‘Escape from Turkey’ recounts stories of post-coup crackdown victims fleeing Turkey


Date posted: November 28, 2021

A recently published book titled “Escape from Turkey” tells the first-hand story of two people who were forced to flee the country to avoid a crackdown launched by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government on Gülen movement members following a failed coup in 2016, local media reported on Monday.

A government crackdown on the faith-based movement inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, also known as the Hizmet Movement, which was launched following corruption investigations implicating then-prime minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s inner circle in late 2013, and culminated in the aftermath of the failed coup in 2016, is still ongoing.

Written by Zeynep Kayadelen and published in English as part of the Archiving Persecution of Hizmet Movement (APH) project conducted by the Advocates of Silenced Turkey (AST), a nonprofit human rights organization, the book focuses on the stories of a scientist and a former lawyer for Bank Asya who are identified in the book as Davut D. And Yakup Y., respectively.

The Gülen movement-affiliated Bank Asya, one of Turkey’s largest commercial banks at the time, was taken over by the state-run Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) in May 2015, as part of Erdoğan’s crackdown on the movement. It was declared bankrupt and shut down a week after the abortive putsch on July 15, 2016.

In the book, Davut D., who had worked as an associate professor at a university in Turkey and was fired after the attempted coup, tells in detail why he was declared a terrorist, about his time in prison and how he decided to risk death to leave Turkey.

Davut D. along with his family of three children, his brother-in-law and his cousin left Turkey by boat via the Maritsa River, which constitutes part of the land border between Turkey and Greece and is used frequently by refugees.

“Escape from Turkey” also tells the story of Yakup Y., a successful lawyer who launched his own law firm after working as an expert in several ministries and was managing the international legal affairs of various companies before the coup attempt.

The book highlights the fact that Turkey lost educated people such as Davut D. and Yakup Y. overnight because the AKP government labeled them as terrorists over their links to the Gülen movement after the abortive putsch.

Dismissing the December 17-25, 2013 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 locked up thousands including many prosecutors, judges and police officers involved in the investigation as well as journalists who reported on them.

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

Following the abortive putsch, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive crackdown, removing more than 130,000 civil servants from their jobs on alleged links to Gülen. In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.

The Turkish government accepted such daily activities as having an account at or depositing money in a Gülen movement-affiliated bank, working at any institutions linked to the movement or subscribing to certain newspapers and magazines as benchmarks for identifying and arresting tens of thousands of alleged members of the movement on charges of membership in a terrorist organization.

Source: Turkish Minute , August 10, 2021


Related News

Retired public servant under custody for distributing donations to post-coup victims

M.S. was rounded up while he was withdrawing the money allegedly transferred from Canada-based Gulen followers to his account, at a bank branch in Izmir’s Bergama district. According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, the funds were raised to support post-coup prisoners and those under investigation as well as the people dismissed as part of the government crackdown and their families.

Reps urge Federal Govt to intervene in Nigerian students’ detention in Turkey

Abuja – The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to quickly intervene and ensure the rescue of 50 Nigerian students detained by Turkish government. According to Rep. Aminu Suleiman, the Turkish Ambassador in Nigeria had requested the Nigerian authorities to close down 17 Turkish schools in Nigeria for alleged link with Hizmet movement.

Child of purged victim in Turkey says: I was 14 months old when my dad jailed

The child of a man who was arrested as part of a Turkish government crackdown on dissent following a failed coup last July said in a message on a piece of paper that “I was 14 months old when my father left.”

Erdoğan media’s accusations against Gülen and Hizmet

Amost all of the same lies [against Gülen] are now repeated almost verbatim by the TV channels and newspapers under the control of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The latest step by AKP-Gov’t witch-hunt against Hizmet Movement

In Turkey, the increasing pressure over the freedom of press, property rights and authoritarianism have reached an alarming level. A recent report on the rule of law and respect for human rights inTurkey declared that Turkish government had been perpetrating systematic human rights violations since December 2013.

Turks Fleeing To Greece Find Mostly Warm Welcome, Despite History

Now, at least 1,000 Turkish citizens are seeking refuge in Greece, according to the refugee support nonprofit SolidarityNOW. It’s hard to pin down an exact number because not many have applied for asylum, says Antonis Spathis, a human rights lawyer in Thessaloniki. The Greek Asylum Service told NPR that 186 Turkish citizens applied for asylum in 2016 and noted there has been a “significant” increase in 2017.

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

Turkey wants NBA star jailed for insulting President Erdogan

Anonymous witnesses fail to identify suspects they earlier tipped off as Gulenist

Academic freedom at universities under growing threat

Hizmet will continue its mission regardless of attacks

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Islam’s need for enlightenment

Panel on Middle East perspectives held at Ishik University

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News