Buket Turan, whose imprisoned husband is suffering from ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with a high risk of developing into colorectal cancer, has pleaded with the authorities for his release.
In a video she posted on social media, Buket Turan described their last visit, which lasted only 45 minutes yet was extremely difficult for her husband without being able to use the restroom to relieve himself.
“Please release my husband, who is on the verge of developing colon cancer,” she said.
Ulcerative colitis requires a special diet and causes extreme pain and can lead to colorectal cancer.
Her husband, Emre Turan, was rearrested in July after being released due to his illness.
Convicted of links to the faith-based Gülen movement, Emre Turan has a prison sentence of more than six years pending before the Supreme Court of Appeals.
He was prosecuted for having worked at a Gülen-affiliated tutoring center that was shut down by the government.
Buket Turan herself was imprisoned for five years on similar grounds.
While Turkey’s laws do allow for the postponement of the execution of sentences due to significant illness or disability, these are often disregarded in the cases of political prisoners such as those jailed on Gülen links or for pro-Kurdish political activism.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the 2013 corruption investigations, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Dismissing the investigations as a Gülenist coup and conspiracy against his government, Erdoğan designated the movement as a terrorist organization and began to target its members. He intensified the crackdown on the movement following an abortive putsch in 2016 that he accused Gülen of masterminding. Gülen and the movement strongly deny involvement in the coup attempt or any terrorist activity.
In addition to the thousands who were jailed, scores of other Gülen movement followers had to flee Turkey to avoid the government crackdown.
