668 Babies to welcome Eid Al-Adha in Turkish prisons


Date posted: September 3, 2017

Six hundred sixty-eight children under the age of 6 will welcome the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha (Kurban Bayramı) on Friday in jails across Turkey where they are staying with their mothers, TR724 reported on Thursday.

According to TR724, at least 108 more children, mostly infants, toddlers and newborn babies, had joined others in prisons in the last three months, bringing the total number to 668, as part of a government crackdown on the Gülen movement following a failed coup last year for which the government blames the movement. The movement denies all accusations.

There are 149 infants younger than 12 months in prisons, the report said.

On Aug. 11, BBC Turkish service reported that hundreds of women are in pretrial detention in jails across Turkey with their infants, some of them less than six months old, due to a state of emergency declared after the failed coup.

Conducting interviews with three women who are victims of emergency rule, BBC revealed that some of the women had not been provided baby food by the prison administration and that they had to feed their infants adult food.

Denying the presence of infants with their mothers in Turkish jails, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Bartın deputy Yılmaz Tunç, a member of the parliamentary Justice Commission, said that all women who are pregnant or with infants were tried without pretrial detention.

Underlining that all the news in the media is black propaganda against the Turkish government, the AKP deputy said no applications had been submitted to him or his office in the Justice Commission regarding the poor treatment of women in jails.

Responding to a parliamentary question from main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Gamze İlgezdi on May 23, Turkey’s Justice Ministry said a total of 560 children under the age of 6 were being held in Turkish prisons along with their mothers.

Source: Turkish Minute , August 31, 2017

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Halki, pope, patriarch and Gülen

The way Turkey’s chief political Islamist and new president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has approached the reopening of the Halki seminary, a school that had trained Eastern Orthodox clergy for the Patriarchate for more than a century until it was forcibly shut down in 1971, represents a fundamental flaw in the thinking of so-called Islamists, who place more emphasis on symbolism than substance and like very much to employ divisive and hateful discourse as opposed to reaching out and embracing different faiths and cultures.

Erdogan goes after Morocco’s Gulenists

Morocco has joined the list of countries where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pursuing the followers and sympathizers of the Hizmet (Service) movement. Like many countries, Morocco has succumbed to Ankara’s pressure and arrested individuals affiliated with the movement.

Two volunteers of Gülen Movement reportedly abducted after released by Azerbaijani Court

According to a report, Turkish citizens Ayhan Seferoğlu and Erdoğan Taylan were detained by Azeri police. However, an Azerbaijani court decided to release them. As their relatives were waiting Seferoğlu and Taylan to be free, they have reportedly been abducted by unidentified persons from the backdoor of the courthouse where they were tried.

Hate speech in politics and media

It is hard to understand the relentless efforts of Turkish politicians and media networks to create new objects of hate, in contrast with the global and local struggle against racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and similar approaches that pave the way for hate speech, hate crime and discrimination. Hate speech, mutually produced in the context of the developments following the Gezi Park protests in June, is concrete proof that we are making life in this world increasingly unbearable for one another.

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.

AKP official: Let sacked public servants eat tree roots

The Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Isparta branch head, Osman Zabun, has said the civil servants who have recently been dismissed from state institutions over alleged links to the Gülen movement can go and “feed on tree roots” if they don’t want to starve to death.

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

Wedding gifts will help build dorm and water wells in Tanzania

Gülen-linked gold firm’s operations halted for second time in two months

“It was so cold, it felt like an arrow through my heart”

Muslim voices against ISIS – Rita Cosby discusses Fethullah Gulen’s stern stance

[Press Release] The Corruption and Slander against the Hizmet Movement

Hizmet, Gaza and the 14-year-old boy

Dissidents of the Turkish government are living in fear in Canada

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News