While challenging claims over Adil Öksüz, who has been presented by Turkish government as one of the alleged civillian suspects of the controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, persist, Turkish government has persecuted almost all members of his family, his relatives and even his friends.
According to a report by state-run Anadolu news agency on Sunday, almost all family members and relatives of Adil Öksüz, who was defined as an agent of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) by MİT’s former contr-terror chief Mehmet Eymür, have been were detained or arrested. However, he could have not been caught by Turkish security forces during the last 11 months since July 15.
Adil Öksüz was reportedly detained near Akıncı Air Base on June 16, 2016 and he was reportedly released by Judge Köksal Çelik on July 18, 2016 with a judicial probe after giving his testimony in Ankara’s Sincan West Courthouse. The decision of Judge Çelik was objected by Prosecutor Mehmet Yılmaz on the same day. However, this objection was also rejected by anonther judge, Çetin Sönmez.
As being unsuccessfull to catch alleged coup suspect Adil Öksüz, the government has prefered to persecute his family members, relatives and people around him. Öksüz’s brother Ahmet Öksüz, who is an associate professor dismissed from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature of Karabük University by a governnment decree under the rule of emergency on July 19, 2016, was arrested in Karabuk province on August 3, 2016.
Ahmet Öksüz’s wife Havva Emel Öksüz was also detained over allegetion that he used to have ByLock mobile phone messaging program and being an alleged member of the Gülen movement. She was released during her first hearing by the court on March 2, 2017 with judicial probe and prohibition from international travel.
Turkish authorities consider ByLock to be the top communication tool among the followers of the movement. Tens of thousands of civil servants, police officers and businessmen have either been dismissed or arrested for using ByLock since a failed coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
According to AA report, Adil Öksüz’s father-in-law Cevat Yıldırım was arrested on August 13, 2016 in Sakarya province while the wife of Öksüz’s another brother, Şenay Öksüz, was arrested in Mersin on August 24, 2016. Öksüz’s mother-in-law Hatice Yıldırım was arrested in Sakarya province on Sept. 2, 2016 and teacher Sahure Öksüz, who is one of the relatives of Öksüz was also arrested in Marmaris district of Muğla province. Later, Hatice Yıldırım was put on house arrest because of her serious health problems.
With the allegetion that they had helped Adil Öksüz to escape, journalist Erdal Şen and Ali Sami Yıldırım were detained and later arrested by court on August 9, 2016. Journalist Şen is the husband of Adil Öksüz’s sister and Yıldırım is his brother-in-law. Ökkeş Tetik, the husband of another sister of Adil Öksüz was also arrested as part of Turkish government’s post-coup witch hunt targeting the family members and relatives of alleged suspect Adil Öksüz.
Even theology professor Davut Aydüz, who was claimed to be an academic advisor and a lecturer of Adil Öksüz at the Theology Faculty of Sakarya University, was arrested on August 11, 2016 in Sakarya province. Öksüz’s friend Porfessor Muhittin Akgül from the Theology Faculty of Sakarya University was also arrested on August 23, 2016 in Sakarya province.
Adil Öksüz’s sister-in-law Belkis Nur Tetik and Seyyide Öznur Yıldırım were detained on Nov. 3, 2016, but they were released after their testimonies under police detention. Melike Yıldırım, the wife of Öksüz’s brother-in-law Ali Sami Yıldırım, was also detained by police and later released by a court with condition of judicial probe and prohibition from international travel.
Emine Şennur Şen, sister-in-law of Adil Öksüz and the wife of journalist Erdal Şen was once detained by police and released by the court, however she was re-detained and later arrested on April 24, 2017 over the claim that she had used ByLock mesaging program and being a member of the Gülen movement.
Çetin Sönmez, one of the judges who decided to release Adil Öksüz on July 18, 2016, was detained May 6, 2017 and arrested by a Turkish court. Judge Sönmez and other judge Köksal Çelik, who were claimed not to be the members of the Gülen movement were suspended from their duties on August 16, 2016.
A controversial military coup attempt on July 15 killed over 240 people. Immediately after the putsch, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government along with Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pinned the blame on the Gülen movement.
Fethullah Gülen, who inspired the movement, strongly denied having any role in the failed coup and called for an international investigation into it, but President Erdoğan — calling the coup attempt “a gift from God” — and the government initiated a widespread purge aimed at cleansing sympathizers of the movement from within state institutions, dehumanizing its popular figures and putting them in custody.
At least 161,751 people were detained or investigated and 50,334 people were arrested in Turkey in the framework of the Turkish government’s massive post-coup witch hunt campaign targeting alleged members of the Gülen movement since the controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, according to statistics reported by state-run Anadolu news agency by basing on information taken from the officials from Turkey’s Justice Minsitry on June 13.
June 18, 2017
[…] to catch alleged coup suspect Adil Öksüz, the government has prefered to persecute his family members, relatives and people around him. Almost all family members and relatives of Adil Öksüz, who was defined as […]