Pregnant woman kept in prison for 4 months over Gülen links despite regulations


Date posted: July 21, 2021

Arzu Nur Özkan, a former teacher, has been in Bünyan Prison in Kayseri province for the last four months for alleged links to the Gülen movement despite being six months pregnant, the Bold Medya news website reported.

Özkan is experiencing complications related to her pregnancy and is frequently put in quarantine cells because of her hospital visits. Quarantine cells in Turkish prisons are notorious for their poor conditions and overcrowding.

Özkan was arrested on terrorism charges for working at a pre-school linked to the Gülen movement. Witness testimony and an account in her name at the now-closed Bank Asya were used as evidence against her. She was sentenced to six years, 10 months in prison.

According to the Law on the Execution of Sentences and Security Measures, even if a pregnant woman is convicted, her sentence must be postponed. The law stipulates that “execution of the prison sentence is delayed for women who are pregnant or have given birth within the last year and a half.”

Özkan’s family said she was experiencing problems related to a lack of proper nutrition and stress and urged the authorities to release her.

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

According to a report by Solidarity with OTHERS, a nongovernmental organization that mainly consists of political exiles from Turkey, a total of 219 pregnant women and women with children under six years of age were arbitrarily detained or arrested over their suspected links to the Gülen movement.

Source: Stockholm Center for Freedom , July 20, 2021


Related News

Purge-victim businessman sent back to prison a week after stomach cancer surgery: son

Hacı Boydak, a Kayseri-based Turkish businessman, has been put in solitary confinement only one week after he underwent a cancer surgery, according to his son.

One of his sons is with the PKK, the other is with the Gulen movement

As PKK terrorist organization burns the schools in southeastern Turkey, the question “Where is the Government?” has arisen. A father’s school preference for his son, located in the city of Batman has started a debate. The remarks of a father, who has a son with the PKK terrorist organization and another son in Gulen movement […]

Samanyolu high school wins gold medal in TÜBİTAK contest

Samanyolu Science High School students Sadık Said Kasap and Onur Sulak won the gold medal among 24 final contenders whose work was chosen out of 1,156 projects. Kasap and Sulak stated that they had been working on their project for the last eight months and that they had striven to make a contribution to the world of mathematics.

Being partners of the state

The freshly appointed justice minister, using phrases not easily understandable to people in the streets, said, “Neither God nor the state accepts partners.” This statement does not have an Islamic background. Every citizen is a partner of the state. The duty of a government is to perform common tasks in the name of these partners and based on the mandate given to it.

AK Party deputy Hakan Şükür against closure of prep schools

Former national team captain and current Justice and Development Party (AK Party) İstanbul deputy Hakan Şükür, referring to the government’s plan to shut down prep schools, has said it was wrong to vote “yes” on their closure before a process is carried out which eliminates the need for the schools.

Erdoğan’s aide: Unjust to suggest Hizmet eavesdropped on PM

A political aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday that it would be “unjust” and “wrong” to associate the Hizmet movement with wiretapping devices found in Erdoğan’s office. Speaking to TV station NTV, Yalçın Akdoğan, an adviser to the prime minister and a deputy of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said: “Some people placed those devices there…. This is a grave situation.”

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

The Guardian view on Turkey’s repression: stop this stalemate

Turkish humanitarian NGO has cured 30,000 cataract sufferers

Saudi scholar finds what he has been looking for in Gulen

The Hizmet movement and politics

A reality check on [Turkey coup attempt] from America’s spy chief

Zeki Saritoprak speaks on Gulen Movement at Chautauqua Institution

NBA star Enes Kanter on faith, basketball and political activism

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News