Businessman jailed over Gülen links dies of cancer after his belated release from prison


Date posted: May 14, 2021

Businessman İsmet Torun, 53, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer during his 38-month incarceration on terrorism charges, died in Ankara on Monday after his release from prison.

Torun, one of many who fell victim to Turkey’s relentless post-coup purge, was arrested on April 26, 2017 due to his alleged links to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen.

He was sentenced to seven years in prison by the Ankara 26th High Criminal Court and had been in Sincan Prison in Ankara for 38 months until he was released in June due to his illness.

Since then, Torun had been receiving treatment at Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Hospital in Ankara.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement 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.

Human rights activists and opposition politicians have frequently criticized authorities for not releasing critically ill prisoners so they can seek proper treatment.

A report released by the Ankara-based Human Rights Association (İHD) in April said there are at least 1,605 ailing inmates in the country’s prisons, 604 of whom are in critical condition. The İHD said it estimates the number of sick inmates to be higher and calls on the government to release them and delay their sentences as the coronavirus pandemic poses a further threat to their medical well-being.

According to a statement from Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on February 20, a total of 622,646 people have been the subject of investigation and 301,932 have been detained, while 96,000 others have been jailed due to alleged links to the Gülen movement since the failed coup. The minister said there are currently 25,467 people in Turkey’s prisons who were jailed on alleged links to the Gülen movement.

Source: Stockholm Center for Freedom , May 12, 2021

Tags: | | | |


Related News

Erdoğan: Our people will punish Gülenists in the streets if they ever get out of jail

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a public speech on Wednesday that if people affiliated with Turkey’s Gülen group are released from prison after completing their prison terms, the Turkish public will “punish them in the streets.”

Another new mother detained in Turkey over Gülen links

Büşra Öztürk, the mother of a 22-day-old baby, was detained in Ankara on Wednesday for alleged links to the Gülen movement. Turkish law requires postponement of the arrest of pregnant women until they give birth and the infant reaches the age of six months.

Victim: We are being a subject to genocide

There’s a dramatic increase spotted in the number of victims of Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime in Turkey, aimed at extermination of the followers of so-called Hizmet Movement.

Colors of world meeting at Turkish Language Olympics

The Turkish schools abroad should top the list of the global brands Turkey has produced. It’s not easy for a brand to make a name for itself. Sustainability matters as much as other qualifications do. There have been so many enterprises that started to fade from the very beginning. In this respect, the Turkish schools have been our international brand that keeps the bar highest in their work all the time.

Gülen extends condolences for death of former deputy PM Arınç’s brother

Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the faith-based Hizmet movement, has offered condolences to former Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç, whose elder brother, Yıldıray Arınç, was laid to rest on Tuesday.

PM Erdoğan widens hostile stance to include more and more groups

Erdoğan has been trying to dodge the damaging impact of the corruption scandals by using Hizmet as a scapegoat. Gülen, an ardent supporter of transparency and accountability in government, was critical of Erdoğan government’s efforts to stall the corruption investigations. Speaking to the BBC on Monday, Gülen said that the massive corruption investigations that have shaken the government cannot be covered up no matter how hard the government tries to derail the probes — not even by blaming the scandal on what the prime minister has called the “parallel state,” a veiled reference to the Hizmet movement inspired by Gülen.

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

Editorial: Expulsion of Turk Teachers from Pakistan

The U.S. may face a choice between geopolitical calculation and human decency

PM Erdoğan continues with insults, threats against Hizmet movement

GYV summit highlights link between education, sustainable development

Police report accuses Gülen based on fabricated ‘gov’t media’ stories

Inability to generate values

University of Florida and the failed coup in Turkey

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News