftists, journalists, academics or participants of Hizmet, the peaceful humanitarian movement with which I am associated.”

“The Turkish government must stop the repression of its people and redress the rights of individuals who have been wronged by Erdogan without due process.” This is my prayer for the victims of Turkey.


*Ocheja is an Alumnus of the Nigerian Defence Academy

Orignally publisehed on NigerianPilot.Com

 

Source: Citi FM Online , June 1, 2017


Related News

At home and abroad, Erdogan shoots himself in the foot

On Wednesday, for instance, Erdoğan described members of the Hizmet movement, who are mostly inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, as an “opposing side” due to their opposition to the closure of prep schools. Erdoğan’s categorization sparked outrage, primarily because the movement has been known as staunch supporters of the government.

Gülen’s lawyer denies any link with bugging probe suspect

Fethullah Gülen’s lawyer has denied that the Turkish Islamic scholar has any links with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s former chief bodyguard, who was detained in an investigation into covert listening devices found in the prime minister’s office in 2012.

Steller: For Turks, post-coup purges make U.S. safe harbor

There’s the political rhetoric — mainly Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslim immigrants or, in the most recent version, to suspend immigration from countries that have exported terrorism.

Journalist: I was threatened over not supporting government

Seasoned journalist Cüneyt Özdemir has said he was threatened by two members of pro-government media outlets and pressured to jump on the bandwagon by lashing out at the Hizmet movement and hosting a commentator who Özdemir said is a staunch supporter of conspiracy theories.

Doğan: Gülen stood against anti-cemevi campaigns

Cem Foundation President İzzettin Doğan has said that Gülen supported the construction of cemevis (Alevi houses of worship) when signature campaigns were launched against the cemevis in some regions of Turkey.

Turkish engagement with Southern Africa depends on the Turkish attitude towards Hizmet

Turkish engagement with Southern Africa will not be without challenges. The success of this engagement will depend on the Turkish attitude towards the Hizmet Movement. If Turkey decides to tackle the Hizmet Movement head on as it has done in Turkey and in other countries, it will risk alienation in South Africa and the wider region. The Hizmet Movement is generally popular in Southern Africa, with long standing ties to civil society and the political elite.

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

Alevi, Sunni businessmen will finance joint prayer complex

Is the AK Party turning into the old CHP?

Pak Turk Schools employees in UN protection after visa extensions turned down

Turkey – Baby with Down syndrome suffers major health problems in absence of jailed parents

Gülen movement acted ‘courageously’ when gov’t-involved graft revealed, Altan says

Gülen-linked journalists organization voices concern over profiling claims

Afghan Turk schools gained great success at university exam

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News