The Turkish mother of a 4-year-old girl was jailed after a conviction based on activities allegedly linked to the faith-based Gülen movement that Europe’s top human rights court has ruled do not constitute a crime, the TR724 news website reported.
Hatice Tekcan was detained at her home in the Çarşamba district of Samsun province on March 27 and sent to prison to serve a finalized sentence of six years, three months,
Her conviction was based on allegations commonly used in cases tied to a failed coup in Turkey in 2016, including alleged use of the ByLock messaging application — which authorities say was used by followers of the movement — and links to associations later closed by government decree.
Turkey experienced a controversial military coup attempt on the night of July 15, 2016, which, according to many, was a false flag operation aimed at entrenching the authoritarian rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by rooting out dissidents and eliminating powerful actors such as the military in his desire for absolute power.
In a 2023 ruling in the case of former teacher Yüksel Yalçınkaya, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that such acts — including use of a messaging app, having a bank account at certain institutions or membership in associations — do not constitute a crime under Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees that no one can be punished for an act that was not clearly defined as criminal at the time it was committed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations in December 2013 implicated him as well as some members of his family and inner circle. He dismissed the probes as a Gülenist conspiracy and later designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016, intensifying a sweeping crackdown after the coup attempt in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of orchestrating. The movement denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Video footage showing Tekcan saying goodbye to her young daughter before being taken into custody circulated widely on social media, drawing criticism from rights advocates who say such cases highlight the human impact of ongoing prosecutions tied to the post-coup purge.
Children of those imprisoned over alleged Gülen links have faced widespread and documented harm, including severe psychological trauma, social stigmatization and the loss of parental care. A report by the Stockholm Center for Freedom found that many children were forced to live with relatives or without primary caregivers, while others were denied access to healthcare or pushed into caregiving roles at a young age. The report also documented a pattern of depression, anxiety and, in some cases, suicide among minors who were unable to cope with the prolonged separation from imprisoned parents.
In one case 15-year-old Sümeyra Gelir died on April 3, 2025, while her mother was imprisoned on Gülen-linked charges, with her death marking its anniversary this week. She was found dead in her bed in the northwestern province of Sakarya in what was reported as an epilepsy-related death, after taking on the care of her two younger siblings during her mother’s imprisonment. Family members and rights advocates said she had struggled under the emotional strain of the separation.
Human rights organizations have documented that the absence of stable parental support has contributed to documented cases of psychological trauma, depression and developmental issues. Some children have also been diagnosed with serious physical illnesses exacerbated by stress or lack of care.
