Turkish authorities transferred jailed Islamic preacher and government critic Alparslan Kuytul to another prison on Tuesday without informing his family or lawyers in advance, the TR724 news website reported Wednesday, marking the second such transfer since his arrest in August.
Kuytul, the founder of the Furkan religious movement, was moved from Erzurum Dumlu Prison in eastern Turkey to Van F-Type High Security Prison.
Following his arrest on August 23, Kuytul was initially held at Adana’s Kürkçüler Prison before being transferred to Erzurum. His daughter Meryem said at the time that the family spent hours trying to establish his whereabouts, contacting prison authorities and sending lawyers to possible destinations before locating him.
His lawyer, Ömer Hakseven, said he went to the Erzurum prison on Tuesday after learning of the planned transfer but was unable to meet with Kuytul before his departure.
Hakseven said prison officials told him to wait because of problems in the cellblocks and denied that Kuytul was being transferred, although he witnessed his client being taken away from the prison. He accused the prison administration of deliberately misleading him.
Meryem Kuytul said in a post on X that the family learned about the latest transfer through news reports and initially received no information about where her father was being taken.
His son, Muhammed Kuytul, accused authorities of attempting to intimidate his father through repeated transfers. The reason for the latest transfer has not been publicly disclosed.
The move follows a dispute over Kuytul’s children’s ability to visit him without missing school. As SCF previously reported, the Erzurum 1st High Criminal Court reversed its own decision allowing weekend visits on October 21, following an objection by prosecutors and citing security and staffing concerns.
Four of Kuytul’s five children attend school in Adana, and his lawyer said the 15-hour journey to Erzurum for weekday visits required them to miss two days of school. Their mother, Semra Kuytul, is also jailed pending trial in Samsun province.
The Van prison’s November visiting schedule lists monthly open visits for November 16–20, all weekdays. It remains unclear whether Kuytul’s children will be allowed to visit him on weekends.
Under Article 22 of Turkey’s Law No. 5275, prison authorities are required to notify a prisoner’s family or another designated person of a transfer upon the prisoner’s request. The provision also applies to people held in pretrial detention. It is unclear whether Kuytul requested such notification.
Kuytul and his wife were among 35 people jailed pending trial in August in an investigation into alleged organized crime, money laundering, fraud and forgery. The Furkan movement denies the allegations and says the investigation is politically motivated. Turkish authorities maintain that it concerns financial offenses rather than religious beliefs.
