A former teacher previously sentenced to more than six years for her alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement has been arrested and sent to prison accompanied by her 1-year-old daughter, the Kronos news website reported.
Emine Güçlüer and her children were on their way to Greece to seek asylum in Europe when they were arrested by Turkish police.
She was accused of having an account at a now-closed Gülen-linked bank, participating in religious sermons organized by the movement and being a member of a Gülen-linked labor union.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of 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 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.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a prominent human rights advocate and an opposition lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), tweeted a photo of Güçlüer and her child, expressing disapproval of the arrest.
“Another baby and mother were sent to prison today,” he said.
Güçlüer was initially arrested in 2018 but was released shortly after due to her daughter’s young age. According to Law No. 5275, pregnant women and mothers with babies younger than 18 months should be released pending trial.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
