Woman detained along with 40-day-old baby while visiting jailed husband
Date posted: June 17, 2017
Zehra Elbir, a former court clerk who was earlier dismissed from her job in the government’s post-coup purge of state institutions, was detained only 40 days after she gave birth to her second child during a visit to her husband in prison.
Eril Elbir, Zehra’s husband and a former police officer who was also dismissed over his alleged links to the Gulen movement, has been under arrest for 9 months.
In yet another example of disproportionate punishment imposed on people targeted in Turkey’s post-coup witch-hunt, Elbir was taken under police custody along with her 40-day-old baby when she showed up at Ankara’s Sincan prison to meet her husband during an open visit on June 16.
It is not the first time that Zehra was detained, media said, adding that she has been taken into custody also another time when police raided a hospital and caught her while she was accompanying the family’s other child.
Dozens of human tragedies in Turkey have been reported, part of post-coup witch-hunt against the Gülen movement, which the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government along with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accuse of being behind the failed coup.
In a near-repeat of the CIA’s ‘extraordinary renditions’, the regime of Turkish president Erdoğan is kidnapping dozens of members of the Gülen movement from around the world. Victims are now raising a serious accusation: secret torture sites are part of the repression. A team of nine media organizations from eight countries, coordinated by CORRECTIV, investigates.
Turkey sees unprecedented pressure on media since Dec. 14 operation
Monday marks the first anniversary of a government-backed operation against prominent media groups in the country that resulted in the detention of dozens of individuals, mostly high ranked media personnel, and ever since that day pressure on critical journalists and news outlets has skyrocketed in the country, leading to the take-over and even closure of many media outlets and the incarceration of many journalists.
Turkey’s post-coup brain drain
Bekir Cinar was working as an assistant professor at the political sciences department of Suleyman Sah University when it fell victim to the crackdown. He says that many academics with different views were working at the university. Cinar is currently continuing his scientific work at a British university. He considers this a major loss for Turkey, not least because it takes 20 to 30 years to become an academic.
U.S. Not Persuaded to Extradite Fethullah Gulen Over Turkey Coup
Officials aren’t convinced by evidence against Fethullah Gulen, Pennsylvania-based imam who Turkey says masterminded the failed putsch. U.S. officials don’t expect to extradite an imam Turkey blames for masterminding a failed coup because they aren’t convinced by the evidence Ankara has presented so far and are troubled by threatening public statements from Turkish officials, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Turkey’s war on the press
Erdogan’s reckless behavior is hurting not only his legacy but also Turkey and its allies. Turkey’s image as a stable investment hub has been damaged. A politics of character assassination, polarization and suppression inevitably creates dangerous social stresses. An internally chaotic Turkey cannot be considered a reliable partner for the international community.
Five new mosque-cemevi projects on the way
There are plans to launch joint mosque-cemevi (Alevi house of worship) projects in five other Turkish provinces in addition to the recently launched project in the Turkish capital city of Ankara, the Radikal daily reported on Tuesday. According to the daily, the locations of the new mosque-cemevi projects will be the Kartal district in İstanbul, […]
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
Turkish entrepreneurs launch ophthalmology clinic in Senegal
Expert: I fear that Turkey is headed to a prolonged period of civil conflict if not civil war
US law professor: Gülen extradition would be unlawful
Uganda president praises Turkish schools’ success, calls for deeper cooperation
GYV’s dialogue center not returned despite court order
Kimse Yok Mu opens school for Syrian children
Doctors Worldwide Turkey, Kimse Yok Mu set to help Gazans
