Arrested After Giving Birth: Turkey’s Post-coup Crackdown Reportedly Hits Maternity Wards


Date posted: August 1, 2017

In just over a year since a coup attempt failed to overthrow Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, over 50,000 have been arrested and 100,000 fired from their jobs in a government crackdown.

Politicians, activists and journalists have been key targets in the post-coup purge. Many of those detained have been accused of links to US-based Fethullah Gülen, blamed by Erdogan for ordering last year’s coup, a charge he denies.

Following the abortive putsch on July 15 2016, allegations of unfair trials, using torture in prisons and holding suspects without trial have been made against Erdogan’s government.

And now, it has been alleged that Turkey is arresting women accused of links to the Gülen movement immediately after they give birth.

Turkey Purge, a website set up to monitor post-coup rights abuses, claimed on Monday that in the last nine months, 17 women had been taken into Turkish police custody while pregnant or shortly after having a baby. Three of those arrests took place in the last week, the site suggested.

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, an MP from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) raised the issue in a series of tweets earlier on Monday, Turkey Purge reported.

A human rights lawyer specializing in defending Turkish Kurds, Tanrıkulu called on Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to “stop sending police to hospital rooms to detain woman right after their babies are delivered.”

Tanrıkulu shared pictures of women he claimed had been arrested from their hospital beds in the last few days.

Sultan Çetintaş, reportedly arrested in İzmir after giving birth.

Rümeysa Doğan, allegedly arrested after her baby was born in an Antalya hospital.

He also reported that Ayşe Kaya from Edirne was sent to jail “as her four-day-old baby was given to its grandmother.”

These are in addition, Turkey Purge suggests, to similar arrests in January, May and June, including a case involving the mother of a week-old premature infant and multiple instances of mothers recovering from Cesarean procedures. Many of these were school teachers.

Recent Turkish Ministry of Justice data shows that more than 2,250 mothers are currently held in Turkish penal institutions, Turkey Purge reports. Among those, 520 are raising children under six in prison.

The Turkey Purge site is run by “a small group of young journalists who are trying to be the voice for Turkish people who suffer under an oppressive regime,” it claims. The website is banned in Turkey, and the journalists all contribute from outside of the country.

In an interview with the European Center for Press and Media Freedom, the group said that they do not have “editorial connection to anybody”, while indicating that their readership is mostly drawn from “Kurds, Gulenists, Alevis, leftists and LGBT activists”.

Source: Albawaba , August 1, 2017

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

The Process Behind Turkey’s Proposed Extradition of Fethullah Gülen

By publicly campaigning for Gülen’s immediate extradition—before a formal request had been submitted—Turkish officials reinforced the idea that the United States is somehow protecting Gülen or resisting the extradition process. That is not true. There will be critics of any eventual decision, just as there are critics of the delay in reaching a decision. Whatever the result, both governments should communicate the decision with consideration for the long-term relationship and should operate on the assumption that the other is acting in good faith.

Erdoğan’s Henchman: Oppression Targeting Gülen Movement To Be More Severe After Zarrab Case

Turkish autocratic President Erdoğan’s former speechwriter and current Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Aydın Ünal wrote on Tuesday that the witch hunt against the alleged followers of the Gülen movement in Turkey will eventually become severe as a result of the Zarrab case in the US.

MHP: Gov’t should not harass its citizens who open Turkish schools abroad

Vural said that if the government does not protect its citizens who are involved in the Turkish schools — which are affiliated with the Hizmet movement, inspired by the teachings of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen — but instead complains about them to international governments, questions need to be asked.

Canadian rights advocate says Turkey’s post-coup crackdown amounts to genocide

Turkey’s post-coup witch-hunt of the Gulen movement followers is tantamount to genocide, Renee Vaugeois, a Canadian human rights specialist said in a recent interview.

Twitter user apologizes for Gülen ‘traitor’ insult, blames politicians

Nuray A., who called Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen a “traitor” in a Twitter post, told a court on Tuesday that she only used the expression after first hearing politicians use the word against Gülen, and apologized for imitating them.

Second alleged disappearance in a week: Philosophy teacher goes missing

Only a day after an Ankara man was reportedly abducted, a philosophy teacher went missing on Apr 1, according to his wife. The 41-year-old lecturer, Onder Asan mysteriously disappeared on Apr 1, his wife Fatma Asan cried out on Twitter.

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

AFSV Statement on Media and Business Crackdown

Purge In Turkey Worries Kansas City Emigres

Censored by theft: Man caught stealing copies of Zaman daily

Lahore High Court orders protection for Turkish teachers in Lahore

Kimse Yok Mu’s Eid al-Adha aid efforts worldwide

Kyrgyz President Atambayev: Sebat Turkish schools won’t be shut down

11th Turkish Olympiad opens with grand ceremony in Ankara

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News