Dilek Boyacı, a Turkish woman in Amasya who gave birth to her baby just 40 days ago has been kept under police custody in Antalya Police Station along with her newborn over the past four days, according to Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu.
“Today marks UN’s Childrens’ Rights Day; D.B. and her 40 days old baby, named Ömer, have been kept at Antalya Police Station for 4 days now. Stop injustice! @abdulhamitgul,” Tanrikulu tweeted Monday in an attempt to draw the attention of Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül to the issue.
This is not the first-time Turkish police detained a woman who just had a baby as hospitals, hotels as well as state institutions have become common places where suspects are required to check in for registration, involuntarily helping police to locate them.
More than 17,000 women in Turkey have been jailed as part of the government’s post-coup crackdown against critics and opponents. Some 668 children were also put behind bars along with jailed parents as they had no else to look after them outside.
Turkey survived a controversial military coup attempt on July 15, 2016 that killed 249 people. Immediately after the putsch the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with President Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, 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.
Turkey has suspended or dismissed more than 150,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants since July 15. Turkey’s Justice Ministry announced on July 13 that 50,510 people have been arrested and 169,013 have been the subject of legal proceedings on coup charges since the failed coup. (SCF with turkeypurge.com)
[…] American citizens as hostages, like Mr. Brunson, the pastor. Erdogan violates human rights. About 17,000 innocent women, and around 700 babies have been kept in jail with no due process. So he uses his power to abuse […]