Body of Turkish woman fleeing to Greece found weeks after boat capsized
Date posted: April 8, 2018
Turkish authorities have found the body of Aslı Doğan, a Turkish woman who went missing after a refugee boat carrying eight people capsized in the river that marks the border of Turkey and Greece on Feb. 13, 2018.
Thousands of people have fled Turkey due to a massive witch-hunt launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government against the Gülen movement in the wake of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The government accuses the Gülen movement of masterminding the coup, although the group denies any involvement.
In a bid to escape the post-coup crackdown, on the night of Feb. 13, Doğan and seven other Gülen movement supporters were trying to cross the Maritsa River in a rubber dinghy.
However, three of them reportedly drowned when their boat capsized in the middle of the river, while Doğan and two others went missing. Only one of them made it to Greece.
Many have tried to escape Turkey by illegal means as the government has cancelled thousands of passports.
In November 2017 Huseyin Maden, a 40-year-old Kastamonu teacher, dismissed in the aftermath of the failed coup, drowned along with his wife and three children while seeking to escape to the Greek island of Lesvos.
In the past, the Hizmet movement never formed alliances or got involved in an organic relationship with any political party. At the same time, it never ever demanded anything from political parties that strayed outside of the above-outlined principles, or was contrary to rights, the law, democracy, merit or the will of God. The Hizmet movement gains its strength from this fullness of heart and independence.
The Government Response to Turkey’s Coup Is an Affront to Democracy
It is vital for Washington and Turkey’s other international partners now to use all their influence to press Ankara to reverse course, to safeguards the rights of those caught up in the purge, and to strengthen rather than weaken the independence of the institutions that underpin it, including the courts, media, universities and parliament itself. The people who died defending it deserve nothing less.
PM made the wrong choice
Erdoğan put under the spotlight US Ambassador to Turkey Francis Ricciardone by stating: “Recently, very strangely, ambassadors have gotten involved in some provocative acts. I am calling on them from here to do your job. If you leave your area of duty, this could extend into our government’s area of jurisdiction. We do not have to keep you in our country.” These caustic sentences prove that the AK Party has decided to declare a war not only against the Hizmet movement but also to provoke tensions with the US. Since they have opted for a defensive attack strategy, this reaction does not surprise anyone.
Erdogan and Gulen: Inevitable Clash?
Unlike Turkey’s classical Islamic activists, Gulen always distanced himself from politics, and like Said Nursi, his main source of inspiration, his message was focused on grassroots social activism, most importantly an education combining both Islam and modern science. Hizmet’s main goal was social: raising a new “golden” generation fusing moderate Muslim and Modern ethics to become the backbone of Turkey’s society and bureaucracy and its messengers to the world.
Koza Altın latest victim of government silencing political dissent
Gold mining company Koza Altın A.Ş., the owner of Bugün daily and Kanal Türk TV station, had its activities halted on Tuesday in Çukuralan goldfield, one of the company’s five major gold mines, in a move that has been perceived as the most recent example of the government’s exploitation of inspections and red tape to put pressure on those with critical views.
Turkey’s Erdogan and ISIS’ new breeding ground
Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan appears to be having a double dealings on taking the fight to ISIS. He has instead prefer a cosmetic approach in tackling the terrorist group. It is high time Erdogan purged himself of insincerity and religious rhetoric in the fight against ISIS and joined forces with other leaders to bring enduring peace to Turkey, the Middle-East and the various parts of the world.
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