Father of three released only after wife died following heart attack


Date posted: December 2, 2017

Engin Öztürk, a father of three who spent 15 months behind bars over his alleged ties to the Gulen movement, has been released only after his wife, Vina Öztürk passed away following a heart attack.

Engin was the sole breadwinner of the Öztürk family until he was jailed in an Antalya prison 15 months ago. A day after Engin was denied request to be released pending trial, Vina suffered a heart attack that left her in intensive care for days.

A former employee of the International Antalya University, which was closed by the government over Gulen ties, Engin says that the court rejected to release him on Nov 16, that Vina (Rana) had a heart attack on the 17th and that he was released on Nov 20 evening only to learn that his wife died at the hospital.

“I have never imagined that my first post after being released would be so hard. everyone who knows me would strongly reject the idea that I could be related with any kind of terrorism. I have tried to influence my students (a.k.a. my children), my friends and my relatives for love, tolerance, mutual understanding and peace throughout my entire life. However, I have been in prison for the last 15.5 months, accused of being a terrorist, before just being released the monday before. the reason that I was released was the sudden disease of my late and beloved wife Vina Ozturk as most of you are aware of. I was put on trial on Nov 16th, Thursday and I was really expecting to be released because of my innocence. However, the court has decided the other way. Friday 17th, she had a sudden health problem and has been rushed to hospital, receiving CPR for 90 full minutes. Although after 45 minutes of CPR, an individual is pronounced dead, the doctors and the medical team has done their best to keep her alive. I have learned all these when I was released Monday 21st in the evening time. She was unconscious and could not see me or talk to me for a last time. Her cerebral death was announced on Tuesday 22nd, and we have decided to donate her organs, thanks to the bravest female alive, Ebru Nisa, my daughter. She has been buried Thursday 23rd in my hometown, Denizli, next to my grandfather and grandmother. I WOULD HEARTFULLY LIKE TO THANK ANYBODY WHO HAS HEARD WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN LAST TWO WEEKS AND TRIED TO HELP, WISH CONDOLENCES, OR TRIED TO BE WITH OUR SIDE IN THE MOST DIFFICULT TIMES IN ANY WAY THEY COULD. MAY ALLAH NOT TRY YOU WITH THESE EXPERIENCES. The life had to start over, and we did so. The kids have started to school, and we will be in Antalya until the uncertainties get resolved. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US,” Engin wrote on his Facebook account.

Turkish government accuses Gulen movement of masterminding the July 15, 2016 coup attempt and calls it a terrorist group while the latter denies the accusations. Some 130,000 people were detained and 60,000 of them were arrested and put in pretrial detention since the summer of 2016. Meanwhile, at least 3,008 schools, dormitories and universities were shut down over Gulen links.

 

Source: Turkey Purge , December 2, 2017

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Crackdown in Turkey felt in Capital Region

Volunteers at the Turkish Cultural Center of Albany offered Turkish language and cooking classes, invited the public to Ramadan friendship dinners and sought to build a bridge between East and West by leading a dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims. They were research scientists, professors, graduate students, state employees and restaurant owners.

Shutting down prep schools against free enterprise, analysts say

“It’s not possible to make out of this behavior befitting a government that defends a market economy,” Seyfettin Gürsel, director of Bahçeşehir University’s Center for Economic and Social Research, told Today’s Zaman. Opponents of the government’s plan have also noted that the prep schools are a consequence of the many inadequacies of Turkey’s education system, and said that prep schools help low-income students enter university.

Turkish PM Erdoğan’s imagined enemies

Turkey is no longer the old Turkey. The affluent middle class, the young population and stronger civil society organizations, strengthened by the digital revolution with such tools as social media and Internet portals, will resist any attempts to turn the clock backwards on the development of Turkish democracy. People will simply ask why Prime Minister Erdoğan is not going after his people who have been sleeping with the enemy next door if he is really sincere in addressing external threats to this great nation.

Row between Turkish government and Gülen movement heats up with new document

The row between followers of the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen’s movement of and the Turkish government took another dimension after a daily revealed Nov. 28 that a decision from the National Security Council (MGK) recommending an action plan against the Gülen movement be signed by the government in 2004.

Teacher tortured to death by Turkish police found innocent, reinstated to job

Teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu, who was tortured to death while in police custody in the wake of a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016 over alleged membership in the faith-based Gülen movement, was found innocent one-and-a-half years later and “reinstated” to his job.

Erdoğan’s abstract enemies: parallel organization and superior mind

Totalitarian regimes rely on their ability to manufacture enemies. In his New Year message, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan referred to a host of “external enemies” and “traitors.” The ruling party characterizes these traitors as the “parallel organization” and “superior mind.” The phrases “parallel state” and “Pennsylvania organization” are used synonymously with the “parallel organization” as well.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

70-year-old intending Hajj pilgrim detained on coup charges at airport

Human rights group urges foreign gov’ts to ensure safety of Gülen followers

French court punishes death threats, attacks against Gülen sympathizers

Lynching of the Hizmet movement by the hand of the state

What should we expect from 2015?

One wounded in armed attack on university preparation course

Preventing Disease: Turkish charity donates 22 wells to Pakistan

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News