Under arrest for months, 62-year-old teacher dies of cancer in prison


Date posted: June 8, 2017

Arrested for raising donations on behalf of a Gülen movement-linked charity, 62-year-old religion and ethics teacher Hüseyin Pembe passed away after his battle with cancer in prison on June 1.

With the starting date for his imprisonment still unknown, Pembe has been under arrest in Samsun prison for at least four months.

According to Turkish media and several social media accounts, Pembe was diagnosed with cancer while he was under arrest over Gulen links. After a surgery at a hospital, he was reportedly sent back to the prison where his medical condition got worse under poor conditions and he passed away.

Pembe’s body was buried in his hometown in Kayseri province and his sister, also under arrest, was able to attend the ceremony only with gendarmeries in company, media reported.

Turkish government accuses the movement of masterminding the July 15, 2016 coup attempt and it has detained more than 120,000 people in its crackdown against the group so far.

Source: Turkey Purge , June 8, 2017


Related News

Pregnant female judge held in prison in dire conditions speaks out

We go to see the doctor with our hands cuffed. It is good enough for me to see the doctor say my baby is OK. It doesn’t even come to my mind to ask about its weight, height and how it looks like.

Despite obstacles, Kimse Yok Mu delivers aid to thousands worldwide

In spite of smear campaigns targeting it for two years and the government attempting to prevent it from continuing with its charitable works, the Kimse Yok Mu foundation successfully delivered aid to families in nearly 30 countries for last week’s Eid al-Adha holiday.

Who was behind the Turkish Coup: Sufi Islamic Scholar Fathullah Gülen or the Regime itself?

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has bluntly blamed it on the Hizmet movement, Gülen’s initiative for intercultural and interfaith dialogue and education in the country expanding across the world today. But for many immensely impressed by Gülen’s global humanitarian, social and Islam-based peace activism, it remains an obscure question as to how the former ally of his country is now blamed for the coup.

Is the AK Party turning into the old CHP?

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and EU Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu had attributed the EU and global media’s criticisms of the AK Party administration’s mistakes to the Hizmet movement.

Hizmet movement and military coups

İHSAN YILMAZ, Wednesday April 18, 2012 With the democratization of Turkey and the new mentality of the judiciary it has created, prosecutors can now tackle past coup attempts and successful coups, the most recent being the Feb. 28, 1997 coup process. I call it a “process” since the toppling of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan’s […]

Arınç says Gülen’s offer to hand over prep schools ‘sacrifice’

Turkish Deputy PM Bülent Arınç has described the offer of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen to hand over prep school management to the state an example of “sacrifice” and promised that the issue of prep schools will be resolved in a way that pleases everyone. “God knows that we don’t have an ambition to manage [these prep schools]; our desire is that these services don’t become the causalities of a disagreement,” Gülen reportedly said.

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticizes Cabinet ruling on Kimse Yok Mu

Two women detained during visit to jailed husbands

Fethullah Gülen: Turkey is being dragged into a civil war

Erdoğan’s propagandist think tanks

Kimse Yok Mu to share perspectives at Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting

Fethullah Gulen’s Message of Condemnation and Condolences for St. Petersburg Terrorist Attack

Hizmet movement could be powerful argument for education

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News