Category: Politics

Turkish authorities have over the past week ordered the detention of 249 people including former diplomats, teachers, dismissed civil servants, active duty and former military and police officers, and former cadets due to alleged links to the Gülen movement.

According to the state-run Anadolu news agency the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Friday issued detention warrants for 29 former diplomats. Police conducted operations across 15 provinces to detain them. The suspects are accused of using the ByLock messaging app, once widely available online and considered by the government to be a tool of secret communication among supporters of the movement.

The UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has repeatedly stated that arrest and conviction based on ByLock use in Turkey violated Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

As part of an investigation launched by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, detention warrants were issued on Wednesday for 39 women including a teacher and three midwives over Gülen links. Thirty-two of the women were detained the same day following raids across five provinces. The detention warrants targeting the women were issued based on the allegations of a secret witness, named “garson” (waiter). The women are accused of organizing activities among female members of the movement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish Muslim 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 the abortive putsch on July 15, 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.

The İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has also ordered the detention of 158 individuals including active duty and former military officers and former cadets. The suspects are accused of using payphones to secretly communicate with their contacts in the Gülen movement.

The so-called “payphone investigations” are based on call records. The prosecutors assume that a member of the Gülen movement used the same payphone to call all his contacts consecutively. Based on that assumption, when an alleged member of the movement is found in call records, it is assumed that other numbers called right before or after that call also belong to people with Gülen links. Receiving calls from a payphone periodically is also considered a red flag.

Turkish police on Monday detained 15 former police academy students as part of an İstanbul-based operation after prosecutors issued detention warrants for 23 of them.

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on February 20, that 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 movement.

The government also removed more than 130,000 civil servants from their jobs on alleged Gülen links following the coup attempt. SCF

The Turkish Interior Ministry has filed a lawsuit for damages in the amount of $290,823 against the family of Fikri Demirbaş, who died in an accident involving a military vehicle in southeastern Diyarbakır province in 2017, accusing Demirbaş damaging the armored car, Turkish Minute reported on Wednesday, citing the Jin News website.

In 2019 the ministry sent a notice to the family informing them that they must pay for the damages the 2017 crash — which involved Demirbaş’s car and a military vehicle and resulted in the death of five members of his family — had caused to the armored vehicle.

Since the family hadn’t paid as demanded, the ministry recently filed a lawsuit for damages based on a crime scene report by the gendarmerie station in Lice that said that the accident occurred due to Demirbaş’s “improper lane change.” The report also stated that Demirbaş was “primarily” at fault for the accident while the driver of the armored vehicle was found to be secondarily at fault.

The case was accepted by the Diyarbakır 3rd Civil Court of First Instance, which requested that both the ministry and the Demirbaş family submit their written defense regarding the incident. The court will decide whether the case will be heard with or without a hearing after evaluating the defenses, Jin News said.

“We have already suffered enough. I have eight children. Three of them are married, but I’m taking care of the rest. … While we are suffering all this [financial difficulty], what does the government do? It sends each of us notices [to have us pay for the damages]. … How can I pay millions when I can’t even pay my rent?” Halime Demirbaş, the widow of Fikri Demirbaş, said.

Referring to the decision of non-prosecution for the police officer driving the military vehicle at the time of the accident, she added: “Five people were killed, but those who killed them haven’t been punished. We witness what punishment is given when even a stone is thrown at an armored vehicle, but five people were killed here. Despite what happened, they punish the family of those who were killed, not those who killed them. Now I’m asking: What kind of conscience is this?”

The killing of civilians by military vehicles is common in Turkey’s Southeast, where there is a heavy military presence due to ongoing clashes between the Turkish military and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

According to a report by the Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır branch, 36 people, including six women and 16 children, have been killed and 85 were injured in 63 accidents involving armored vehicles over the past 10 years. SCF

Antalya police on Tuesday detained Fatmana Karakuzu, the mother of Ayşe Özdoğan, an imprisoned woman with stage 4 maxillary sinus cancer, for protesting her daughter’s imprisonment over trumped-up charges of “participation in a terrorist organization.”

Karakuzu was detained in front of the Antalya courthouse. She was reportedly taken to a police station for interrogation.

According to a later tweet posted by Melek Çetinkaya, the purge-victim woman was released after almost five hours in police custody.

Ayşe Özdoğan was sent to prison early in October on charges of membership to the Gulen group, which the government accuses of masterminding a coup attempt.

The group denies any involvement.

Ayşe was sent to prison after a regional appeals court in Turkey has upheld a prison sentence of nine years, five months handed down to her.

Among the accusations are claims that she deposited 300 Turkish Liras (35 USD) into a Bank Asya account, as well as working at a Gulen-affiliated student dormitory.

The Gulen group is accused by the government of masterminding a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The group denies any involvement.

The purge-victim woman, Ayşe, was initially put in pre-trial detention in April 2019 for working at a now-closed Gulen-affiliated student dormitory. After spending a week under police custody, she was released on bail. She was eventually sentenced to nine years and five months in prison in December 2019.

The same court also sentenced her husband, İlker Özdoğan to 13 years and five months in prison over similar charges. TurkeyPurge

Members of the Turkey Youth Foundation (TÜGVA), on whose advisory board President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan sits, made a statement after morning prayers in all 81 Turkish provinces on Sunday regarding a leak that showed TÜGVA members as a result of nepotism were appointed to state institutions, drawing criticism on social media, Turkish Minute reported.

Last week journalist Metin Cihan disclosed a document that included information on executives and members of TÜGVA who were appointed to posts in the Turkish military, police force and judiciary.

TÜGVA members all over Turkey gathered in Turkey’s mosques after morning prayers on Sunday and made a statement that denied the allegations, claiming that the document was fake.

Initially claiming that the document was a fabrication, TÜGVA Chairman Enes Eminoğlu later confirmed the authenticity of the document in an interview with journalist Cüneyt Özdemir. After the interview, Eminoğlu said his remarks were misinterpreted and that he had not acknowledged the authenticity of the leaked list.

Saying that they were being targeted by a social media lynch mob, TÜGVA members stated that their only purpose was to cultivate a young generation with religious training and traditional values.

TÜGVA members’ use of mosques to make their statement sparked anger on social media as many Turks deemed the act as an exploitation of religion for the group’s political ends.

“In a tight spot, TÜGVA is making a statement from inside a mosque. Exploiters of religion,” a user tweeted.

On Friday a court in the southern province of Osmaniye issued an access ban to a news story about the TÜGVA leak, the Freedom of Expression Association’s (İFÖD) EngelliWeb initiative reported.

Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government has long been attracting criticism for engaging in nepotism and filling state posts with its cronies.

Critics say the level of AKP nepotism reached new heights following a failed coup in July 2016 after which the government removed more than 150,000 civil servants from their jobs under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. SCF

Turkish government is in process of building hundreds of new prisons within the next four years to create space for as many as 500,000 people, according to Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a deputy from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

Speaking to the Karar TV early on Monday, Gergerlioğlu said that the unprecedented increase in the number of people jailed as part of Turkey’s ever-expanding purge following the July 15 coup attempt, has created the need for more space in prisons.

“If they (the AK Party) remains in power, they will increase prison capacity by a further 500,000 beds by 2024,” Gergerlioğlu said.

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said on February 20 that 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 group since a failed coup in 2016. The minister said there are currently 25,467 people in Turkey’s prisons who were jailed on alleged links to the group. TurkeyPurge

A refugee who has been living in İstanbul with her children for four months was beaten up and threatened by neighbors and insulted at the police station, the Bianet news website reported.

Speaking at press conference held by the Human Rights Association (İHD), the woman said she faced physical and verbal violence in their neighborhood in September and added that her neighbors threatened to kill her and her children.

She was also insulted by the police when she went to file a complaint against her neighbors, claiming she was treated like a criminal by the officers.

Hate crimes against refugees and migrants, who are blamed for many of Turkey’s social and economic troubles, have been escalating in the country in recent years.

A group of locals attacked the houses, workplaces and cars of Syrian refugees in İzmir on September 30 following reports that a 17-year-old Turk was killed in a fight. A mob then headed to a neighborhood where Syrian refugees reside.

Violence erupted in the Turkish capital of Ankara in August as an angry mob vandalized Syrian businesses and homes in response to the deadly stabbing of a Turkish teenager. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into 61 people following the attacks.

In March a Syrian refugee was assaulted by a group of streetcleaners in southern Antalya province. The man was beaten and his motorcycle was crushed with a garbage truck and set on fire.

Turkish media including pro-government and opposition outlets fuel and exploit the flames of hatred against people who fled their countries and sought refuge in Turkey.

Anti-migrant sentiment has also been expressed by opposition politicians. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has promised to send Syrians back home if his party comes to power.

Tanju Özcan, the mayor of Bolu province from the CHP, earlier said an additional water and solid waste tax 10 times the normal tax would be imposed on refugees living in Bolu.

In a recent meeting with representatives of refugees from various countries, Özcan said foreigners should respect local traditions and provided a long laundry list of things to do and not do that included not going out after 9:00 p.m., not gathering in parks in large numbers and not using too much spice while cooking because the odor disturbs the neighbors.

According to UNHCR Turkey hosts the largest number of refugees worldwide. The country is currently home to around 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees along with close to 320,000 persons of concern from other nationalities. SCF

The Turkish Embassy in the Philippines spied on Turkish citizens in the country and forwarded the illegal profiling list to Ankara, which led to the launch of groundless judicial procedures against them, Nordic Monitor reported, citing legal documents.

According to a December 18, 2018 decision by prosecutor Adem Akıncı, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched a separate investigation (file no.2018/28143 ) into 29 Turkish nationals who were listed in files dispatched by Turkish diplomats in Manila without any concrete evidence of wrongdoing. They were charged with “membership in a terrorist group” by Akıncı.

The profiling documents were sent by Esra Cankorur, the Turkish ambassador to the Philippines between 2014 and 2019.

Critics of the Erdoğan government abroad, especially members of the Gülen movement, have been facing surveillance, harassment, death threats and abduction since President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan decided to scapegoat the group for his own legal troubles. They have often been denied consular services such as power of attorney and birth registry as well as having their passports revoked. Their assets in Turkey are seized and their family members at home risk criminal charges.

Most recently educator Orhan İnandı, who was included in documents previously published by Nordic Monitor, was kidnapped in Kyrgyzstan on May 31 and illegally brought to Turkey by Turkish intelligence agency MİT. İnandı, who had lived in Kyrgyzstan for nearly 30 years, was arrested July 12 on charges of membership in a terrorist organization.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, a faith-based group 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.

Turkish embassies are also spying on the private and confidential information of citizens who have registered for consular services. Nordic Monitor published a Turkish foreign ministry communiqué, stamped secret, showing that the Turkish Embassy in Kosovo profiled 78 people who had listed their professions as teachers when they made applications with the consulate for various citizen services. Similar work has apparently been done in other Turkish diplomatic missions at the request of the Security General Directorate (Emniyet), the main law enforcement agency in Turkey.

As previously disclosed by Nordic Monitor, the foreign ministry sent lists of profiled Turkish nationals in two CDs to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the national police and Turkey’s intelligence agency MIT on February 19, 2018 via an official document for further administrative or legal action, the punishment of their relatives back in Turkey and the seizure of their assets. Public prosecutor Adem Akıncı, who received the foreign ministry document on February 23, 2018, forwarded the classified CDs including information on 4,386 Erdoğan critics to the Organized Crimes Unit of the Ankara Police Department for further action. The police conveyed the results of its investigations to the public prosecutor.

According to judicial documents released by the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court on January 16, 2019, the foreign ministry compiled a long list of foreign entities that were owned and/or operated by people who were seen as close to the movement.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed systematic spying on Turkish government critics on foreign soil as by Turkish diplomatic missions in February, 2020. Çavuşoğlu said Turkish diplomats assigned to embassies and consulates have officially been instructed by the government to conduct such activities abroad. “If you look at the definition of a diplomat, it is clear. … Intelligence gathering is the duty of diplomats,” Çavuşoğlu told Turkish journalists on February 16, 2020 following the Munich Security Conference, adding, “Intelligence gathering and information collection are a fact.” SCF

A total of 345 children under the age of 6 are accompanying their mothers in Turkish prisons, and they receive the same treatment as inmates, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported, citing a study by the Right to Life Association.

According to the study children are traumatized by strip-searches. They are not well fed and don’t receive sufficient medical care. They also have difficulty getting time to play.

Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) Secretary-General Coşkun Üsterci said the courts need to take into account the economic and social conditions of mothers with children under 6. “Even at times when imprisonment is absolutely necessary, female inmates with children should be in prisons with special and better conditions where the children can be raised well,” he added.

“We don’t even know if children are allowed to see daylight,” Ceren Kalay of the Ankara Bar Association said. “The children can be protected by putting their mothers under house arrest.”

According to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Children, “In cases where the parents or other primary caregivers commit an offence, alternatives to detention should be made available and applied on a case-by-case basis, with full consideration of the likely impacts of different sentences on the best interests of the affected child or children.”

The number of children accompanying their mothers in prison skyrocketed in Turkey in the aftermath of a coup attempt in July 2016. 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, accused by the Turkish government of orchestrating the coup attempt. The minister said there are currently 25,467 people in Turkey’s prisons who were jailed on alleged links to the movement.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, a faith-based group 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 locked up thousands including many prosecutors, judges and police officers involved in the investigation as well as journalists who reported on them.

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. SCF

Turkish prosecutors are seeking an aggravated life sentence and up to an additional seven years in prison for the man who carried out a deadly attack on the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) office in western Turkey in June, killing a party employee, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Onur Gencer, the 27-year-old assailant who admittedly killed HDP official Deniz Poyraz, 38, turned himself in to the police after the assault and was arrested by a criminal court of peace the next day.

Gencer faces aggravated life on charges of premeditated murder and the additional seven years on charges of violating the privacy of of a workplace, damaging buildings and property used by political parties.

The indictment against Gencer, drafted by the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, has been accepted by the İzmir 6th High Criminal Court. The indictment said Gencer confessed to the murder on the day of his arrest and that prosecutors have found no connection between Gencer and any terrorist organization.

It has emerged that Gencer formerly posted photos on social media making an ultranationalist hand gesture associated with the Grey Wolves, a far-right paramilitary group with close ties to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as well as their election partner, the MHP, have long portrayed the HDP as the political front of the PKK. The party denies links to the PKK and says it is working to achieve a peaceful solution to Turkey’s Kurdish issue and is only coming under attack because of its strong opposition to Erdoğan’s 18-year rule.

The Kurdish issue, a term prevalent in Turkey’s public discourse, refers to the demand for equal rights by the country’s Kurdish population and their struggle for recognition.