The mother of two disabled children, an Uşak woman is among hundreds of thousands of people who found themselves facing tremendous difficulties after the government started a desperate crackdown on the Gülen movement in the aftermath of a July 15 coup attempt.
A woman from Uşak’s Ulubey district said in an anonymous letter to Turkey Purge that she was left to fend for herself along with her two handicapped children after her teacher husband was arrested as part of an investigation into the movement, which the government accuses of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt.
What follows is the full text of the letter submitted by the woman.
“I am a housewife based in the downtown of Uşak’s Ulubey district. We have lived on my husband’s teacher salary so far. We have no other income. My husband was a popular guy both at this job and in the district.
We had three children, one of whom was killed in a traffic accident. Now we have a 25-year-old daughter and a 23-year-old son. Both are physically and mentally disabled since birth. They cannot walk. They can neither talk nor understand what is told. Since their reflexes are so weak, they always remain with mouths open and they wear baby bibs. They only crawl to change rooms.
I used to deal with personal care of the children together with my husband. Because children should be lifted and carried in arms for basic needs including need to use toilet.
Husband used to take care of such heavy works. We did not look to anybody for help until our government dismissed my husband from state work in a post-coup decree. They removed my husband from education business. They arrested my husband who in fact wouldn’t hurt a fly and put him behind bars over terrorism links.
I told the court that my children are disabled and I am not able to take care of them alone. I asked that my husband be released pending trial. I underlined in a petition that my husband would never flee [the country] and help me in care of my children. But I have gotten no favorable result. They jailed my husband without any justification.
Also, I hurt my lower back and leg while I was dealing with children’s physical needs. I am no longer able to look after them. Then I applied for help to Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation. But I was denied support by the foundation who told me that they would not help families who are tried on terrorism charges.
How on earth can I, a mother, take care of two physically and mentally disabled children? People around do not even say hi to me considering that my husband is a terror suspect. Whom am I gonna talk to? Who will hear my voice? What can I on my own as a woman? I address to those have yet to be dehumanized. What can I tell to those who find this persecution on us proper?
