Arzu Nur Özkan, a former teacher, has been in Bünyan Prison in Kayseri province for the last four months for alleged links to the Gülen movement despite being six months pregnant. Özkan is experiencing complications related to her pregnancy and is frequently put in quarantine cells because of her hospital visits.
Abductions, forceful disappearances, tortures, and political target killings have always been among the burning human rights violations in Turkey; however, they skyrocketed during Erdogan’s rule and especially after the failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
“July 15 was a terrifying incident. We still haven’t solved the mystery behind it. However, I can easily say it wasn’t a coup. … We must examine the results of such occurrences. Who benefited from it? They played [with us] under the pretext of a [fake] coup, and the government, one person [Erdoğan] profited handsomely from this, taking over the whole country,” Ataklı said.
The abduction, forcible disappearance and extrajudicial transfer of educator Orhan İnandı to Turkey by Turkish and Kyrgyz authorities amount to egregious violations of international and domestic law, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Wednesday.
Nine-year-old Nurefşan Teke drowned on Thursday while trying to cross the Evros River with her mother Neslihan in order to reunite with her father, who had to flee Turkey five years ago due to an ongoing government crackdown on alleged members of the Gülen movement.