Yet another woman detained due to Gülen links shortly after delivery


Date posted: August 1, 2017

Sultan Çetintaş, who gave birth on Monday to her third child in the Turkish province of İzmir, was detained on Tuesday over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.

Çetintaş was taken to the courthouse with her one-day-old baby after undergoing a C-section.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu criticized the detention of the new mother on his social media account and asked Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to end the practice.

“Sultan Çetintaş gave birth yesterday and was detained today, taken to the İzmir courthouse. Stop these inhuman practices,” said Tanrıkulu.

Tanrıkulu said in an another tweet later in the day that Çetintaş was released on judicial probation.

In the meantime, another victim of the witch-hunt, 22-month-old Hüma Sultan, whose mother was arrested on July 19, has to stay in prison with her mother despite a chronic fever.

Sultan’s father was arrested in December 2016.

According to a report prepared by CHP İstanbul deputy Gamze İlgezdi, since a coup attempt last year, 29 pregnant and new mothers have been arrested and more than 560 children have had to stay in prison with their mothers, unable to benefit from legal rights.

Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15 that killed 249 people and wounded more than a thousand others. Immediately after the putsch AKP government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.

Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.

Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup.

Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15.

 

Source: Turkish Minute , August 1, 2017


Related News

Civil death: Amnesty report on social upheaval caused by Turkey’s purge of public servants

“Tainted as ‘terrorists’ and stripped of their livelihoods, a large swathe of people in Turkey are no longer able to continue in their careers and have had alternative employment opportunities blocked,” Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s researcher on Turkey.

Islamic scholar Gülen calls for ‘reasonability’ in prep school row

Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen has called on the government to act “reasonably” in its plan to close test prep schools, adding that they were the ones receiving a “slap,” in a veiled reference to a statement from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. You have to defend it without making concessions in the language you use,” Gülen said in an apparent message to members of the “Hizmet” [Service] movement.

Islamic scholar Gülen rejects involvement with graft probe and wiretappings

“If among those who conducted the graft investigations were some people who might be connected to the Hizmet movement, was I supposed to tell these people, ‘Turn a blind eye to the corruption charges?’ It appears to me that some people were expecting me to do this. Did they expect me to do this? How can I say something that would ruin my afterlife? How else can I act?” Fethullah Gülen said.

Arrested journalist Hidayet Karaca’s letter published in Le Monde

Arrested journalist Hidayet Karaca’s letter detailing the threats that the media in Turkey face was published by Le Monde, one of the leading newspapers in France, on Monday.

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 Erdogan exploiting failed coup to crush dissent, tighten grip on power

After a searing summer that has already featured a failed military coup, spectacular terrorist attacks and now a new war across the border in Syria, Turkey’s cultural elite is watching with increased unease as authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rides a wave of nationalism that they fear will be used to brand his critics as enemies of the state.

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

It is not fair to tar 1.8 billion for actions of a few

The Middle Eastern voice of Europe — Natacha Atlas

Students from 70 countries share joy of graduating in İstanbul ceremony

Children from all over the world embarked on Turkish voyage

Gülen extends condolences to MHP over official’s death

‘Parallel state’ and ‘theft of national will’

Fethullah Gulen: From Izmir to the Global Hizmet Movement

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News