Man dies of heart attack while on way to help Turkish refugees in Greece


Date posted: March 5, 2018

A 43-year-old Turkish man has died of heart attack while on a charity trip for Turkish asylum claimants in Greece.

“We are going [to Greece]. My heart could not bear this agony. I could not watch this agony from afar. Today, I have gotten permission from my employer, and I am going to Athens with my son. Hundreds of victims are there. We are set to go on March 3. Some aid was collected. I would appreciate it if my friends who want to contribute would send me a message,” Hasan Degirmenci said on his Facebook account on Feb 14.

Degirmenci and his son, Ensar, hit the road from Germany’s Stuttgart to Athens along with a group of businessmen on Saturday.

A day after, he suffered a heart attack at the house of a Turkish [refugee] family in Athens and was subsequently taken to a nearby hospital where he later died.

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

More than 126,000 people have been detained and some 56,000 including academics, judges, doctors, teachers, lawyers, students, policemen and many from different backgrounds have been put in pre-trial detention since last summer.

Many tried to escape Turkey via illegal ways as the government cancelled their passports like thousands of others.

Earlier in February, at least three people died and four others were missing after a boat carrying a group of eight Turkish refugee seekers capsized in the Maritza river between Greece and Turkey.

Degirmenci’s last Facebook post had pictures of the three people whose bodies were recovered from the river.

 

Source: Turkey Purge , March 5, 2018


Related News

Closing prep schools as a new form of official tyranny

Thanks to the prep school system, with reasonable payments, the children of the “Black Turks” or “Mountain Turks” gain the chance to compete with the children of “White Turks” under equal standards. They, after graduating from good universities, become judges, teachers and academics and act as a catalyst in undermining pathological ways of thinking like labeling people as reactionary.

Would Gülen want to return to Turkey?

Mehmet Ali Birand  June/16/2012 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has invited Fetullah Gülen “Hodja,” who has been living in the United States for years, back to the country. He said, “this longing should come to an end.” In particular, the timing of the speech at the closing of the “Turkish Olympics” was a nice, well-thought-through […]

Turkish journalist tells Staten Island group about censorship in his country

Turkish journalist Aydogan Vatandas warned Friday night at the Turkish Cultural Center of Staten Island in Dongan Hills that freedom of the press in his country is under siege.

Turkey’s president is using the failed coup as an excuse to snuff out secular democracy

In the immediate aftermath of the Turkish military’s attempted coup on July 15, the international community responded with relief. While many people within Turkey and outside of it are no fans of Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian regime, the bloodshed and chaos that would have resulted from a government overthrow seemed like the worse of two options.

Was there a sincere alliance between the Gulen Movement and Erdogan?

NRT correspondent Huner Anwer interviews Fethullah Gulen in his Pennsylvania residence ask the crucial question on alliance between the Gulen Movement and Erdogan. Gulen says, briefly, there has never been sincere alliance between them but the movement supported Erdogan as long as Erdogan stayed in line with democratic values and honored rule of law.

Gulen sympathizer stabbed by pro-Erdogan relative in Belgium

Ibrahim Anaz, one of the executives at a Brussels-based association sympathetic to the Gulen movement, was stabbed by a family member who is a supporter of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to local media.

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

Dismissed policeman detained while applying to post-coup rights commission

PM’s son: Dad, let’s initiate an operation against Hizmet’s senior members

Fethullah Gulen’s “old friend” detained by İzmir police despite suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease

TAA holding annual Turkic American Convention in Washington

Gov’t cancels Kimse Yok Mu’s previously obtained permissions

A Peace Conference to be held at UN in Geneva

Turkey jails teacher to pressure husband into ‘confessing’

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News