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


Related News

Turkish coup attempt: who is Fethullah Gülen?

The Turkish government, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has pointed the finger at Fethullah Gülen – also known as leader of the Hizmet movement – as the mastermind behind Friday’s attempted coup by the country’s military. But who is Gülen? We take a look at the Islamic cleric and how he has affected Erdoğan’s presidency

Three Turkish diplomats seeking asylum in Germany after coup

At least three Turkish diplomats, reportedly including one military attache, are seeking asylum in Germany in the wake of the failed military coup in Turkey, German media cited government sources as saying. That would likely further strain tense ties between Ankara and Berlin after Turkey was outraged by a resolution passed by Germany’s parliament that declared the 1915 massacre of Armenians to be genocide.

The state, AKP, Religious Affairs Directorate, Alevis and rights

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) claimed it would minimize the space the state occupies in people’s lives and reduce bureaucracy and downsize the public sector when it was first elected to office. During the early years of its rule, it really moved to achieve these targets. But as it increased its control over the entire state apparatus, it has increasingly become yet another typical Turkish ruling party that prioritizes the state.

Reach of Turkey’s Erdoğan spreading like fungus across U.S. – analysis

“Erdoğan’s regime is increasingly using connections with domestic-based U.S. Islamist groups, like Muslim American Society (MAS), Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) to exert political influence in the United States,” Anne-Christine Hoff, Dallas associate of the activist group Counter Islamist Grid, said in American Thinker on Sunday.

Sacked Turkish professor applies to employment organization

As the government has launched a sweeping campaign to eliminate any employees, be they public servants or academics, that it suspects of having links with Hizmet from state institutions, Özsoy said the purge is not restricted to state universities. It now includes private universities, too.

Trustees seize control of schools in government-led move

A judge in İstanbul has ordered that trustees be appointed to 12 companies, including the FEM and Anafen prep schools established by people sympathetic to the faith-based Gülen movement for allegedly being affiliated with Kaynak Holding.

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 ambassador leads an unrealistic mission: bringing a reclusive Muslim cleric before Turkish courts

Is the Hizmet movement statist or populist?

Draft law on prep schools

“Somalis will remember your aid”

Bosnian court denies Turkish extradition request for alleged Gülen follower

Daniel Skubik on Fethullah Gulen and Hizmet Movement

The Process Behind Turkey’s Proposed Extradition of Fethullah Gülen

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News