History teacher gives birth to her third child in prison
Date posted: June 29, 2017
Under arrest as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement since Nov 3, 2016, history teacher Özlem Meci gave birth to her third child in prison.
A mother of two, Özlem delivered her third child, named Murat, on Feb 15, 2017 but her requests for trial without arrest have remained inconclusive so far.
A former lecturer at a preparatory school established by followers of the movement in Ardahan Özlem was arrested on charge of attempting to demolish constitutional order and of membership to a terrorist organization.
The government accuses of masterminding the July 15, 2016 coup attempt and considers it as a terrorist organization. The group denies both involvement in the failed coup and terror charges.
“As far as I know, it is against our Constitution to keep women in prison after they turn the 6th month in pregnancy,” Özlem told the prosecutor’s office in a letter, dated Nov 23, 2016.
Özlem and Murat have been staying at Aliaga prison in the western province of Izmir.
According to recent data released by the Ministry of Justice, more than 2,250 mothers are held in penal institutions, of whom 520 are obliged to raise their 0 to 6-year-old children in prison.
Turkish Gov’t media targets exiled journalists, their lives at risk
Following President Erdoğan’s statement that no country is safe for Gülen movement sympathizers, the pro-AKP media targeted exiled journalists in the US and Europe on Monday. Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization has been tasked with locating, arresting and even killing military officers who fled Turkey after allegedly taking part in a failed coup attempt in July, according a story in the Vatan daily on Aug. 30.
Turkish gov’t pays cash rewards for arrest or death of Gülen supporters
Turkey’s Interior Ministry has paid more than 19 million Turkish lira to 249 people who provided information leading to the arrest or were instrumental in the death of supporters of the faith-based Gülen movement, a pro-government newspaper reported on Tuesday.
What we learned from the operation
While the government works to finish off the Hizmet movement, it may even call for the expulsion of the US ambassador from the country. The real duty of Halkbank is to act as Iran’s opening door to the world, and the US blockade has been violated for years. We learned that the pro-government media is allergic to shoe boxes [money used in alleged bribery was found in shoe boxes in one of the suspects’ homes].
Gulen wants Anatolian [interpretation of] Islam
What does Gulen say? He says: “Work hard and earn money, but be honest. Allah will reward your hard work and honesty. But do not squander that reward. Turn it into an investment and help others.” It sounds a lot like the Protestant work ethic. This is the underlying vision of capitalism. The Gulen Movement looks a lot like the Ottoman-era Ahi movement. It is a kind of a solidarity group that provides people with jobs, education, and reintegration into society.
RTÜK fines Samanyolu for news about boy named after Gülen
The Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) fined Samanyolu TV on Sunday for running a news story about a student named Fethullah Gülen who prepared for the Transition to Higher Education Examination (YGS) with the Hizmet-affiliated Körfez University Preparation School in İzmir. RTÜK said broadcasting the name of a student along with the school’s name […]
Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?
Erdogan’s government has made Gulenists “the enemy you ascribe to everything that goes poorly in Turkey,” according to Henri Barkey, a fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
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