Melek İpek, 78, mother of self-exiled Turkish businessman Akın İpek, was hospitalized on Monday, shortly after beginning a prison sentence in Ankara for alleged ties to the Gülen movement, a faith-based group outlawed by the Turkish government.
Her son, Akın İpek, who now resides in the UK, announced her hospitalization on X.
Melek İpek received a prison sentence of six years, three months for “membership in a terrorist organization” over alleged links to the Gülen movement, in addition to a four-year, two-month sentence for allegedly violating Capital Markets Board (SPK) regulations.
The decision against Melek İpek, who suffers from numerous health issues, was upheld by Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals in 2021. She was recently remanded to Ankara’s Sincan Prison to serve out the sentence.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 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 targeting its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016, which he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Koza İpek Holding and numerous valuable personal assets were seized by the government in 2015 based on allegations of Gülen affiliations and other charges. Akın İpek, the holding company founder, was in the UK at the time and decided not to return to Turkey. The Turkish government subsequently filed a formal extradition request for İpek that was rejected by a UK court.
The İpek family has faced legal challenges and government scrutiny since Turkey branded the Gülen movement a terrorist organization in 2016. Several members of the İpek family have been charged with crimes. An Ankara court handed down a prison sentence of 79 years, eight months for Cafer Tekin İpek, Akın İpek’s brother, and he has been behind bars, initially in pretrial detention, since April 2016.
Melek İpek was a well-known and respected woman even among ruling Justice and Development Party circles as a pioneer of charity activities before the government crackdown on the Gülen movement began.
Melek and her son, Cafer Tekin, were among 20 defendants tried in January 2021. Following a ruling by the Ankara 24th High Criminal Court, shares in Koza İpek Holding were transferred to the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance, and a government-appointed board of trustees has managed the company since its seizure in 2015.
In July 2020, Melek İpek was forcibly removed from her home as part of a government crackdown on the Gülen movement’s assets.
Following the failed coup, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and expanded its efforts to target individuals alleged to be affiliated with the Gülen movement under the pretext of an anti-terrorism fight.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee and other organizations have raised significant concerns about Turkey’s treatment of these individuals, citing allegations of forced disappearances, arbitrary detention and mistreatment in custody.
