Turkish authorities deny release to critically ill cancer patient arrested on Gülen links


Date posted: June 17, 2021

Yusuf Özmen, who was arrested in March to serve a sentence on a Gülen-linked conviction despite having stage 4 cancer, remains in prison despite a medical report saying he is almost totally disabled, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported citing Bold Medya.

Özmen’s prostate cancer metastasized to his lungs in a short period of time. A medical report signed by 40 doctors said he was not fit to remain in prison. However, the Istanbul Institute of Forensic Medicine issued another health report in April saying he could stay in prison. The report added that the institute should be consulted if Özmen’s health continued to deteriorate.

Despite his critical condition, Özmen was confined alone in a quarantine cell for months due to his frequent hospital visits.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-Prime Minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.

Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members.

Erdoğan intensified the crackdown on the movement following a coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the abortive putsch or any terrorist activity.

Özmen was first arrested in 2018, when he had stage 3 cancer, and was in pretrial detention for 18 months. During his time in prison, he underwent major surgery and was sent back to prison six days later. Özmen was released pending trial in 2019 but was re-arrested in March after the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld an eight year, nine month prison sentence.

Turkish authorities have denied political prisoners, even those with critical illnesses, release from prison so they can at least seek proper treatment. Human rights activists and opposition politicians have frequently criticized authorities for not releasing critically ill prisoners.

Human rights defender and former Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu said ill prisoners were not released until they were at the point of no return. He claimed that prisoners did not have access to proper healthcare facilities such as hospitals or infirmaries.

According to the most recent statistics published by the Human Rights Association (İHD), the number of sick prisoners is in the thousands, more than 600 of whom are critically ill. Although most of the seriously ill patients have forensic and medical reports deeming them unfit to remain in prison, they are not released. Authorities refuse to free them on the grounds that they pose a potential danger to society.

A number of critically ill prisoners passed away in 2020 because they were not released in time to receive needed medical treatment.

Source: Turkish Minute , June 12, 2021


Related News

I object to AK Party’s ‘New Turkey’

At this point, we need to state that the third term in office which the prime minister Erdogan refers to as the period of mastery appears to be a goal of converting society through a single cultural identity rather than a period of restoration that will strengthen social peace.

Turkish academics exiled to Germany remain in fear

Last year’s failed coup against Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan resulted in a crackdown on scholars and universities, and has divided the nation’s diaspora. Intense polarisation of Turkish diaspora, plus online harassment, means refugee scholars feel they are being watched.

Turkey’s crisis deepens

Therefore, it is not surprising the attempted coup in Turkey aroused such concern and reaction. But to use it as an exercise in settling political scores with related or unrelated enemies will only further inflame the situation. There are reports that the Erdogan government had already prepared lists for purges and suspensions, and the failed coup has brought forward the whole exercise.

Turkey coup: Conspiracy theorists claim power grab attempt was faked by Erdogan

Social media users have compared the coup attempt in which more than 160 people are thought to have died to the Reichstag fire – the 1933 arson attack on the German parliament building which Hitler used as an excuse to suspend civil liberties and order mass arrests of his opponents.

Ex-CIA Director: Mike Flynn and Turkish Officials Discussed Removal of Gulen from U.S. without Going through Legal Process

James Woolsey says he attended a September meeting where other participants, including then-Trump adviser Mike Flynn, talked of moving Fethullah Gulen back to Turkey without going through U.S. extradition process.

Joint mosque-cemevi project launched in Tokat

Turkey’s first-ever joint mosque-cemevi complex has been under construction in Ankara since last September. The project, which is being carried out by the CEM Foundation and the Hacı Bektaş Veli Culture, Education, Health and Research Foundation, was first suggested by Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives in the US in self-imposed exile.

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

Karınca Yuvası (Ant Nest) from Turkish designers to Bangladeshi orphans

US prosecutor denies any links to Gülen, says never set foot in Turkey

GYV: Hard-won democratic gains sacrificed for short-term interests

Fethullah Gulen’s Statement on Mass Shooting at Pittsburgh Synagogue

Slanders against Hizmet Movement at highest level, which offends Anatolians

Turkish medical group goes to Tanzania with largest medical personnel team

Embrace Relief headed down to Haiti to help orphanages

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News