The vague and imprecise charge of “membership in an armed terrorist organization” appears to be repeatedly misused to target critics of the Turkish government’s policies and to criminalize the legitimate activities of supporters of the Gülen movement, said the vice chair of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and three special rapporteurs in a letter to the Turkish government.
A woman was detained less than 24 hours after delivering a baby yesterday for alleged affiliation with the Gülen movement, a faith-based group inspired by Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen. Betül Uluçam, 34, was detained in the hospital where she had given birth less than a day before.
The UN group called on Ankara to release the six individuals immediately, and the Turkish and Kosovar governments to accord the victims an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
The pictures showing the grim death of a police officer sacked with an emergency decree have sparked debate on the conditions in Turkish prisons amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Pictures from his prison cell showed his dead body on a plastic chair in filthy surroundings, prompting deputies to question prison conditions.
Turkey’s long arm and espionage activities against dissidents living in exile in Canada has become a growing concern. As revealed in a startling recent news report, 15 Turkish-Canadians have been targeted by the Turkish government within the scope of a “terrorism” investigation.
Turkey is where it is today, not because of Gulen and the Hizmet Movement but rather as the product of a change of heart in the current government leadership, flushing good governance and tolerance components from the country’s management affairs running systems. Solution to the Ankara crisis can only be found through establishing its root cause rather than finding a scapegoat.
A post-coup purge in Turkey is continuing to take a huge toll on human life, making no exceptions for children. The Stockholm Center for Freedom has compiled data regarding seven children struggling with a mortal disease in the absence of their fathers.
“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.
Ahmet Burhan Ataç, an eight-year-old kid departed to Germany on Sunday for cancer treatment without his parents as the father is in prison and the mother is subject to a travel ban over alleged Gulen links.
Ahmet Ataç, an eight-year-old kid with stage four bone cancer, has reportedly been denied a passport by Turkish authorities due to the his father’s ongoing imprisonment over alleged links to Turkey’s Gülen group.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry has paid more than 19 million Turkish lira to 249 people who provided information leading to the arrest or were instrumental in the death of supporters of the faith-based Gülen movement, a pro-government newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Local municipality officials in western Turkey denied funeral service and funeral vehicle for six people, including three babies, who drowned while attempting to reach Greek island of Lesbos in a bid to flee persecution in their home country.