3 dead, 5 missing in attempt to escape Turkey’s post-coup crackdown


Date posted: February 13, 2018

At least three people died and five others were missing after a boat carrying a group of eight capsized on Tuesday in the Maritsa River while seeking to escape a post-coup crackdown in Turkey.

According to Turkish media reports, the dead were identified as Ayşe Abdurrezzak, a 37-year-old teacher who was earlier dismissed from her job in the crackdown, and her children Abdulkadir Enes Abdurrezzak (11) and Halil Munir Abdurrezzak (3).

Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) managed to recover the bodies of the three family members, while the four missing had yet to be found at the time of writing. The eighth had made it into Greece, according to AFAD.

Media said residents near the river heard screams and informed the gendarmerie.

According to people with knowledge of the situation, the boat was carrying three men, three children and two women.

One of the men, Ayşe’s husband, is also a teacher who was earlier dismissed from his job under a post-coup state of emergency decree.

Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against sympathizers of the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The government accuses the movement of masterminding the coup, while the movement denies any involvement.

Some 150,000 people have been detained, and nearly 60,000 including academics, judges, doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, policemen and others have been put in pretrial detention since the coup attempt. Meanwhile, 150,000 people have lost their jobs in the government’s post-coup purge of state institutions.

Many tried to flee Turkey illegally as the government had cancelled thousands of passports.

In November 2017, Huseyin Maden, a 40-year-old Kastamonu teacher, also dismissed in the aftermath of the failed coup, drowned along with his wife and three children while seeking to flee to the Greek island of Lesvos.

 

Source: Turkish Minute , February 13, 2018


Related News

Parents Reject Decision to Shut Down Gülen-inspired Schools in Morocco

Zouhir Mohammed Kadour, the Director of the Mohammed Al-Fatih School, said, “We are shocked by the announcement of the Interior Ministry […] We’ve worked for the Al-Fatih School Group for 22 years. We followed the Moroccan curriculum, the Moroccan Ministry of Education program, and the school staff is Moroccan.”

(Not a joke) Turkish governor: ISIL terrorist detonated himself in construction site not to harm neighbors

Following the detonation of an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist in Turkey’s Gaziantep province on Sunday, the governor told reporters that the suicide bomber detonated himself in a construction site in order not to cause problems for the neighbors.

U.S. Not Persuaded to Extradite Fethullah Gulen Over Turkey Coup

Officials aren’t convinced by evidence against Fethullah Gulen, Pennsylvania-based imam who Turkey says masterminded the failed putsch. U.S. officials don’t expect to extradite an imam Turkey blames for masterminding a failed coup because they aren’t convinced by the evidence Ankara has presented so far and are troubled by threatening public statements from Turkish officials, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Gülen criticizes remarks insulting members of Hizmet movement

Fethullah Gülen has strongly criticized remarks that insulted members of the Hizmet movement, saying that these kind of behavior won’t solve problems. Gülen didn’t directly mention Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s name, but it was obvious that he was responding to the prime minister’s remarks on Friday, when he said the government will “come down to your caverns and tear you to shreds.”

Turkey seizes another baklava maker over coup charges, appoints deputy governor as caretaker

An Istanbul court ruled that the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) takes over the administration of Hasan Gultekin Gaziantep Baklavacisi, an 8-store baklava chain. The decision was made as part of an investigation into the Gulen movement. Turkish government has already taken over more than 800 companies either by confiscating or seizing them.

Turkish gov’t planning slaughter of jailed Gülen followers in staged riot, lawyer claims

The Turkish government is headed for mass killings of people jailed over alleged or real links to the Gülen movement, in a staged riot in Silivri prison, a lawyer representing a former police chief imprisoned as part of a crackdown against the movement claimed, underlining that he is worried about the lives of his clients.

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

‘Nigeria, Turkey trade volume hits N250bn in 4 years’

Thousands attend Turkish Festival in Johannesburg

Kimse Yok Mu to share perspectives at Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting

A Cry of the Heart for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina

Romanian Minister: Turkish schools are raising the next generation of Romanians

Terrorist organization, you say

Turkish official says 252 companies seized over Gülen links

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News