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.
Her mother was detained right after her birth, she is now growing up in Athens
“Our decision to come to Greece developed very suddenly. I did not want to leave my country that I loved so much. Especially it gives different meaning if you have your parents and relatives still live there. It was very difficult to leave the country, but the persecution was also accelerated on the one hand. Every day, we read news about tortures under custody and prisons on the media…
Turkish business suffers under Erdogan’s post-coup Gulen purge
Critics of the ruling AKP expect it to sell Gulen-linked companies to government allies in the business world at a large discount. In mid-October the AKP-linked Metro Holding applied to the TMSF to acquire all of Koza Ipek Holding’s shares. Akin Ipek, the fugitive former owner of the conglomerate, asked on Twitter how Koza Ipek’s $600 million in cash and $20 billion in mining assets could be acquired by a comparatively unimpressive entity. Metro Holding’s capital comes to just over $95 million.
A Year Ago Today: Teacher Gökhan Açıkkollu died of torture on his 13th day in police custody
Gökhan Açıkkollu, a history teacher suffering from diabetes, died of torture in police custody as part of a post-coup investigation into Turkey’s Gülen group. According to his father, Ayhan Açıkkollu, Gökhan was a diabetics patient while human rights defenders hinted at torture and maltreatment.
Turkey’s looming prison massacre grows nearer
It appears Erdogan fears that if the judiciary begins trial for key political prisoners, the prisoners would have a venue at which to speak and raise questions Erdogan does not want addressed, especially with regard to the possibility that the events on the evening of July 15 were Turkey’s equivalent of the Reichstag fire.
Alevi leader Kenanoğlu: Discrimination against Alevis increased in 2013
It must be realized that religion is a matter for individual citizens. It is likely that the Gülen community will face restrictions and pressure from the government [as the AK Party government’s supporters have accused the Gülen movement of discrediting a number of ministers and their relatives in relation to a recent investigation into alleged bribery in public tenders, which saw the sons of three Cabinet ministers taken into custody alongside construction moguls and bureaucrats]. What we have been defending are universal rights, including the freedom of religion and belief. If these can be achieved, everybody will benefit from them, not just the Alevi community.
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.
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