A doctor who was removed from his post at the İzmir-based Katip Çelebi University’s hospital last Friday as part of an ongoing crackdown on the followers of the faith-based Gülen movement, committed suicide on Sunday by jumping from the 10th floor of the hospital.
Doctor Orhan Çetin, 30, was an assistant doctor at the biochemistry department of the Katip Çelebi University Atatürk Education and Research Hospital.
Çetin was heavily injured when his body was found on the ground floor on Sunday morning. He could not be saved despite doctors’ efforts.
An investigation has been launched into the incident.
More than 30 people have reportedly committed suicide either after they were imprisoned over ties to the movement or after being linked to the movement outside prison. Some of these suicides have been found to be suspicious.
Turkey survived a military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed over 240 people. Immediately after the putsch, AKP government along with President Erdogan called the coup “a great gift of God” and pinned the blame on the Gülen movement, inspired by US-based Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Although the Gülen movement strongly denies having any role in the putsch, the government accuses it of having masterminded the foiled coup. Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, called for an international investigation into the coup attempt, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
Over 135,000 people, including thousands within the military, have been purged due to their real or alleged connection to the Gülen movement since the coup attempt, according to a statement by the labor minister on Jan. 10. As of Feb. 1, Over 91,600 people were detained, 45,012 people were jailed with pre-trial arrest due to their alleged links to the movement. (turkishminute.com) Feb. 19, 2017
