Şükrü Ayazlı, 47, a former teacher battling severe health complications after two bouts of lymphoma, remains behind bars in Turkey over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement, despite his family’s pleas for his release, the Velev news website reported on Saturday.
Ayazlı suffers from the lasting effects of his treatment, including permanent damage to his left arm, significant hearing loss, osteoporosis, heart failure and diabetes, according to medical reports.
Ayazlı, a former mathematics teacher, was arrested and jailed pending trial in March 2024 over alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan as well as some of his family members and 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 a failed coup in 2016, which he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement have strongly denied involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
Prosecutors have presented Ayazlı’s employment at institutions linked to the Gülen movement, a bank account at the now-shuttered, Gülen-linked Bank Asya and possession of books from publishers closed down by the government after the coup attempt as evidence against him.
Court records also cite photos of Ayazlı with former Turkish national footballers Hakan Şükür and Arif Erdem, both accused of Gülen ties.
His first hearing was in July 2024, and his latest request for release was denied on January 8, 2025. A verdict is expected on February 28.
Ayazlı’s family fears a relapse of his cancer and says prison conditions prevent adequate medical care. “The symptoms of heart failure emerged in October, but he wasn’t taken to the doctor in time, and now it has progressed,” a family member said.
They allege that his worsening health is due to delayed and inadequate medical treatment. “It is difficult for him to survive under these conditions,” his relatives said. “Our only request was for him to be tried without the burden of pretrial detention.”
