Blog

According to her family, Sulukan had never experienced a seizure before. She was supposed to be taking supplements to support her treatment but she currently cannot in prison. They believe this is why Sulukan experienced a seizure.

In a recent letter to Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, Sulukan said she did not have access to proper healthcare or good nutrition in prison, which set back her treatment.

“There is no physiotherapist in prison, and I am supposed to have heart surgery, but I can’t at the moment,” she said. “My health is not going to improve here but will instead get worse.”

Sulukan, a former teacher who has been suffering from paralysis for more than a year, was sent to prison in early May after the Supreme Court of Appeals upheld a six year, three month prison sentence due to her affiliation with the movement.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement 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 an abortive putsch on July 15, 2016.

There have even been cases when women arrested on Gülen links died in jail after they were denied critical medication by the prison authorities or when women were sent to jail immediately after delivery with their newborns, contrary to the law.

Turkey’s women rights organizations and opposition parties are criticized for turning a blind eye to the plight of these women and not raising their voices against their imprisonment on what many say are politically motivated charges.

According to Mezopotamya, among those detained by the police as part of the operation are the party’s Edirne Provincial Co-Chair Melahat Çelik, former Tekirdağ Provincial Co-Chair Alev Ateş, Kırıkkale Provincial Co-Chair Yakup Aslan, the Marmara Association for Solidarity with Prisoner and Convict Families (MATUHAYDER) director Cihan Kartal and the Migrants’ Association for Social Cooperation and Culture (Göç-Der) director Şeref Kaya, along with Abdurrahman Öztürk, Kenan Yıldız, Ömer Güven, Hüseyin Gözen, Emin Şen, Ercan Ogeday, Ramazan Kırkpınar and İrfan Hülakü.

As part of the operation carried out early on Friday, the police also searched the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) headquarters in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district and seized some materials, Mezopotamya said.

“Our eyes have been opened with the Tekirdağ detention frenzy, among which there are some of our co-chairs. Many of our friends are in custody. They’re trying to take away our right to do politics. We continue to struggle, to resist. Not long now…” the HDP’s İstanbul Provincial Co-Chair Ferhat Encü said in a tweet.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), together with its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have long portrayed the HDP as the political front of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU and the US, and has been waging an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

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 President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 19-year rule.

The political and legal assault on the HDP, which intensified after a truce between Kurdish militants and the AKP government broke down in 2015, grew even stronger after Erdoğan survived a coup attempt in July 2016 that was followed by a sweeping political crackdown.

The party currently faces a closure case on charges of “attempting to destroy the indivisibility between the state and the people.”

Hundreds of HDP politicians, including the party’s former co-chairs, are behind bars on terrorism charges, while most of the 65 HDP mayors elected in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast in 2019 have been replaced by government-appointed trustees.

TurkishMinute

A journalist close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and her husband have filed a criminal complaint against 33 people, including opposition politicians and journalists, on allegations that include “membership in a terrorist organization,” Turkish Minute reported.

Journalist Hilal Kaplan and her husband Süheyb Öğüt are known for running a troll group named Pelikan that had forced then-prime minister and current leader of the opposition Gelecek (Future) Party Ahmet Davutoğlu to resign in May 2016 with a list of unattributed files they published in April 2016. The files detailed issues of conflict between Davutoğlu and Erdoğan and harshly criticized Davutoğlu for refusing to push Erdoğan’s political agenda.

According to Turkish media reports, Kaplan, a columnist for the government-controlled Sabah daily and Daily Sabah newspapers and a board member of Turkish state broadcaster TRT, and Öğüt will be represented by lawmakers Selman Öğüt and Hadi Dündar.

The couple accuses 33 people of “membership in a terrorist organization,” “spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization,” “insult,” “slander,” “fabricating a crime” and other offenses revealed by the prosecutor’s office.

Former Justice and Development Party (AKP) İstanbul Provincial Chair Selim Temurçi, the Turkish Workers’ Party (TİP) İstanbul lawmaker Ahmet Şık, lawyer Fidel Okan and the Eurasia Public Research Center (AKAM)’s owner Kemal Özkiraz, along with journalists İsmail Saymaz, Bülent Korucu, Tarık Toros, Said Sefa, Emre Uslu, Adem Yavuz Arslan, Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan are among those facing the accusations.

AKAM’s Özkiraz reacted to the case filed against them in a series of tweets, saying: “It doesn’t bother me at all that Hilal Kaplan and Süheyb Öğüt call me a member of an [terrorist] organization. They have called many people many things, destroying their lives. If they hadn’t called people like us [dissidents] such things, I would think there was something wrong with me. I would feel ashamed and doubt myself.”

Through a referendum in April 2017 Turkey switched from a parliamentary system of governance to an executive presidential system that granted Erdoğan and his AKP government sweeping powers and was criticized for removing constitutional checks and balances, thus leading to a further weakening of Turkish democracy.

Erdoğan and the AKP brand all their critics as terrorists. Many politicians, including former co-chairs of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, are currently behind bars, along with dozens of journalists. SCF

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has filed a lawsuit against main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu over recent claims that the president and his close circle are planning to flee the country to avoid prosecution when the government changes, local media reported on Friday.

Kılıçdaoğlu claimed earlier this week that Erdoğan and people in his close circle, including his family members, are planning to flee Turkey and that 1 billion lira ($61.6 million) had been transferred to the United States through the pro-government Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey (TÜRGEV) and the Ensar Foundation to help to obtain residence and work permits in the US.

The TÜRGEV and Ensar foundations jointly established the Turken Foundation Inc., and according to documents shared by the CHP’s US representative Yurter Özcan, a total of $61.6 million was transferred from the TÜRGEV and Ensar foundations to the Turken Foundation between 2014 and 2020.

“Your son Bilal Erdoğan is the one who transferred the money through these foundations. [And] on the receiving end of the money is your daughter Esra Albayrak. As brother and sister, they manage the foundations, [and] transfer money to each other. TURKEN is a front foundation, [and] its purpose is to transfer wealth and people to the US,” the CHP leader said in a series of tweets on Friday, giving the names of Erdoğan’s children for the first time while explaining their involvement in the money transfers.

The lawsuit filed by Erdoğan’s lawyer Hüseyin Aydın against Kılıçdaroğlu at the Ankara Civil Court of First Instance claims that the opposition leader’s allegations were “totally unrealistic” and constituted “a serious attack” on the president’s personal rights.

Meanwhile, Turkish media on Friday reported that the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), Turkey’s broadcasting watchdog, was preparing to impose a fine on the pro-opposition Tele1, Halk TV and KRT TV stations for broadcasting a video posted on Twitter by Kılıçdaroğlu earlier this week in which he gave details about his allegations, citing a RTÜK member.

RTÜK member İlhan Taşçı from the CHP said in a series of tweets on Friday that the decision to impose a fine on the three TV stations for broadcasting the allegations made by the CHP leader, due to complaints by the TÜRGEV and Ensar foundations, would be announced on Monday.

“RTÜK considers it a crime to broadcast the statements of Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition party! The justification is that they were ‘uncorroborated’ [allegations]! The TV channels are to be fined for this … broadcasts that are newsworthy all over the world,” Taşçı said.

Erdoğan is accused by critics of establishing one-man rule in the country, engaging in massive corruption and using the state’s resources for the benefit of his family and cronies while the Turkish people are overwhelmed by the increasing cost of living caused by the depreciation of the Turkish lira and a record level of inflation at around 70 percent.

Public surveys show Erdoğan and his election ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), losing considerable public support.

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has slammed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for saying “no one is hungry” in Turkey in response to criticism of the country’s economic crisis, during a visit to a family whose power was cut due to unpaid electricity bills, local media reported on Saturday.

“Now, some people come out and say ‘we are hungry.’ Don’t make things up. How is it that you are hungry? There is no one who’s hungry [in Turkey]!” Erdoğan said on Friday in a televised speech.

The president’s remarks come as millions are battling poverty in Turkey, which is currently in the midst of an economic crisis as consumer prices accelerated to an annual rate of 69.97 percent in April, up from 61.14 percent in March, according to official data.

Food and fuel prices have more than doubled in the last few months. An increasing number of Turks have complained on social media about rising electricity bills and falling into debt. Many have said they can’t even afford basic foods such as fruits and vegetables.

The CHP leader on Saturday visited construction worker Mustafa Atalay and his wife Hazal, whose electricity was cut due to unpaid utility bills, accusing Erdoğan of being “out of touch with reality.”

After chatting with the family, Kılıçdaroğlu spoke to reporters, saying those who claimed there was no one hungry in Turkey should come and see the Atalays.

“This isn’t a pleasant situation. … The mother can’t take good care of the children due to health problems. They’re also having food and electricity problems. … This drama … isn’t unique to Van. … Such dramas exist everywhere [in Turkey]. No one can accept such a situation in 21st century Turkey,” the CHP leader said.

Addressing Erdoğan, Kılıçdaroğlu added: “There is no hunger in the [presidential] palace, I know this very well. … If you want to face the reality of Turkey, then come, sit down with these people, have a look at their houses, talk to them, hold their children in your arms, [and] listen to their problems. You are sitting [in the palace], disconnected from life [and] reality.”

Over the past several years Turkey has been suffering from a deteriorating economy, with high inflation and unemployment as well as a poor human rights record. Erdoğan is criticized for mishandling the economy, emptying the state’s coffers and establishing one-man rule in the country where dissent is suppressed and opponents are jailed on politically motivated charges.

Turkey’s financial troubles have increased since the country was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a sudden surge in the number of suicides and closed businesses. A high cost of living has become the new normal in the country, where recent increases in food and utility prices are pushing up inflation, further crippling the purchasing power of citizens.

A total of 13 women, including students and teachers, were arrested on Tuesday in southern Antalya province for alleged links to the Gülen movement, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported, citing the Bold Medya news website.

The women were among 37 people who had been detained on May 17. The suspects were accused of being in communication with other members of the movement and of tutoring younger students whose parents were in prison for 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 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 authorities detained at least 75 female students and teachers on Gülen links in the first three weeks of May.

According to a statement from the Turkish interior minister, a total of 319,587 people have been detained while 99,962 others have been jailed due to alleged links to the Gülen movement since the failed coup.