A former Turkish police officer died on Monday after a prolonged battle with advanced gallbladder cancer following a delay in a temporary release from prison granted due to his illness.
Mahmut Başyiğit, 54, who worked at the İzmir Selçuk District Police Department, was dismissed from the police force under the provisions of a government decree and was sentenced to over six years in prison in January 2023 on charges of alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has targeted followers of the Gülen movement since revelations of corruption were published that 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 a terrorist organization and began to pursue its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following the failed coup in 2016, which he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Başyiğit was convicted on the basis of depositing money in the Gülen-affiliated Bank Asya, enrolling his children in Gülen-affiliated schools and using the ByLock messaging app, also said by the government to indicate terrorist activity.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in favor of teacher Yüksel Yalçınkaya on September 26, 2023, asserting that actions such as depositing money in a certain bank, joining a particular association, using ByLock, subscribing to a certain newspaper, or sending children to a particular school do not constitute crimes under Article 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Turkey, as a party to the Convention, is obliged to adhere to ECtHR decisions.
Nine months into his sentence, Başyiğit was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer.
According to the Kronos news website, Başyiğit was released in March 2024 for six months due to the severity of his illness. However, the release was granted too late, and only came long after a medical report recommending immediate release on the grounds that he could not endure prison conditions. Başyiğit had appealed for release a number of times, but the authorities were slow to respond, ultimately permitting his release only several months after the plea.
“He [my father] needed my mother’s support. Several times he asked for permission just to speak with her, but they [prison administration] refused,” Başyiğit’s daughter, Zehra, said.
Following the abortive putsch, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. Over 130,000 public servants, including 4,156 judges and prosecutors, as well as 29,444 members of the armed forces, were summarily removed from their jobs for alleged membership in or relationships with “terrorist organizations” by emergency decree, subject to neither judicial nor parliamentary scrutiny.
Former public servants were not only fired from their jobs; they were also banned from working again in the public sector and from things such as obtaining a passport. The government also made it difficult for them to work formally in the private sector. Notes were put on the social security database about dismissed public servants to deter potential employers.
