A chronically ill Turkish student has been denied prescribed medication following her arrest for holding a protest sign referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a “dictator,” raising alarm among her family and rights advocates, the BirGün daily reported.
Esila Ayık, who suffers from chronic heart and kidney conditions, was arrested on April 9 following a student-led protest in İstanbul’s Kadıköy district. Ayık requires daily medication, which has not been provided since her incarceration in Bakırköy Women’s Closed Prison.
“She needs to take her medication every day, but despite our efforts to deliver it through her lawyers, she hasn’t received it,” one friend told BirGün. “We are extremely concerned about her health.”
Ayık, a university student in Belgium, was visiting her family in Turkey when she participated in a demonstration in Kadıköy attended by thousands of students.
The demonstration was part of a wave of nationwide protests that erupted after the March 19 detention and subsequent arrest of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, a key opposition figure and a strong presidential challenger.
İmamoğlu and two İstanbul district mayors were among more than 100 people targeted by detention orders issued by the İstanbul chief public prosecutor on March 19. He was arrested on March 23 and remanded to pretrial detention on charges including bribery, embezzlement and unlawful acquisition of personal data.
His arrest, widely condemned as politically motivated, led to mass protests across Turkey. Several other municipal officials and employees have since been detained or placed under investigation as part of a broader government crackdown on local administrations led by opposition parties.
Since İmamoğlu’s detention, protests have been taking place across the nation, with law enforcement responding with a brutal crackdown.
Police raided Ayık’s family home in the early hours of April 9. Although she wasn’t present, her family was allegedly told she urgently needed to give a statement. She was later detained after sharing her location with police and was quickly charged with “insulting the president.”
In Turkey thousands of people are investigated, prosecuted or convicted on charges of insulting the president on the basis of the controversial Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The crime carries up to four years in prison, a sentence that can be increased if the act was committed using mass media.
Her arrest has attracted criticism from rights advocates, who say her detention — allegedly for briefly holding a sign — raises serious concerns about freedom of expression and due process in Turkey.
“Esila’s health is fragile. Prison is not a suitable environment for someone in her condition,” prominent lawyer and human rights defender Cemil Çiçek said on X. “She must be released immediately.”
Ayık had planned to return to Belgium on April 20 to take her university exams. Her supporters warn that her continued detention could jeopardize both her health and education.
Turkish authorities have frequently been criticized for their systematic disregard of the health needs of prisoners. Every year rights groups report the death of dozens of sick prisoners, either while behind bars or shortly after their release, which often comes at the end-stage of their illness. Turkey recorded 709 deaths in prison in the first 11 months of 2024, according to data from the Ministry of Justice shared in response to a parliamentary inquiry.
