Letter campaign launched for Turkey’s imprisoned women, mothers


Date posted: February 7, 2018

An initiative called Set Them Free has launched a letter campaign to show solidarity with women in jail and mothers who are incarcerated with their children.

In the aftermath of a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016, more than 17,000 women from all walks of life including teachers, doctors and housewives have been jailed in Turkey on coup charges in government-led operations. There are currently more than 700 children accompanying their mothers in Turkish jails.

The “Care, Share, Send a Letter” campaign calls for letters addressed to the mothers and women imprisoned in Turkey to give them hope, to stand in solidarity with them and to remind them that they are not alone.

The Set them Free initiative is calling on people to write letters full of love, hope and dignity that will empower the women in jail.

“We kindly urge you to use positive and encouraging language in the letter in line with our mission to give hope and empowerment to the jailed women. We expect letters to be emailed to sethemfreetr@gmail.com. After the campaign end date, Set Them Free will print the emailed letters and post them to the person that you have addressed,” says the initiative.

The letters will be kept confidential and no letter will be published on any of the platforms unless the correspondent gives authorization for Set Them Free to share their letters as a sample for other participants.

Set Them Free says it has received approval for the campaign from the relatives of mothers and female journalistssuch as Vahide Kutkut, jailed since February 2017 and mother of two children; Gülizar Diken Akbaba, jailed since July 2017 with her baby Miraz; Selma Polat, jailed since December 2017 with her baby Emir; journalist Ayşenur Parıldak, jailed since August 2016;Meltem Oktay, jailed since April 2017; and Hanım Büşra Erdal, jailed since July 2016.

“If you know any jailed mother or woman in person and have a connection to obtain an authorization from the family, please feel free to contact us, and we would be glad to include them as well,” the initiative says.

 

Source: Turkey Purge , February 3, 2018

Tags: | | | | |


Related News

Communists in Cold War, reactionaries in Feb. 28 coup and Gülenists in Erdoğan era

It is useful to make a point here: Is it not true that some civil servants and officers, including prosecutors, judges, police officers, district governors and governors, are members of the Gülen movement? Of course it’s true. But is that a crime? No, it is not. People cannot be blamed for their beliefs, thoughts, identities or colors. They cannot be discriminated against because of such characteristics.

Commentary: Abuses rampant in wake of Turkish coup

We don’t know a lot. But what we do know should cause us to ask our elected officials to look carefully at any request for extradition for Fethullah Gulen. We don’t know everything, but we know that the post-coup crackdown has included public appeals “to be protected from the evil things of educated people.” Nearly 60,000 have been detained. Some 1,600 university academic deans have been relieved of their positions.

Bride, groom detained in bridal car while on way to wedding venue

Emine Cetik and Aykut Kutlu, a soon-to-be-married couple, were stopped by police in a bridal car and detained over links to the Gulen movement while they were on their way to the wedding venue.

Planned prep school ban [in Turkey] disregards basic rights as in single-party era

The government’s intentions to shut down private examination preparation centers [in Turkey] in spite of a strong backlash from educators, economists, students, parents and even terrorism experts brings back memories of the authoritarianism of the early years of the republic, when a single-party regime was in place.

America’s Public Radio International maps out Turkish gov’t persecution of Gülen movement

“Nate Schenkkan is with Freedom House and an expert on Turkey. He says Gülenists have been left jobless, with no chance of restarting their careers. “For the vast majority of the people in the Gülen movement, it’s quite clear. They had nothing to do with any of this, whether it’s the coup attempt or any other kind of violence,” he said.

Turkish opposition: Enquiry against Gülen politically motivated

Turkey’s opposition parties across the political spectrum criticized reports that a criminal investigation was launched against Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, saying that the allegations are a political tactic by embattled Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to distract public interest away from a big graft scandal that has implicated himself, his family members and his senior government officials.

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

Turkish-American community grapples with Turkey coup’s aftermath

Woman sent to prison on coup charges hours after surgery

Ex-minister denies claims over helping ‘parallel structure’ while in office

Bolu municipality builds road inside Hizmet affiliated Fatih College’s garden

Taiwanese scholar: Hizmet movement bears similarities to Confucianism

From Islamophobia to ‘Hizmet-phobia’

Kurdistan Regional Gov’t: Gulen-inspired schools will not be closed

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News