A Chat with Vonya Womack, a Human Rights Activist and Expert on Turkey and Its [Gulen Follower] Refugees
Date posted: December 20, 2019
RICH FISHER
Following a recent coup attempt, more than 100,000 people were arrested and dismissed from their jobs in the Republic of Turkey. Turkey is also the world’s largest jailer of journalists; 300+ are now behind bars. Our guest is an expert on these and related matters: Vonya Womack teaches at Cabrini University in Pennsylvania and spoke recently at the Raindrop Turkish House in Broken Arrow, OK.
She spoke about her work as a human rights activist and about how she recently visited with Turkish political refugees in Greece. She tells us about these adventures on StudioTulsa.
Turkey – Baby with Down syndrome suffers major health problems in absence of jailed parents
A 15-month-old baby with Down syndrome, Ayşe Sena Bunlu, has been suffering from serious health problems ever since her parents, both of whom are police officers, were purged from their posts and jailed in the aftermath of a failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, according to a story in the Tr724 news portal on Friday.
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Sedat Peker, a convicted gang leader and staunch supporter of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said they will hang all people linked to the Gülen movement from flagpoles and trees, the Diken news website reported on Sunday.
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Turks who fled the wrath of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a failed coup against him in July, 2016 have landed in Greece seeking asylum and integrating themselves into society as many are educated professionals, unlike many refugees and migrants finding themselves locked in detention centers and camps.
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Despite the obstacles he has orchestrated for those pursuing the investigations, Erdoğan has never been able to gain enough traction to shift the debate away from corruption since Dec. 17. He must now be running on fumes.
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“I don’t have a home right now,” Kanter told CBC News Network’s Steve Niles on Tuesday. “If I was anywhere else besides in America, besides Canada, yes, I believe my life could be in danger because I get death threats almost every day [from] Erdogan’s goons.
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