A huge cleansing of Turkey’s state and other institutions is continuing as people from all walks of life find themselves being hunted down and taken into custody.
At least 652 people were put in prison, while 1,325 others were detained over the past 10 days, according to Turkish news agencies.
Police carried out the operations in at least 45 provinces across Turkey. With most of the arrestees being businessmen, those arrested over the past 10 days also included civil servants, police officers, and housewives.
On Jan. 21, sixteen military officers were detained across nine provinces over allegations of coup plotting.
As part of the operation, which was based in Nevşehir, police teams conducted raids in İstanbul, Bursa, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Antalya, Samsun, Şırnak, Mersin and Ankara provinces and detained the officers.
On Jan 23, a total of 367 people were dismissed from state institutions with four new gov’t decrees –682, 683, 684 and 685– issued under the post-coup State of Emergency.
A video shared on social media on Jan. 23 shows five children left alone in tears in front of Sincan Prison in Ankara after their mother was detained while they were visiting their father in prison.
In the video a child opens the door of a car in the prison parking lot, showing his brothers crying, and says in tears, “We are five brothers, left alone. We have a handicapped brother. I commend those people to God’s punishment.”
On Jan 23, nineteen more soldiers from the Turkish Armed Forces were arrested in Antalya on charges of membership in a terrorist organization for using a smart phone application named ByLock.
On Jan. 24, Turkey’s Interior Ministry announced that between Jan. 16 and 23, a total of 1,218 people were detained, with 572 of them put under arrest, in operations targeting the Gülen movement.
On Jan. 24, an İstanbul prosecutor demanded a 15-year sentence for each of 83 academics from Yıldız Technical University for alleged membership in the Gülen movement.
On Jan. 24, a Turkish court ordered the seizure of all assets of Turkish businessman Akın İpek and his mother, Melek İpek, over their alleged links to the Gülen movement.
On Jan. 25, the Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) deputies Osman Baydemir and Ahmet Yıldırım were detained as part of the crackdown against Turkey’s Kurdish political movement.
On Jan. 25, detention warrants were issued for 52 dismissed members of the country’s Supreme Court of Appeals as 26 of them were detained in Ankara on same day.
On Jan. 25, poet and author Yılmaz Odabaşı received a suspended jail sentence of one year, eight months for allegedly insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a column in 2015.
On Jan. 25, Mehmet Şahin Işık, who was earlier briefly detained for allegedly insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was 14-month jail sentence over same the charge.
On Jan. 26, the Turkish government appointed trustees to giant textile company Aydınlı Group and one of the largest baklava makers of the country, Güllüoğlu Baklava. The chief of executives of the companies, Ömer Faruk Kavurmacı and Faruk Güllüoğlu, respectively, had been arrested in recent months over Gülen movement links.
On Jan. 26, Turkish police detained the co-mayors of the Uludere district of the southeastern province of Şırnak as part of a terrorism-linked probe.
On Jan. 26, as part of an operation based in Aydın, police teams conducted raids in İstanbul, İzmir, Balıkesir, Denizli and 10 other provinces and detained a total of 50 civilians, businessmen, teachers over alleged Gulen links.
On Jan. 26, a total of 7 academics were detained in Bursa on charges of using ByLock. The detainees identified as follows: C.K, D.H, E.G, İ.Y, M.A, İ.H.K. and M.A.
On Jan. 26, 17 civilians were detained in Hatay on charges of using ByLock.
On Jan. 26, a total of 30 police officers were detained in Elazığ, for alleged involvement in the coup attempt of July 15.
On Jan. 27, an İstanbul court sentenced Kurdish journalist Arzu Demir to six years in prison over her two books on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) over propaganda of terrorist organization.
On Jan. 27, an Antalya court ruled on arrest of 5 people who were accused of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
On Jan. 29, Hatice Bender, a muhtar, or neighborhood head, who did not participate in meetings held for muhtars in the palace of President Erdoğan, was arrested for insulting statesmen on her social media account.
On Jan. 29, a Mardin court ruled for the arrest of Iranian-Kurdish writer Jiyar Cihanferd and his friend Hassan Balada on charges of “membership in a terrorist organization.”
On Jan. 29, thirty-four housewives were arrested by a Turkish court due to alleged use of a smart phone application called ByLock and links to the Gülen movement.
On Jan. 29, Turkish police detained a total of twenty-eight businessmen and teachers in Ağrı over alleged links to the Gülen movement.
On Jan. 29, a total of 15 police officers were detained in Sakarya province over alleged links to the Gülen movement.
On Jan. 30, Fadime Günay, a 32-year-old woman who gave birth at Alanya Başkent hospital on the night of Jan. 29, was detained over alleged Gülen links.
On Jan 30, former TRT presenter Hamza Günerigök, who was on a list of suspects to be arrested in an investigation targeting the Gülen movement, was arrested after he was caught near the Greek border.
On Jan 30, HDP deputy Meral Danış Beştaş was arrested by an Adana court as part of a terror investigation targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). (turkeypurge.com)
