Turkish authorities on Wednesday detained Sueda Güngör, the daughter of 72-year-old İbrahim Güngör, who remains imprisoned despite suffering from advanced Alzheimer’s disease, journalist Adem Yavuz Arslan reported on social media.
Güngör had been tirelessly advocating for her father’s immediate release. In one of her most recent social media posts on June 15, shared in honor of Father’s Day, she described him as a model citizen and a genuinely good person throughout his life.
“I learned from you what honor, hard work and standing tall mean. Now you’re behind four walls through no fault of your own, but there are so many people who believe in you,” she said. “Everyone already knows that the accusations against you have no legal basis. And just as you taught me, I will continue to stand firm behind what’s right. No matter what happens, I will always be proud of you. Happy Father’s Day, my dearest dad.”
The accusations against Güngör have not been disclosed to the media. However, her detention has sparked outrage among human rights advocates.
“Sueda Güngör has been detained because in this country you cannot say your father is too sick to be in prison!” said one social media user.
In previous social media posts the young woman repeatedly said her father could no longer recognize the people around him and that he was deeply depressed, hardly spoke and slept constantly. The ailing man relied on his cellmates to take care of his daily needs, including feeding him.
Despite his condition, Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) ruled that Ibrahim Güngör was fit to remain in prison.
The ATK frequently comes under criticism over its questionable reports that find ailing inmates fit to remain in prison. Rights advocates slam the agency over its lack of independence from political influence and its role in compounding the persecution of political prisoners.
Ibrahim Güngör, previously sentenced to over eight years, was arrested on December 14, 2024 and sent to prison in İzmir after Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals upheld his conviction.
Charges against him include hosting religious gatherings with the members of the Gülen movement, encouraging participation in movement activities and collecting donations for students. He was director of student affairs at İzmir Gediz University, a Gülen-linked institution that was closed under a government decree after a 2016 coup attempt.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by the late Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since corruption investigations revealed in 2013 implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan and some members of his family and inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and a conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan began to target the movement’s members. He designated the movement as a terrorist organization in May 2016 and intensified the crackdown on it following an abortive putsch in July of the same year that he accused Gülen of masterminding. The movement strongly denies involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
According to Law No. 5275, the sentence of a prisoner who due to a serious illness or disability is unable to manage life on their own under prison conditions and who is not considered a serious danger to society may be suspended until they recover. However, the stipulated suspension of sentence is often not implemented.
