As Turkey celebrated the 97th anniversary of the foundation of the Turkish Parliament, National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on April 23, at least 520 children with imprisoned mothers have been deprived of enjoying the day as they are obliged to grow up in jail.
According to recent data released by the Ministry of Justice, more than 6,000 females are held in penal institutions, constituting around 9 percent of the total prison population in Turkey. A total of 2,258 of them are mothers, of whom 520 are obliged to raise their 0-6-year-old children in prison.
A witch-hunt started by the Turkish government in the aftermath of a coup attempt on July 15, 2016 against people affiliated with the Gülen movement has done nothing but cause more tragedies for mothers with children. The Turkish government has arrested nearly 50,000 individuals since July 15, 2016. According to a statement from Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu on April 2, a total of 113,260 people have been detained as part of investigations into the Gülen movement since the July 15 coup attempt. (turkeypurge.com) April 24, 2017
